Dumbino: Domino effects in a bite-sized physics playground

Puzzle physics games are a blast. I remember being hooked on Flash physics puzzle games like Crayon Physics or Red Remover, titles entirely predicated on making little shapes defy gravity. Once you add physics in, these sort of games become fun in their unpredictability. Did I set up the shapes right? Or are they about to all come crashing down? The demo for Dumbino is much more sophisticated than those early games, but it still conveys the same simple thrill.

The objective of Dumbino is for players to manipulate and align physics-based objects in the level so that one object, pushed from a starting position, knocks over one or more objects elsewhere in the level. In service to its title, most of the time, this takes the form of lining up dominoes. That said, for a portmanteau of 'dumb dominoes', the design, execution and overall vibe of the game feel pretty smart.

The controls of Dumbino are straightforward. Players click and drag objects to move them around. Right-click dragging adjusts the vertical height, and rolling the mouse wheel rotates. It's all pretty intuitive, and once some of the quirks are worked out - items are only rotated on one axis, and picked up on different edges to rotate others - the game handles well for one that hinges on physics precision.

I found the appeal and challenge of the game actually does lie in its focus on dominoes: setting up painstaking chains of physics, anxiously trying not to bump anything, and feeling satisfied when the pieces fall in the intended way. I admit there were no shortage of times where a casual bump led my entire setup to topple! Fortunately, there's a helpful mechanic that allows you to save and return the pieces to a past state.

Gameplay is shared across a series of levels connected by an overworld, with stages that slowly introduce additional gameplay concepts and mechanics. The tutorial establishes the basics of the physics engine and manipulating dominoes. Soon, creative puzzles emerge: in Over the Bridge, a block is required to bridge the line of dominoes; Lead the Ball introduces rolling elements and switches; and Rollercoaster and Stairway emphasise the importance of planning and timing.

Dumbino is being created by Sweet Dreams Studio, a French independent development team created in 2018 by co-founders Etienne Cassin, Argann Bonneau and Quentin Forgeau, with Francois Mauxion also providing artistic direction. The studio enters its third commercial project, with a varied profile of titles including the 2019 local co-op action game Spirit Arena and strikingly monochrome zombie action survival The Last Stand at Camp Zombie in 2024. Dumbino has evolved through a series of public alpha playtests earlier this year, with the game's development diary documenting the game's many tweaks.

A demo of the game is available on Steam, with the full release of Dumbino expected sometime in Q4 2024.

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