Game: Boom-O

Thread: Re: Hold Cards

Jatoha — 2008-10-24T01:15:18+00:00

We play it that it stays the same.

I agree that these rules are rather poorly written for such a simple game.

Maybe they say 'hold' because you can play a scissor card to stop the bomb from exploding when someone plays a boom-o??

Thread: Hold Cards

Howitzer_120mm — 2008-10-23T23:10:51+00:00

The hold card (scissors card) say that "If you play a hold card, the running total holds". What does that mean? I assume it just means that the running total doesn't change. But the other card descriptions say "Running total stays the same", not "the running total holds". I don't get it.

Please help!

Thread: The running joke has run out of gas!

hopelisabeth — 2007-11-24T04:57:29+00:00

A group of my friends and I have been playing board games together nearly every Sunday night now since January. We have a blast every week and it's something I look forward to with similar enthusiasm as a young child on Christmas.

We introduced Boom-O into our repertoire in April and I have played in 12 games since. It's a very intriguing game, and has brought many laughs and jokes. One of those is as follows.

Of the times we've played this game prior to tonight, I have *always* lost, and most often was the first one to go out, maybe the second, if I was lucky. I always boomed out, and never went away without the scars of one too many bombs blowing up. One of the men in our group has won nearly every time, and has most often taken me out each time. It was an ongoing joke not to sit next to him, if I wanted a chance at winning. And time and time again, I continued losing.

So tonight...

I expected it to be much the same. He did the same tactic this time in the first game... traded hands with me and gave me all time changing cards (the 5's and 10's!) and then set the clock at 60. *BOOM* So it goes. For the first game, I wasn't the first to go out, but was the second. He won. Of course...

So we decided to play again, and it was rather ironic. He blew up first. He NEVER blows up first. But surely enough, he did. He had a hand with all the number cards (5's and 10's) and got a taste of his own medicine. :-D And then one by one, the others blew up as well. I was left unscathed, miraculously, as the others were completely blown away, obliterated into tiny pieces.

Rather ironic, considering that I *always* blew up, and I *never* won sitting next to him. I have a tendency of losing board games... but tonight was different. I had not even been bombed the second game at all... a first time in our group's history for me.

And now the ongoing running joke of me sitting next to him meaning I'll lose is now blown out of the water... and has run out of gas.

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ZiggyZambo — 2007-03-31T16:24:42+00:00

Thread: Rules? What rules?

FLo711 — 2007-03-15T13:22:19+00:00

Got time to kill? A few spare minutes? Then try out Boom-o for size, a fantastic filler game, thats only real flaw is suffering from the curse that is being related to Uno.

There were three of us in attendance this game session so we pulled out old reliable for a bit of time-bomb action. The first round was fast (really they all are in a 3 player game) and Amanda ended it with 2 cards to go by pulling out a BOMB. Alex and I both had hold cards and so Amanda was down 1 time bomb. At this point we all threw in our cards and got ready for the next deal... the only problem is that I recently found out that you don't re-deal after a time bomb explodes, you just draw up to 7 cards. We decided to do it the next round.

This time around I was the victim of a crappy hand all numbers and so I hit 65 and ...Boom-o. Unfortunately everyone threw in their cards again for a re-deal. Old habits and all that. Again we said we would draw to 7 next round.

Round 3 was much the same as the last except this time it was Alex who had the dud hand and so we were all left with 2 time bombs remaining each. Oh and we forgot to draw to 7 again. Round 4 was a close one with all three of us gettng down to our final cards before I pulled out the BOMB card. Luckily there were no holds to be had by anyone and they both went down to one time bomb each. By this stage we had given up on the whole 'draw to 7' as someone invariably tossed thier cards in frustration at the end of each round.

I was up with 2 life bomb to their 1 and feeling confident. More the fool was I. I went over the first hand, and was bombed the second and suddenly my game was over. With only one time bomb left each, Alex and Amanda dealt the final round. The hand lasted a long time with both player drawing and playing two 'draw +1' cards each. On the second last card Alex took the gamble with the BOMB card, but Amanda flashed her hold and was crowned 'Champion of the world - for the night'.

It was fun, but unfortunate that none of us had the self control to manage to play with the proper rules now that we know them. Since it was only a three player game it probably didn't make much of a difference, but I'm keen to try again next time we have a 6 or 7 player Boom-o session to see just how much faster the game will be.

