Dumb Ways To Die began was a brilliant advertising campaign to improve safety in Australian train stations. A song about safety plays while a bunch of colorful potato-shaped individuals die in many stupid ways. It’s like a hundred cautionary tales rolled into one, and very effective. With a catchy song, violent death and cute cuddly characters, how could it not succeed? There’s also been a very addictive Android game created by Metro Trains with the same concept in mind. Does is succeed in teaching train safety while also killing time? It does. But please read on to find out why.

The Charm

Right off the bat, you notice just how appealing this game is. The world is very colorful and creative. Everything has such an adorable appearance you’ll forget how many horrific deaths you are seeing. Even the terrible deaths are cute in a unique way. Does that sound too morbid? I don’t care, just play it and you’ll understand.

The Gameplay

Dumb Ways To Die is a series of timed events in which you need to quickly perform a number of tasks. You’ll tilt your phone, swipe, poke, and try not touch a big red button that can destroy the earth. In the game you’ll avoid getting eaten by a bear, take a fork out of a toaster, and clean up vomit so you don’t slip. Yes, really. And those examples are only scratching the surface. One of my personal favorites is covering a hot dog in mustard so that a cobra will bite the hot dog instead of you. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

How Fun Is It?

Extremely! Right off the bat you are thrown into any number of these wacky situations. The more you complete, the faster the game goes until you’ve let three of these cuddly creatures die. So one way or another, these guys are pretty much doomed. But that’s ok, you learned a valuable lesson not topoke a bear with a stick. And that lesson will stay with you forever.

Should You Get It?

Yes! It’s free, it’s got a great message, and it’s extremely fun. While the ads can be a bit intrusive at times, that almost serves as extra punishment for letting your colorful characters die. Is that just a rationalization? If you haven’t already given the game a shot, download it. If nothing else, play long enough to unlock the beautiful, violent message of the safety video.