Who doesn’t love a good co-op experience? In my many gaming groups, we do love a good co-op game, from The Crew to Marvel United, there is something different about puzzling out a game system with your friends.
I had heard lots of groups talking about Bomb Busters and many podcasts were raving about it. I just had to grab it and over the last few months, we have played through many parts of its campaign, multiple times. It’s so much fun and at times, makes you feel very clever… Or stupid. Hahahaha.
Bomb Busters, as the name might suggest, is about disarming bombs. In a group, using deduction and sometimes light guesswork, you must disarm the bomb to continue to the next mission. Bomb Busters is a campaign of sorts, with new mechanics, cards and unlockables being made available as you progress.
The Setup
Each mission has slightly different things to set up. The main things to set up, though are giving a stand to each player, the main mission card, equipment cards and the bomb wires. While setup is quite quick and varies from mission to mission, setting up the wires each time can take a little time. Sorting the wires and then selecting the right number of red and yellow wires, along with dishing them out to players, takes up most of the setup time. Each player also gets a character card showing a plucky little cartoon bomb disposal expert on it.
Each mission, you look at your mission card, which gives you a little backstory and lists the things you need to set it up. It will also explain any new elements or mechanics you have not seen before. This system works beautifully, is never confusing and working out how to set the game up each time is a breeze.
Wires
Each player has a stand to put their wires on. These wires come in three main types: blue, yellow and the dreaded red. Each wire has a number on it, with the red and yellow wires being between the whole numbers, .5 and .1 respectively. The blue wires are valued from 1 to 12, with 4 copies of each. With the yellow and red being 11.1 or 10.5, for example. There are various possibilities for the red and yellow wires.
A standard game will have all the blue wires, 2 yellow and 1 red. Once you have selected a set of red and yellow wires and looked at their values, they are mixed into the blue wires, face down, ready to be allocated to players. The yellow and red wires for this specific game are noted on the game’s board with tokens, to remind players of what parts of the player’s stands to be wary of.
Players then draft the wires from the centre of the table, arranging them into numerical order on their stands. With the yellow and red wires amongst them. Players do not know what everyone else has and must cut all the blue wires without making too many mistakes or cutting the red one, which is an instant failure and a board-game-related death. Each player gets to indicate what the number of one of their wires is and picking this wire intelligently can be a massive boost to the team.
Cutting
A bomb disposal experts turn is a simple one. You can either dual cut, solo cut or reveal the red wire. The dual cut is what you will spend most of your time doing, this involves pointing at another users wire and stating its number. You have to have that number on your stand, hence the ‘dual cut’. If correct, both wires are laid down in front of where they were, revealed to everyone and bringing everyone one step closer to hopeful victory.
If you are wrong, you move the dial of ‘bad guesses’ up one and place a number in front of the incorrect guess, stating its actual value. At least it gives the rest of the team some info going forward, even if you have crept closer to inevitable failure.
A solo cut allows you to cut 2 of the same value wire on your own stand. However, they must not be available anywhere else; in other words, 2 of that number are already revealed or you, very rarely, have all 4 of that number. It’s just because you cannot do a dual cut in either of these scenarios, and it’s always nice having one of these in your back pocket for when the team is a bit stuck.
To reveal the red wire means you have almost certainly won. You can only do this when the red wire is the last wire on your stand. It means you can never fail by cutting it, but you still have to cut all the blue wires and mistakes can still be made.
You can also you your character card once per game to point at 2 wires when doing a dual cut, giving you a bit of leeway and help. Especially when you cannot properly decide a guaranteed correct cut.
Deduction
As you play Bomb Busters, especially with the same group, you get to work out weird and wonderful ways to deduce what wires players have. It almost takes on a collective cognitive mind meld feeling and it works beautifully; it sometimes feels like magic and it’s joyous.
What number players pick at the start of the game, what questions they ask and what numbers have already been revealed create a fabric of deductive options when trying to whittle down the wires and hopefully, win the mission. You can discuss anything that is ‘open’ information, which helps, especially for players who have not noticed certain deductive queues.
When the team works as one, when the deduction is true, Bomb Busters is fantastic. There are some times, though, where no deductions can be made and you have to take an educated guess. Sometimes this works in your favour and sometimes it does not, at the very least you will reveal a bit of info about an incorrectly guessed wire. This is where using your character card and the various equipment cards come into play.
Equipment
Throughout your missions, you will have access to powerful equipment that will aid you in your bomb busting. Whether it be a way to gain extra lives, pointing at several wires or even protection from bad guesses, these equipment cards, if used correctly, can change the game. Normally, at the start of a mission, you deal out a set of equipment cards to the board and they get unlocked, for everyone to use when certain numbered wires are cut.
When powerful equipment is available, it is sometimes worthwhile trying to aim for the numbered wires to improve the team’s efficiency and give yourself more options when deducing.
Components
Everything about Bomb Busters, from a component standpoint, is amazing. The cards are sturdy, the board is bright, well-designed and all the tokens and wires are clearly designed and of a high quality. I love how the board can help track your cut wires and where the yellow and red wires are. It certainly helps track what you’re doing and where to cut next.
The tuck boxes, stickers and all the campaign stuff is great too. I will not spoil too much, but there is a lot to discover, unlock and experience in this clever little box. Along with that, it’s all so well designed and well presented. The cartoon art style and slightly comical theme really add to an already great game, especially when it’s about bomb disposal. Brilliant!
Final Thoughts
Everybody I have introduced to Bomb Busters absolutely loves it. It starts off a little slow as players get accustomed to playing it and therefore how to work out where to cut, but once players get over that small hurdle, they cannot stop cutting.
Bomb Busters is a great co-op experience that encourages teamwork, planning and deduction. The campaign is well thought out, varied and slowly introduces new elements. I have played with several groups and it has never fallen flat. I cannot recommend Bomb Busters enough, especially if you have a like-minded group who loves co-op and deduction. There are not many better experiences on the market.
Right, I am off to cut some wires and try not to blow up my friends. Laters gamers!