Thread: 58, 59, 60 - Boom-O!!!

FLo711 — 2007-03-10T03:49:42+00:00

Ahh Boom-O, an old favourite of mine and my groups. We've played this countless times and enjoyed every single game. The fact that it supports so many players is probably one of its best aspects as we often have 5 or more people wanting to play. Actually it is only meant for 6 players max, but since there are enough time bomb cards for 8 players you can squeeze in a few extra and we often do.

Onto the session!

We were playing with 7 players here, 6 experienced Boomers and one newbie, we gave her the helpful 'explantion cards' and we were off!. As often happens in large players games, soem peoples hand were good... others not so good. What this means is that you will see a lot of 'bomb' cards played, and usually early on in the game. This is exactly what happened here, of course in a large players game there is also a greater chance that at least one person doesn't have a 'hold' card. And indeed hold cards were in short supply, the first bomb caught three players, the seconds another three and the last one took out 4 players! Mel was unlucky in all three instances and so was the first person out of the game. Myself and another player were sitting on one time bomb, two others had two left and Enrico and the newbie-kate were sitting pretty with all thier time bombs.

Now came the double play cards. Two in a row in fact, one took Alex down to one timebomb, the other wiped me out of the game. Another early bomb narrowed the field even more leaving only 3 players in the game, Enrico and Kate on 3 time bombs each and Kirk with a paltry one. Finally we had a round without a self detonation and Kate managed to finish all of her cards with a wiley use of the trade hands card, taking out Kirk and leaving just her and Enrico.

Speed is the name of the game in the final rounds, with only 2 players the game changes significantly, much more likely to come down to a bad/good draw than anything else, finishing your hand is much more likely to happen. Kate got the best of the draws winning the battle after only losing one life to Enricos bomb., proving that this game is as easy for newbies to win as experienced players (another good selling point - at least for some gamers

Note: We play the game slightly wrong apparantly (only discovered after reading some threads here, instead of drawing up to 7 we redeal to all remaining players. This lengthens the game considerably, but does server to give people a better chance as an initial bad deal won't ruin thier chances. The downtime for the shuffle/deal is not really very noticeable in our group as we tend to talk incessantly during the whole experience)

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-02-15T15:24:10+00:00

high resolution scan of the back

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-02-15T15:23:38+00:00

high resolution scan of cover

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FitisGames.be — 2007-01-08T14:53:50+00:00

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Blade Spirit — 2006-12-18T05:00:44+00:00

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Blade Spirit — 2006-12-18T04:57:12+00:00

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creech — 2006-06-29T04:15:51+00:00

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Storm King Zero — 2006-03-03T03:02:58+00:00

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Storm King Zero — 2006-03-03T02:58:51+00:00

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Storm King Zero — 2006-03-03T02:52:49+00:00

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

Jatoha — 2005-11-11T21:09:17+00:00

I haven't had this issue come up, but I guess my kids aren't very patient and play the bombs as soon as they get them!

Still, I would play it the way Steve has stated.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

steveoliverc — 2005-11-11T20:16:00+00:00

err, yea, I meant you lose the game if you lose your last ticking time bomb, thanks for clarifying that!

Right, sometimes you want to hold onto the Bomb card in the hopes that your opponents have already played their Hold cards to stop the timer.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

Yib-Yab — 2005-11-11T15:29:25+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply.

Still, I dont see what "chance" you are taking if you play it your way.

If the BoomO card can never be NOT played, than why not just play it as soon as you are dealt it? Unless you think that if you play it last, the other players will have fewer cards in their hands, which I suppose means less chances they will have a sicissors card in their hands.

Just seems kind of cheap that there's no way to opt not to play such a powerful card that could blow up in your face.

And your last paragraph doesn't make much sense; If your last ticking time bomb in front of you goes off, then you LOSE; Not win. And I dont see how it has anything to do with avoiding a boom-o card.

Thanks anyway.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

steveoliverc — 2005-11-10T18:01:06+00:00

We play that, yes, you might have to flip over one of your own Ticking Time Bomb cards if you go out with a Bomb card, and all the other players have a Hold card. That's the chance you have to take if you hold this card until the end.

