What are the key components to a successful party? Good music, tasty food, plentiful drinks, great friends… and bombs? I know, it seems like a weird thing to have at a party, but that’s what Steel Crate Games thought would be a great addition to your next get together. It’s a game meant for 2 or more people, but let’s face it; the more people you have shouting at each other, the more fun it is! So let’s take a look into what makes Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes so entertaining.

The premise of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is simple: one player looks at their screen and describes the bomb they are seeing, while the other players read from their bomb disarming manuals and try to instruct the person looking at the explosive device on how to deactivate it. You can download the bomb disarming manuals onto your phone or print them out if that’s easier for you to look through. You have 5 minutes in which to disable the bomb before it detonates. It sounds easy, and in a way it actually is, but you’d be surprised at how quickly time gets away from you when trying to describe hieroglyphic symbols on potential buttons to push.

The graphics aren’t anything mind blowing, but then again they don’t need to be. Yes, they could have tried for some more realistic textures and depth, but when you’re primarily focused on spitting out descriptions or scanning manuals as quickly as possible, hyper realism isn’t necessary. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes does a good enough job at providing a clearly designed and easily readable bomb unit.

While I played it on an Xbox One, I know Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is also available in VR devices, and I have to say that I think that’s probably the best way to go with this game. It makes it easier to keep the players reading from the manual from looking at the screen and cheating as well as providing a more immersive experience to the bomb diffusing player. Given the option, I think that would be my preferred choice of playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.

There’s almost nothing to speak about with regards to the sound department. There’s no voice acting or soundtrack in Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, but the few sound effects like the beeping of the clock as it counts down or the snip of the wires as you cut them, are well done.

I have to admit that I was surprised by how much fun I had playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. I thought the novelty would wear off almost immediately, but instead I found myself more and more engaged in it as the bombs got more intricate and complicated. Plus there’s the hilarity of trying to depict unknown symbols and objects to your bomb squad as they frantically try to make sense of what your describing. Then there’s the challenge of trying to understand their directions as they read bizarre instructions from their manuals. I know it sounds strange, but if you’re having some friends over you might want to check out Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. I promise you’ll have a blast (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

 

Graphics: 7.5 Nothing super realistic, but clean and clear enough to understand what everything is suppose to be.	Gameplay: 8.0 One person describes and interacts with the bomb while others read instructions from the bomb diffusing manual. Simple and easy to play.
Sound: 7.0 Not much to go off of here, but the few sound effects used are well done.	Fun Factor: 9.0 A surprisingly fun time that brings out the inner bomb squad member in all of us. Best if played with 3-4 people.
Final Verdict: 8.0

Reviewed on Switch.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is available now on Xbox One, PS4, Android, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

A copy of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes was provided by the publisher.