Bomb Busters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• The Game
  • Dual Cut Action
  • Solo Cut Action
  • Reveal Your Red Wires Action
• Wires and Tokens
• Clarifications
• End of the Game
• Quick Reference

Game Components

1 board (with a dial), 70 Wire tiles (48 blue wires "1" to "12", 4 of each; 11 red wires "1.5" to "11.5"; 11 yellow wires "1.1" to "11.1"), 17 cards (12 Equipment cards, 5 Character cards), 40 tokens (26 Info tokens including 2 yellow, 12 Validation tokens, 1 "=" token, 1 "&" token), 8 large Mission cards, 5 tile stands, 7 markers (4 yellow and 3 red), 5 "Surprise" boxes to open later, 8 resealable bags, 1 Bomb Busters standee (for mission 66). (Install the dial on the board before the first game.)

Setup

1. Select a Mission card (missions get progressively more difficult—recommended in order). Training missions: Novice (1–3) teach the basics; Intermediate (4–7) teach advanced concepts; Expert (8) is the final exam—succeed to open the 9–19 Mission Box.
2. Designate a Captain (at random for the first mission, then pass to the left each subsequent mission). Place the "Captain" character card in front of them; everyone else places a character card of their choice faceup.
3. The Captain reads the Mission card aloud and places it flipped over at the bottom-left of the board so everyone sees the special rules. (Front: setup instructions. Back: special rules, which may introduce new rules not in this rulebook.)
4. Distribute tile stands by player count: 2 players → 2 stands each; 3 players → Captain 2, others 1; 4–5 players → Captain 1, others 1.
5. Prepare the mission's Wire tiles: (A) collect all 48 blue wire tiles (except training missions 1–3); (B) draw at random the number of red and yellow wires shown on the Mission card; (C) indicate the drawn red/yellow values by placing the matching markers on the board with their blank side up (the "?" facedown); (D) shuffle all Wire tiles (blue + red + yellow) together facedown. For "1 out of 2/3" or "2 out of 3" wires, reveal that many, place markers "?" side up, shuffle those tiles, add the in-play number to the blue pile facedown, and set the remainder aside out of play unseen.
6. Deal all wires facedown as equally as possible among all the tile stands (some may have more).
7. Each expert places their wires in their tile stand with the information facing themselves, sorted left-to-right in ascending order (tiles on a stand are that expert's hand). When an expert has 2 stands, deal/sort them separately, but both together form the player's hand. The decimal values on red/yellow wires are used only for sorting—during the game they are simply "RED" or "YELLOW".
8. On the board, take as many Equipment cards as there are experts and place them faceup over the checkmark (you cannot use them yet). Set the detonator dial to the section matching the number of experts. Place all Info tokens and the 12 Validation tokens on the board.
9. Starting with the Captain and going clockwise, each expert places an Info token in front of their stand, pointing to one of the blue wires in their hand with the matching value. (You cannot use a yellow Info token during setup. A player with 2 stands places only 1 Info token.)

The Game

Starting with the Captain and going clockwise, each expert takes a turn. On their turn, the active bomb disposal expert must do 1 of three actions: Dual Cut, Solo Cut, or Reveal Your Red Wires.

Dual Cut Action

Cut 2 identical wires—1 of your own and 1 of a teammate's. Clearly point to a specific teammate's wire and guess its value ("This wire is a 9").

• If correct, the action succeeds: the teammate places that wire faceup in front of their stand (without changing its position), then the active expert reveals one of their identical wires faceup in front of their own stand.
• If wrong, the action fails: if the wire is red, the bomb explodes and the mission fails; if blue or yellow, the detonator dial advances 1 space (the bomb explodes if the dial reaches the skull), and the teammate places an Info token in front of that wire showing its real value. (The active expert does not reveal where in their own hand the tile they wanted to cut is.)

Solo Cut Action

If the last of a value's identical wires still in the game are all in the active expert's hand, they may cut those matching wires in pairs (2 or 4) alone, without involving a teammate—cut all 4 at once if you have a full set, or the remaining 2 if a pair of that value has already been cut. Place the cut wires faceup in front of the stand.

Reveal Your Red Wires Action

Only if the active expert's remaining uncut wires are all RED: reveal them, placing them faceup in front of the stand.

Wires and Tokens

Validation Tokens: As soon as all 4 wires of the same value have been cut, place 1 Validation token on the matching number on the board (a time-saving—and life-saving—reminder).

Yellow Wires: Cut the same way as blue wires (Dual or Solo Cut), but their numeric value is used only for sorting during setup—during the game all yellow wires are simply "YELLOW". To cut one via Dual Cut, have a yellow wire in hand, point to a teammate's wire, and say "This wire is yellow." If correct, both are cut; if wrong, a yellow Info token reveals the identified wire's value and the dial advances 1 space. A Solo Cut with yellow wires requires all remaining yellow wires in one expert's hand.

Equipment Cards: A piece of equipment becomes usable as soon as 2 wires of the value in its top-left corner have been cut—slide the card up to reveal the green checkmark. Each equipment can be used only once (flip facedown when used). The card's text describes when it can be used; most can be used any time by anyone, even outside their turn, and several can be used in a row. (The X or Y ray equipment can combine with the Double/Triple/Super Detector.)

Character Cards: Each expert can use the personal equipment on their character card once per mission (flip facedown when used). Example—Double Detector: during a Dual Cut, state a value and point to 2 wires in a teammate's stand. If either matches, the action succeeds (if both match, the teammate chooses which to cut without sharing details). If neither matches, the action fails—the dial advances and the teammate places an Info token in front of one of the two wires (their choice). If only 1 of the 2 is red, the bomb does not explode; the teammate places an Info token in front of the "not red" wire without sharing details.

Clarifications

• No More Wires: When an expert has an empty tile stand, skip their turn and continue clockwise with the others.
• Communication is intentionally very limited. It is forbidden to talk about the wires in your hand, imply their value, recall information from previous turns, or share guesses/assumptions aloud. It is permitted to discuss general tactics, equipment use, special rules, and to remind a teammate to use their equipment.

End of the Game

The mission ends in success when all experts have empty tile stands. It ends in failure if a red wire is cut or the detonator dial advances to the skull—change the Captain and restart the mission. After completing mission 8, open the first "Surprise" box (Missions 9–19).

Quick Reference

On your turn, do one: Dual Cut (choose a value in your hand, point at a teammate's tile, and ask if it's that value—match: reveal both; no match: dial advances and an Info token marks the teammate's wire; red: the bomb explodes); Solo Cut (reveal the 2 or 4 remaining wires of the same value from your hand); Reveal Your Red Wires (if all your wires are red). Win: all stands empty. Loss: the bomb explodes.

Remember: each character has 1 personal equipment (once per mission); equipment becomes usable once 2 wires of its value are cut; all yellow wires = "yellow", all red wires = "red"; there are 4 copies of each blue wire 1–12 (place a Validation token once all 4 of a value are cut); a player with 2 stands treats both as a single hand.