One of my favorite things in the world are local party games that utilize your mobile device. I mean pretty much everyone has a smartphone on them at all times, and if you happen to find yourself with a group of friends and nothing to do, busting out your devices and playing a silly game together can be a ton of fun. One such game is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes from Steel Crate Games. In it, one person acts as the “Defuser" and is tasked with defusing a bomb by snipping wires, inputting codes, and generally solving little puzzle-like elements on a procedurally generated bomb. The other players who are playing all have access to a Bomb Manual with instructions on how to solve these various puzzles, but they can’t see the actual bomb. The trick is to try and talk the Defuser through how to defuse the bomb while the time is ticking down, and if you’ve ever played the classic Space Team or Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator you can probably imagine the frantic shouting match that this can devolve into. Keep Talking originally launched as a VR game, and I think the trailer for that original version is best at conveying what the game is all about.
Following its popularity on desktop and consoles as a VR game, Keep Talking also made its way to the Nintendo Switch last year and along with that launch it ditched the requirement to play in VR on other platforms too. With that, now the game is making its way to both iOS and Android. What was great about the VR version of the game was that only the Defuser could see the bomb, which is kind of required for the game to work. If you’re playing on PC or on console on a big TV in your living room, sure you can ask the other players to turn away and not look at the screen, but that’s not super appealing. With mobile, and to a certain extent the Switch, it’s much easier for the Defuser to guard their device from everyone else without making them feel like outcasts or asking them to stare at a wall. Also it only requires one person to have a copy of the game to play, as those who are not the Defuser can visit this special website to get access to the Bomb Defusal Manual and either play by viewing it directly in their mobile browser or even print out hard copies. This is key for me as the less friction involved in getting a party game like this going the better. No word on release date just yet but I absolutely can’t wait for Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes to arrive on mobile.
