Bomb Busters rules: how to play and how to win

Bomb Busters quick rules

The goal

You are one team of bomb disposal experts, defusing the mission’s bomb together. Its wires are split between you, and each of you only sees your own. The mission succeeds when all the experts have empty tile stands; if a red wire is cut, or the detonator dial reaches the end, the bomb explodes.

The wires

Each wire is a tile standing in a tile stand, facing its owner. Blue wires go from 1 to 12, four copies each, sorted in ascending order from your left to your right. Depending on the mission, a few yellow and red wires hide among them: their decimal number is only for sorting.

The Dual Cut

Play goes clockwise, starting with the Captain, and you take one of three actions. The most common: point to a wire in a teammate’s stand and state its value, holding a wire of that value yourself. If you’re right, your teammate places that wire faceup in front of their stand, without moving it, and you place one of your wires of the same value: both are cut.

When you’re wrong

If the wire is red, the bomb explodes at once. If it’s blue or yellow, the detonator dial advances one space and your teammate places an Info token in front of that wire to show its real value. You don’t reveal which wire you meant to cut. When the dial reaches the skull, the bomb explodes.

The Solo Cut and the red wires

Second action: cut identical wires from your own hand, alone, if you hold all the wires of that value still in play (all four, or the last two). Third action: reveal your red wires, only when they’re all you have left. An expert with no wires left lets the mission go on without them.

The yellow wires

They’re cut like blue wires, with a Dual Cut or a Solo Cut, and they all have the same value: yellow. To Dual Cut one, you must hold one. A mistake on a yellow wire places a yellow Info token; a Solo Cut needs all the remaining yellow wires in your hand.

The equipment

There are as many Equipment cards as experts; each becomes usable once two wires of its number are cut, and works only once. Each expert also has a personal equipment, the Double Detector, which lets you point to two wires in the same stand during a Dual Cut. When all four wires of a number are cut, place a Validation token on that number.

Communication

That’s the whole point of the game: don’t talk about your wires, don’t hint at their value, don’t recall information from earlier turns and don’t share your guesses. You may discuss general tactics, equipment and the mission’s special rules.

The end of the mission

The mission succeeds when all the experts have empty stands. It fails as soon as a red wire is cut or the detonator dial reaches the skull. If you fail, change the Captain and restart the same mission.

The missions

The game has 66 missions that get progressively harder. The front of each card shows the setup, the back its special rules. Missions 1 to 3 are Novice training, 4 to 7 Intermediate, and 8 is the final exam, which opens the first Surprise box.

Beginner pitfalls

Solo cutting with three identical wires (wires go in twos or fours); sorting two stands as one (each is sorted separately); moving a cut wire (its position is information); commenting on a cut, even with a hint.

The Pro Kit

It swaps the cardboard tiles for acrylic ones that stand upright: a row of standing tiles counts as a stand. It adds 11 missions and two Star wires, sorted as 0 and 13, then cut together. At level 1, they’re cut like blue wires, with no Info token on a mistake; at level 2, stating the wrong value on a Star wire makes the bomb explode.

How to win Bomb Busters

Success

The whole team wins when all the experts have empty tile stands.

Failure

The bomb explodes as soon as a red wire is cut, or the detonator dial reaches the skull.

Mission number

For the record: the number of the mission you played, 1 to 66 in the base box (the publisher’s bonus missions go from 67 to 72).

Pro Kit mission number

For the record: the number of one of the 11 Pro Kit missions, which have their own numbering.

Cause of failure

If the bomb exploded: red wire cut, detonator on the skull, or a mission special rule.

Example ending

Emma (the Captain), Jake and Alex play mission 8, the final exam. Alex points to a red wire in Emma’s stand: the bomb explodes. The sheet records mission 8, failed, cause “Red wire cut.” Jake, sitting to Emma’s left, becomes Captain and the team restarts the same mission.

Common mistakes

• Looking for a winner among the players: you all succeed or fail together.
• Assuming the detonator always starts in the same place: it depends on the number of experts.
• Replaying a failed mission with the same Captain: the Captain changes with each new attempt.
• Recording a Pro Kit mission with base box numbers: they have their own numbering, 1 to 11.

How to set up Bomb Busters

Setup follows the Mission card. The number of stands per expert and the detonator setting depend on the player count.