TheVille

Co-op bomb defusal.

Sounds interesting? Read on.

One person loads up the game, the other person (or people) grab copies of the ~20 page "manual" for defusing bombs. The person with the bomb can't see the manual, and the person/people with the manual(s) can't see the bomb. It's all about communication! The person with the bomb has to describe in detail what they see, and the others have to assist them step by step through taking the right steps to defuse the bomb, asking the questions they need in order to follow the steps. Bombs, and the modules in them, can range from relatively easy to insanely hard.

The game is designed with the idea that you can play it locally as a "party game," but it works equally well with a voice chat. If you are a puzzle-type gamer, check this thing out!

Here's a video of a highly experienced team beating the hardest bomb in the game, a feat which has earned them over a million views in less than a week (and don't worry, the bombs are randomized every time, so watching doesn't spoil anything!). As you will note, people who play together develop certain formats of relaying information, describing symbols, and otherwise getting solutions in as expedient a manner as is possible.

FYI some strong language.


I've got the game, and would love to play as either defuser or manual person!

The manual can be acquired for free (whether or not you own the game) at http://www.bombmanual.com/

This seems super neat, though I think I would be terrible at it in either role.

Looks very interesting, I will buy the game but dont expect too much from the noob right away

Ok, its been purchased, I see that Buzzy, Roirdan and ShiftyDevil have it already. Perhaps we can get some gaming in tonight

Hurray! I am absolutely up for it! Keep me in the loop

If you want a bit of quick practice before playing, it's definitely worthwhile to watch a couple YouTube videos and follow along with the manual to figure out the names of things, what they're doing, etc.

Well, I had a friend get it and we had some fun working on our terminology and ways of describing things. I really want printed copies of the manual otherwise finding the right page in the pdf causes a few delays. Also every time theres a new puzzle type that we have not experienced before we have to cut our teeth to figure things out. And were quickly finding that notepads near by help with several of the various puzzles.

Its fun, challenging too, get it !

Heck yeah, definitely gotta have a notepad for a couple of them - especially if you're doing multiple people at once helping out. I've also already written myself up a crib sheet for advanced wires that is easier to read for me than the Venn in the manual.

Sold! Installed the game and printed the manual. Send me in coach, I'm ready to play!

Yay!

After some discussions last night while defusing, I wanted to post the crib sheet I made for the Complex Wires puzzle. I find it easier to work with this than with the Venn Diagram. Also, remember that a blue/white twisted wire is the same as a blue wire, and a red/white twisted wire is the same as a red.


----------

ASK:
Is there a Parallel Port?
Are there 2+ batteries?
Is the last digit of S/N even?

White: Always CUT
W + Light: NEVER
W + Star: Always CUT
W + L + S: Only cut if 2+ batteries

Red: Only cut if last digit of S/N is even
R + Light: Only cut if 2+ batteries
R + Star: Always CUT
R + L + S: Only cut if 2+ batteries

Blue: Only cut if last digit of S/N is even
B + Light: Only cut if Parallel Port
B + Star: NEVER
B + L + S: Only cut if Parallel Port

Red/Blue: Only cut if last digit of S/N is even
RB + Light: Only cut if last digit of S/N is even
RB + Star: Only cut if Parallel Port
RB + L + S: NEVER

Looks very fun. I just bought it, so count me in next time people are playing!

Huzzah! Welcome aboard.

I'm travelling for a wedding presently, but will be back late Sunday to get some more games going (or join in those underway!)

I know Buzzy hasn't posted in this thread, but she also has it and plays with us, so don't be afraid to invite her too.

I'm in! I would love to check it out!

This cropped up at a game night last weekend -- the hostess had just bought it, told me I would absolutely love this game she'd found, but insisted I be drunk first. Half a pint of rum later, I was in the hotseat with six experts, each with a different section of manual; I don't think we blew up until somewhere towards the end of the second chapter, when Morse code showed up (I absolutely suck at Morse). That said, those game nights tend to have a very high concentration of puzzle-oriented, anal-retentive instruction-following people, so my job was actually pretty simple.

The hostess' husband has since put up this friendly little assist, for n00bs and/or shorthanded games: http://www.clockmanual.com/. Beware, there are a couple bugs/gotchas; I leave finding them as entertainment value to the utility's users.

But yeah. This game's an absolute (ahem) blast.

Give me a ping the next time one of these starts up! I don't own a copy, but I'd be more than happy to operate a section of the defusing manual.

Boss Llama wrote:After some discussions last night while defusing, I wanted to post the crib sheet I made for the Complex Wires puzzle. I find it easier to work with this than with the Venn Diagram. Also, remember that a blue/white twisted wire is the same as a blue wire, and a red/white twisted wire is the same as a red.

Hmm, trying to decide whether having somethign like this is cheating. I'm inclined to think that the only notes that you get going into the game is the bomb defusal manual itself. Part of the game is decyphering the manual.

No control over what's in your brain, so if you can memorise something like this it's fair game.

An extreme example of this is a link that Quandary posted in the shoutbox (http://www.clockmanual.com/), which pretty much removes the need to think for certain modules.