What Goes Up is the newly announced cooperative physics-based construction adventure from publisher Team17 and developer Bossa Games, slated to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store in 2026. Designed around the precarious art of planetary junk clearance, the game tasks players with forming fragile architectural monuments out of sheer garbage. By blending unpredictable emergent physics with high-stakes teamwork, the title seeks to carve out a distinct space in the collaborative party game space.
▲ Official Cover Art (Source: IGDB)
| Developer | Bossa Games |
| Publisher | Team17 |
| Genre | Cooperative Physics-Based Building |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series |
| Release Window | 2026 |
The Hazardous Mechanics of What Goes Up
At its core, What Goes Up places players in the disposable boots of Galactic Refuse Co. contractors assigned to clean up dangerous celestial dump sites. The primary objective is to stack, balance, and jury-rig disconnected pieces of planetary scrap into working transport structures. From discarded bathtubs and hot dog carts to industrial solar panels, every asset possesses real-time physical weight, balance points, and load limitations that dictate whether an entire ascent holds together or collapses under stress.
Players must employ an array of dedicated company gadgets to manipulate the erratic junk. Grav guns provide direct elevation and directional placement, allowing builders to maneuver awkward scrap items into place across volatile gaps. For traversal, hover packs allow players to float toward high ledges to retrieve misaligned debris, while deployable bounce pads introduce vertical momentum to launch both raw junk and teammates into optimal positions.
Tactical Engineering Meets Unforgiving Hazards
Success requires constant coordination, as planetary environments present severe environmental dangers that aggressively punish sloppy construction. Hazardous conditions such as flowing lava rivers, localized electrical discharges, and sudden meteor showers threaten to destabilize towering debris towers at any moment. The unpredictable terrain forces crews to abandon rigid architectural templates in favor of makeshift horizontal bridges, cantilevered scaffolding, and multi-tier support anchors that distribute weight evenly.
Miscommunication serves as a central systemic obstacle during high-altitude extraction missions. Because structural integrity is calculated dynamically, one miscalculated bounce pad trajectory or an incorrectly wedged bathtub can instantly bring an entire team-built spire crashing down. When disasters inevitably occur, the in-game cloning mechanic quickly respawns players back into the fray, keeping the operational tempo high while demanding immediate structural triage.
▲ Gameplay & Official Media (Source: IGDB)
Customization and Solo Scalability
Beyond the primary multiplayer chaos, What Goes Up offers full solo scalability alongside dynamic crew lobbies. Single-player mode challenges solo contractors to handle spatial puzzle-solving with increased mechanical precision, demanding meticulous weight distribution without the safety net of cooperative stabilization. As crews successfully complete extraction contracts, they uncover functional cosmetic outfits hidden within the scrap piles, allowing players to personalize their workforce aesthetics across increasingly hazardous biomes.
What Goes Up blends tactical balance calculations with chaotic collaborative engineering.
By turning real-time physics and unstable structural loads into cooperative gameplay puzzles, the title emphasizes improvisational teamwork over static blueprint execution. The risk of structural collapse combined with erratic gadgetry gives the loop immense emergent potential across both solo and team formats. If the physics interactions remain precise under heavy loads, it promises a uniquely rewarding cooperative sandbox.
Final Pulse Score: 8.2 / 10