Dumb Ways to Build Revives: Port-a-loos, Balloons & Passes

Dying is most of the joke in Dumb Ways to Build, so the game makes coming back easy. Here is how it works, from PlaySide’s support centre, the Dot Esports review and launch-day streams.

When you die

Your body stays in the level and you keep talking: dead Beans turn into a floating walkie-talkie with a static voice filter, so you can still shout directions (Dot Esports). Your crew then has two ways to bring you back.

Port-a-loos

Port-a-loos are dotted around every map, and they are both checkpoints and revive points. A teammate uses one to bring dead crewmates back. One use can revive more than one Bean: the Restroom Rescue certification asks for three at once. Friends who join a job already in progress also spawn dead and come back out of a Port-a-loo.

Revive Passes

In multiplayer, revives cost Revive Passes. You can find extra passes inside a job; one launch crew picked one up near the start of Hotel Hapless and called it a one-up.

Revive balloons

A dead Bean can also float away on a balloon, rising depending on how much air is in it. Nobody can steer it, so a teammate has to pop it to get the body back, ideally when it will land somewhere safe. Dot Esports calls it one of the funniest things in the game.

Infinite Revives

When the host picks a level, Infinite Revives can be switched on. Revives at Port-a-loos are then unlimited, and PlaySide says it does not stop the crew earning certifications. It is set in Level Select and cannot be changed mid-job.

Solo Play: Checkpoint Passes

Solo Play swaps Revive Passes for Checkpoint Passes. Interact with a Port-a-loo to set your checkpoint; each death spends a pass and respawns you at the last one you used. More on the Solo Play page.

Zero-death certifications

Each Job has a certification for finishing it with zero total deaths, which counts the whole crew:

Infinite Revives does not help with these: a single death anywhere in the crew spoils the run. Cannonbean (fall at least 50 m and survive) and Living Legend (be the last Bean alive when the Job is completed) are the other death-related ones. The full list is on the achievements page.