Tools Up!

A hilarious party game for four players where you play as a team of workers struggling to renovate the apartments in a very strange building in which every floor is its own weird world. The game focuses on the characters' tendency to make mistakes due to their floaty handling (like what you'll find in Overcooked) which produces plenty of belly laughs.

"Ok guys! Tear down that wall, rip up that carpet, plaster that wall and paint it pink. And on the double! But be careful not to spill any paint, move the furniture, and make sure you don't break any of the mirrors in the hall!"

As you'll no doubt have guessed, Tools Up! is a co-op party game based on home renovation. And it's hilarious!

The concept is pretty simple. One player grabs the plan and shows the rest what needs to be done. This lets them move the camera to inspect the finished work. The other players grab the buckets of paint, a skip, and some glue... and anything else they need to get the job done. The clock is running, the furniture is heavy and needs to be moved, paint gets spilled, and everyone starts slipping all over the place. Someone accidentally removes a door that was supposed to be repaired... and all within just five minutes.

You'll also need to clean up after yourself to complete the level: the old flooring needs to be thrown in the skip, equipment taken out of the home, etc. Then there are some things that aren't available at the start of the level. You'll need to wait for them to be delivered and go and pick them up straight away, because if not the delivery man will leave!

Every level serves up a different environment that will have some effect on how you play (lava, ice, river, etc.).

We really loved the characters with their deliberately floaty controls, they are always swaying around, slip very easily, and even grab each other without meaning to. This means you might throw one of your colleagues out of the window instead of that bag of gravel! And that is what produces so many laughs.

Our advice? Get organised before you start, and manage your bucket. There's only one and you'll need to keep emptying it regularly, especially because you'll need it to mix glue and undercoats! You'll also need to lay the flooring in a logical fashion. You can't walk on it while it's drying and this might stop you from accessing certain rooms or even the front door.

We loved playing with 3 or 4 players. Just like in Overcooked, more players equals more laughs.

But be warned: this is no easy game. There's plenty of challenge if you want to earn those two- or three-star scores!