Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

There's a really hot new game going around right now, and for once, I'm right there on the front of it!  Thank you to Game Grumps for introducing me to this glorious gem (warning: NSFW language at the link)!  This game was originally intended for the Oculus Rift, but it can be played with a standard PC.  The idea for this game is very unique, and I always love me some good unique.  One player is at the PC, and only that player is allowed to see the screen.  Everyone else is playing nearby within earshot, but they cannot see what you see.  The main player is in a closed room with a suitcase bomb and various modules connected to it that are used to disarm it.  Your friends are the bomb defusal experts, who have a 23-page manual detailing how to disarm it.  It is up to all of you to communicate effectively enough that you can correctly disarm the bomb within the given time limit.  This game continues to exceed any expectations I have.  It is truly exploding all over the internet!
What's really awesome about this game is that it doesn't really matter how experienced you are at video games.  Those who barely play anything more than Solitaire will probably need to be guided on how to control it a little bit, but not much execution is really required.  I introduced it to my tabletop gaming friends.  In the 2 sessions I've had with this game, I've gotten at least 5 friends to try it out, and it has fascinated plenty of people who observe.  To make easy reference, I laid out all the relevant pages on the table, instead of keeping it all in one book.  It looks intimidating, but fortunately, it's not really complicated to understand.  Sure, it's worth a little time to look through the various sections, but pretty much all of it could be picked up within a couple sessions.

The modules themselves are designed to be complicated enough that it is unrealistic to memorize all the directions (perhaps not impossible, but unrealistic).  It actually reminds me very much of the puzzles of Myst.  One of them has you examine each wire in the module, then consult a venn diagram based on the traits of the wire to determine whether you should cut it!  Another one is very language-based, and throws all sorts of confusing layers to make sure you are being very specific with your word choices.  For example, you have to be clear whether you're saying "you are," "you're," "your," or "UR."  Our group is currently having the most difficulty dealing with Morse code.  What I find particularly appealing is that aside from the modules, there's all sorts of information on the bomb that may or may not be necessary.  How many batteries are on the bomb?  What's the serial number?  Are there any relevant labels lit up?  That these details may or may not be relevant at any given time means you can't just go into a standard setup procedure for the sake of time.

What's really awesome to me is that this game has great real-world applications.  You probably won't learn anything about defusing real bombs (though learning Morse code is a nice byproduct), but you will learn good communication skills.  This game is an extremely good team-building exercise.  I don't think you'd get much resistance from employees if you make this a work activity.  This wouldn't be out of place at a Boy/Girl Scout troop either, though the demand for quick reading means you'd probably want to keep it to teens.  At first, you could probably get away with going through it with a single friend, but as we moved on to harder levels, I've found it increasingly necessary to have larger groups.  We beat 5 of the 7 chapters so far.  The bomb defusal "experts" definitely led the bulk of the work at first, but to handle larger workloads, I found the bomb player to need more coordination with more players.  You don't want anyone to be idle at any time if you can avoid it.  While one expert is looking something up, relay information on another module to another player.  The bomb player will also have to juggle that with continuous "needy" modules that demand constant attention, and can't be permanently disarmed.
I thoroughly look forward to all of us upping our game to tackle harder challenges.  I don't even want to think of what will be required to clear all the stages, but I hope we'll be up to the challenge.  Of course, games this awesome should be shared as much as possible, and for newer players, I find it just as entertaining to stand back while they try to figure it out.  Ultimately, I want to see if I can get a group all assigned to their own single page, and good luck to any bomb player who will be able to juggle all of it together.  Between needy modules, properly coordinating information from various team members, and managing the timer, this is an awesome challenge.  What's also great is that everything points to this game getting expansions for even more elaborate bombs.  For example, only parallel ports are important right now, but other ports could easily become used later on (unless we just haven't encountered the yes/no question module asking about them).

For anyone with a laptop and some friends that get together regularly, I highly recommend this game.  This makes an absolutely great party game that will keep everyone involved, as long as you can coordinate who has what page.