However, if you are down to your last Ticking Time Bomb, then as soon as you play your last card, you over your last Ticking Time Bomb and win the game. So in this case, you don't need to worry about the Bomb card backfiring on your.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

Yib-Yab — 2005-11-10T17:48:43+00:00

Great review. I too, thought (and still think) its slightly "broken" just because of one rule hole that's never been filled:

What exactly do you do if you GO OUT with the BOOM-O card? Does it still go into effect?

I would say no, since the BOOM-O card is such a dangerous one to play (since it could backfire in your face), I dont feel a player should be FORCED to play it if they end up with one. So I figured that if you have a BOOM-O card, you can either play it, or if you think everyone has a sicssors card, you can opt to try to just GO OUT with the BOOM-O card being the last one.

Hope that makes sense, just wanted to know what you guys thought or how you play it.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

steveoliverc — 2005-10-14T17:59:06+00:00

Yep, we missed the one about drawing up to 7 cards after every round too. I've since had a chance to play a lot of this game, and it's a huge improvement over Uno, and I enjoy the game a lot. The students really like it and play it every week, and a few of them had already played this game before seeing it at the after school game club.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

Jatoha — 2005-10-13T14:37:26+00:00

Hi, Steven,

I think this game will be a great choice for those who enjoy Uno.

We actually did not find any of the rules confusing, per se, we just missed some rules when we played. I found the rule book very poorly organized, but maybe it was just me!

Here are the ones that we missed:

If you "go out" and play the last card in your hand, every other player has to explode a bomb. We missed this rule at first and BOY! what a difference adding it has made in the game. You have a real incentive to get rid of your cards, to switch hands, to play the "draw one" card, to skip someone when they're down to one card, etc etc.

The clock has to go OVER 60 for a bomb to explode, somehow we missed this too--we were playing that when the clock hit 60, a bomb explodes for the first game or so.

Everyone draws their hand back up to seven after any bomb explodes. I think at first we were playing that only the people who exploded a bomb draws back to seven.

That's about it! Good Luck!

Thread: Re: Extra time bomb cards?

steveoliverc — 2005-09-28T19:15:47+00:00

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense. Seems like it might change the strategy a little as well, since I've noticed that if I know I'm going to blow up a bomb, I try to hold good cards in my hand rather than waste them, and save them for the next round.

Thread: Re: Extra time bomb cards?

reigh1020 — 2005-09-28T17:55:45+00:00

The other bomb cards are included so you can customize the game a bit. If you want to play a longer game, give each player more bombs. When my family plays, usually with 3 or 4 players, we use 6 bombs per player. It just depends on how many players are in the game, and how long or short you wish the game to be.

Thread: Re: Boom-O review

steveoliverc — 2005-09-21T03:45:05+00:00

Thanks for the review. The students in my after school game club also like Uno so I'll bring this in and I'm expecting they'll like it.

Which rules did you find confusing, and how did you fix them?

Thread: Extra time bomb cards?

steveoliverc — 2005-09-21T03:26:28+00:00

I'm going to bring this game to the next game club (the students enjoy Uno and this is a fun twist on that), and I'm wondering why there are 24 time bomb cards. You deal out 3 to each player, and there are at most 6 players -- so that's 18 time bombs -- what do you do with the 6 extras?

Thread: Re: everyone dies?

steveoliverc — 2005-09-21T03:23:17+00:00

Just noticed in the rules, under the Alternative Shorter Gameplay, there is a rule to resolve ties -- count the values of any number cards in your hand, and count Command cards as 1 point. Lowest total wins. So, if both players flip over their last time bomb as a result of the same play, the player who had gone out of cards would be the winner (no points left in their hand).

Thread: Re: everyone dies?

steveoliverc — 2005-09-21T03:18:18+00:00

My vote is that both you and your opponent must flip over one of your Ticking Time Bomb cards. You, because you pushed the timer past 60, and your opponent, because they still had a card in their hand when you had none.

Of course the game is not necessarily done, the game is not over until one player is out of ticking time bomb cards. I guess it would be a tie if you both turned over your last one on the same turn.

Thread: Re: everyone dies?

Friendless — 2005-09-18T13:28:25+00:00

I guess you redeal 7 new cards and play another round...

And hope we find a different hole in the rules nex time!

