Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (PC)

Defusing an active bomb is one of the most stressful situations a human being can face. The pressure of a device with unknown rules defined by an absent creator that must be defused or else the person working on the bomb and everything in the nearby area will be blown to bits is no doubt nerve-wracking and that degree of pressure makes for some thrilling fiction because of its high stakes. Still, even with the popularity of bomb defusal as a go-to example of a life or death high pressure scenario, it is certainly fascinating that the concept can be turned into a rather fun party game.

 

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes by Steel Crate Games is an exclusively multiplayer title where you need to defuse an active explosive before time runs out. One player is assigned the actual bomb, the rectangular device featuring many modules, labels, and other features that all contribute information they need to relay to anyone else playing along with them. The other players are not allowed to look at the screen, instead meant to focus on a bomb manual conveniently available at https://www.bombmanual.com/ . Players can either look up this 23 page booklet online for reference or print it out for a more tactile and easily navigated version, the intent being you need to flip through and find the right pages to translate the information the bomb handler provides into actions they then need to perform.  Some bombs allow for up to three failures while others will immediately detonate if an incorrect action is performed, but even if you have the safety net of possible excused failures, the time crunch is there to ensure that the process of working together to defuse the bomb can still be a suspenseful and thrilling puzzle that will test your communication skills and teamwork.

There is a free mode in Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes where you can tweak the settings of the bomb you are about to work together on, potentially adding extra time or removing modules you struggle with, but the main game’s predetermined bomb types is certainly where the action can be its most interesting because you can’t just tailor make the bomb to be more easily solved. Technically, no single bomb in the game is totally predetermined, certain aspects randomized every time you choose to play, this ensuring that the defuser will need the information the manual readers can provide almost every time. There are some late game bombs designed with the idea you will have memorized the patterns in some blinking light modules and be able to perform them on your own without assistance, but for the most part, the core idea of the game is well represented across the experience.

 

The different modules of the bombs on offer have both expected concepts on show and ones that test your ability to communicate. You will have to cut colored wires, but there are multiple modules that integrate wires in different ways, some more focused on the sequence the wires are presented in, complicated wires focusing on stripes and other indicators like the status of a light, and the more typical set of wires where their number and coloration determine which of the group you cut. There are game-like modules such as Simon Says where you need to relay the sequence of blinking lights to the manual owner so you can put in the proper response sequence, and the invisible maze requires players to figure out which arrangement they are working with before safely navigating the dot around the unseen walls. Some modules require remembering previous inputs or looking at other details of the bomb like its serial number, others prey on vocal stalling by having words like “Uhhh” and “Wait” be the actual solution to the word puzzle, and some like the keypad with symbols on it will involve your group learning how to best describe something with no easy name to apply to what you see.

That last style of module does reveal a small problem with repeated play though. As you do more and more bombs, a player will gradually form both a reliable lexicon and a familiarity with some of the game’s patterns. The manual is almost always going to be required in some capacity since there is far too much data to memorize through natural play, but some of the simpler modules like a button you either press or hold for a certain amount of time can sometimes be figured out once you’ve done it enough and certain module rules are easily remembered, especially if you’ve had time as both the defuser and as the person giving instructions. This won’t ever reach the point where the game completely loses its edge due to things like gradually rolling out new modules and the tightening of time limits, and later in the game the concept of needy modules are integrated specifically to interfere with communication and keep the challenge high. Modules are usually declared safe by a green light once you have performed the proper actions, but needy modules will repeatedly ask you to perform a task or else they’ll blow up the bomb prematurely. These aren’t very interesting on their own, but some of the longer regular modules can definitely have their flow interfered with by the presence of the needy ones and that extra source for tension can help these bombs overcome some of the problems gradual familiarity with the formula introduced.

 

The bomb manual itself is an interesting beast, structured in a way where you can find the modules you need to work on without too much issue but also having plenty of devious design traps so that the instructing player is still definitely involved in puzzling out how the bomb is defused. Some pages might feature redundant or outright useless instructions just to make the task of finding the right info more of a search. For example, the Morse code section, an already challenging bomb module if working with someone who has difficulty interpreting it, has the Morse code deciphering log for numbers present event though they are never part of any of the possible answers. Visual noise will crop up in many parts of the manual to try and trip you up as you spend more time looking for what you need, but trying to skim past details can also lead to deadly mistakes. Every bomb can be retried, but having your progress on a bomb invalidated is still a disheartening experience and one that might cause certain friend groups to get a bit testy with each other. The variety in the tables and diagrams on show make it so no module’s page is exactly like another’s, and since the high pressure communication is key to this game’s appeal, the fact all players need to coordinate with the data sets they have is helped along greatly by the variety on offer and the presence of mild but deliberate deception on the manual’s part.

THE VERDICT: Careful communication is key in Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, not just because it’s how you’ll successfully defuse the randomized bombs, but because it’s where the thrill of doing so emerges. The asymmetrical play of one player working on the bomb itself and the others having to relay information from a manual all while the time ticks down to possible explosive failure gives the play an exciting degree of tension, and the construction of the manual makes the process of relaying information successfully challenging for both sides. It is likely that players will soon understand the game rules a bit too well through repeated play and the process of defusal can be streamlined once interplayer lexicons are developed, but it never reaches the point that the game ever completely loses its edge.

 

And so, I give Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes for PC…

A GOOD rating. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes’s concept carefully walks a tight rope between too much complexity and too little, and it’s probably on the exact right spot to remain enjoyable as an accessible party game without being too easy to crack by even experienced players. If the bomb manual concept was made too obtuse or hard to read then the casual fun of it would be lost, but if it was too simple the manual could become irrelevant or less interesting to navigate. As it is, a strong balance is achieved, the manual just confusing enough that errors can be made and proper communication is turned into a vital part of the challenge. This is why the vocabulary developed between repeat players can wear down some of the difficulty, but there are hard bombs that will still test your ability to work together and the overall design discourages too much shorthand with some of its tricks and module design. In a strange moment the tutorial introduces the idea of having to handle two bombs but never integrates this into normal play, but it is possible that something akin to different bomb types with separate manuals could be the next step of complexity in an imagined sequel without potentially harming the base experience and the concept behind the manual’s construction.

 

While few would ever think to call the real world process of bomb defusal enjoyable, the fact it lends itself so well to a communication puzzle makes Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes an enjoyable game to play with friends. An interesting blend of deliberate complication with broad accessibility, it may not have the longevity of something more complex, but it’s definitely got enough going on to create memorable moments that will get your blood pumping as you and your friends try to make sense of its intricate high pressure challenges.