I Buried Steve is a multiplayer party platformer set on a beach, in which players build the racecourse while they compete on it. Each round begins at a tiki bar, where players privately draft build pieces and hazards, then fly over the level and place them in secret. Nobody sees the additions until the countdown ends, at which point up to eight players race the altered course at once while rising flood water closes in behind them. Points are scored for reaching the finish and for eliminating rivals with traps, including the traps a player laid themselves. The game includes 40 build pieces and 14 hazards such as spinning blades, swinging axes and punch blocks, transit pieces such as pipes, bounce pads and portals, and power ups including a grappling hook, a boomerang and a spade for burying opponents in the sand. It supports online and local split screen play for up to eight players, round modifiers, solo time trials and unlockable cosmetics.