Thread: Re: everyone dies?

Moon Knight — 2005-09-18T01:44:05+00:00

You are dead because you moved it past 60 seconds thus blowing up, your opponent didn't blow up because you didn't survive the discard of your last card.
(....stops typing... reads rules....)

On second thought the rules just state conditions where you blow up. It does not handle the scenario of multiple condtions at the same time. The above is just an opinion. Geez, CCG-like timing rules issues in silly ol' Boom-o!

I guess you redeal 7 new cards and play another round...

Thread: everyone dies?

Friendless — 2005-09-17T11:09:40+00:00

OK, so my opponent and I have one life left each. The total is at 60. I play a 10, which is my last card. The total goes over 60, I blow up. I discard my last card, my opponent blows up. Who wins?

Thread: Boom-O review

Jatoha — 2005-08-05T20:29:56+00:00

Boom-O is another offering from the makers of Uno and it shares many of its traits. The theme of “Ticking time-bombs” really appeals to my kids. It’s a nice, light, fun game and although it is in the same vein as Uno, it is much more interesting.

RULES:

Each player is given three unexploded bombs. The object is to keep your bombs from exploding. If you are the last player with an unexploded bomb, you win.

Players are dealt hands of seven cards. Players take turns playing a card on the discard pile. If a player plays the last card in his hand, then all the other players have to “explode” one of their bombs. This is done by flipping a bomb card over to the explosion side. Of course, it’s inevitable that everyone will yell, “BOOM!”

There are two types of cards. Time cards and Command cards.

Time cards add time to the ticking clock. Players need to keep a running total of what time is on the clock. The player who causes the clock to go OVER 60 seconds has to explode one of his bombs. The clock can be at 60 seconds without exploding a bomb.

Command cards include the familiar “skip”, “reverse”,“Draw 1” and “Draw 2” cards. There is the chaotic “trade hands with any player” card. The “Double Play’ card makes the next player have to add time to the clock or explode a bomb. Lastly, there are the fun “Bomb” and “Scissors” cards. When the “bomb” card is played, all other players must explode one of their bombs unless they have a “scissors” card. If all of the players have a “scissors” card, then the person who laid the bomb has to explode his own bomb.

Players draw cards to bring their hands back up to seven cards every time a bomb is exploded.

IMPRESSIONS

Boom-O is an enjoyable game that really appeals to kids. My children like to play this much more than I do. They find the ticking clock suspenseful and yelling, “Boom!” is always a hoot. I find it rather mindless, but in a pleasant way. There are some strategies to use and decisions to be made, which makes it a big improvement over Uno.

However, Boom-O’s enjoyment is marred by poorly written rules that can have people playing the wrong way. I initially thought that this game was “broken” but after several re-readings of the rules, we finally began to play this the correct way and now we do enjoy it. The minor rules are almost over-explained so that the main points are lost. Did the makers of Uno think that people wouldn’t be able to grasp this game???

At any rate, if you have kids and are looking for an alternative to Uno, this game will fit the bill. Keep your expectations low and it’s a fun time for not a lot of money.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

The rules included are confusing. A customer rep from Mattel gave me the following clarifications:
1. The round is over and all players draw their hands back up to 7 cards if a player discards their last card OR if a player is forced to play a card that sends the timer total over 60.
2. The round is NOT over if someone flips a tickiing bomb card due to a "Bomb" or "Double Play" card but the timer total does go back to 0 in those cases.
3. If a player is forced to play a card that sends the timer total over 60, he actually plays that card to the discard pile. If it's his last card, all other players must flip a ticking bomb card over as well.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

I bought this game packaged together with Uno and this is by far the more entertaining of the two. Games go quickly, which is good since players are being eliminated as the game progresses. Sure, there's quit a bit of luck involved in which cards you get in your hand, but there is some level of strategy as to how best to play them. I find Boom-O makes a good light filler between longer games.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

After a double play card is played and the running time is 60 sec.
Scenario one:
The next player doesn't have a card to effect the running total. After fliping over one of his or her ticking time boobs, is his or her turn over or is that person required to play a card? If the player is required to play a card what is the running total?

Scenario Two:
The next player only has command cards and cards that will push the running time over 60 seconds. After the player pushes the total over 60 seconds what is the running total?