Great use of the Oculus Rift
In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, a game originally developed at a game jam, one player wears the Oculus Rift and sees a bomb that needs to be defused but doesn’t know how to defuse it. Their partner only has a binder. Like, a real binder — no Oculus Rift involved. The binder has all the steps needed to defuse the bomb, but the reader can’t actually see the bomb.
It’s a game about communication, and it is wonderful not only to spectate, but of course to play. It’s really the only game on the PAX East show floor that keeps me coming back for more.
The player with the Oculus Rift can manipulate the bomb by rotating it or by choosing one of the many different sections on the bomb to interact with. There are many different possibly sections that could be on the bomb, but the simple ones consist of a series of wires or symbols, or even just one single button with some text on it.
The game allows for players to mess up two times. After that, the bomb detonates. Bombs are randomly generated each time, so it’s not feasible to memorize what to do in specific situations. Plus, the sections themselves change so it would take a ton of memorization.
The player with the binder has a series of instructions that need clear communication as to what the bomb actually shows. For example, one section of the beginner bomb has a set of about six wires. However, depending on what colors those wires contain will affect which wire needs to be cut. The binder will say something along the lines of “If the section contains any yellow wires, cut the third wire.” It becomes a constant back and forth between players in a race against the clock that is absolutely exhilarating.
After beating the beginner bomb on day one of PAX, my partner and I decided we were up for the harder bomb on day two.
We were not.
The first obstacle on the second bomb brought us all three strikes. It was a more complicated series of steps that also included memorization. I was not prepared to keep notes while frantically communicating, but that’s exactly what I had to do in order to win. Step five would say “If the number display is a four, press the position of the button you pressed in step two.” What the hell did we press in step two? BZZZT-BOOM! Well, shit.
Apparently there are even harder bombs. As I was perusing the binder of information, I saw steps that were entire pages long, something called the “Who’s on First” section, and mazes. Mazes! Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes looks like it would be a perfect party game for just about anyone. This may be the first and only game ever to bring me back every single day of PAX!
