PixlBit

I bought this in the Steam sale, had a chance to check it out with some frendly coworkers during some downtime. Some quick impressions to share, since Steam's sale is almost over.

A quick verdict: I like it, but I would have appreciated it more if the concept went in another direction based on what I've seen so far.

I went into the game without doing any decent research, but at the same time, I developed some expectations. As it stands, bombs are pretty... boring. I expected to see a serious of tests or tasks to disarm each bomb that was interwoven. Picture a large, tangled knot. Each this knot has so many various tangles that there's no one place to start, and no one definite ending. However, no matter where you start, you can always affect the untying of the knot on the whole, or make it worse, on the whole. I picture diffusing a bomb to possibly be similar, or alternatively, to at least be a knot where untangling one knot opens the rope up to the second knot, with very deliberate procedures that must be used to avoid making the second knot any worse, or worse, cutting the rope.

Maybe my metaphor is confusing, but what I pictured was a world where I had ten or fifteen minutes, and I'd have to read off phonetics and would have to approach "M as in Mancy" scenarios to conquer a puzzle.

What you get provides some of those moments, it isn't a wholesome experience.

Why?

Because each bomb is a set of independent, distinct randomly generated puzzles that is bound by a few simple rules.

Instead of learning a serial number, or looking for tells to learn the make and model of the bomb so you can tell which color wire is all right to cut to safely remove a current from a detonator, you get an independent module, with some very brief "If/then" style instructions. If there is one yellow wire, cut the very last wire in the module. That sort of thing.

There are a few other wire-cutting modules, too. A simon-based module, a morse-code based module, and several others. Each bomb can fit up to six modules on two sides, for a total of twelve, but it's all very sterile. Cutting the wire up above, doesn't have any actual "Bomb-disarming" context.

Let's picture a fantasy scenario for what I wanted: When it comes to wire cutting, you follow the same idea above. The bomb, itself, had the serial number scratched off, and was placed into a container of some sort without identifying marks on it, so it seems to be self-made from some sort of bomb kit some mysterious villain used, so there are some things we can likely take for granted. As it turns out, because of how this kit is made, we can take some things for granted. For example, if the cut wire above was blue, we'd know that the detonator was using a standard detonator for some fantasy type of explosive. With me so far?

By determining that it's a standard detonator, we can take a further step along determining the safest way to disable the timer. At the end, there comes a choice between clipping two wires, or perhaps choosing to hold a button down while unplugging a cable vs. leaving the button unpressed. One option will stop the timer, and allow the complicated procedure to continue without a rush. The other? Speed it up, or deduct a set amount of time from it, while, at the same time, refraining from detonation. How would one tell? Various, seemingly insignificant details the one disarming the bomb might pick up on would be relevant, and perhaps those details might not be available by the time you reach this point in the process. If noted to the "expert" who can't see the screen but has the bomb, then he can make a guess as to which of the two the bomb may actually be, and the net gain would be an easier disarm.

Instead, bombs run on a "three strikes, you're out" policy with a non-interactable timer, and again, things run independently. Playing with friends, the concept is fun, sure... But I had something much more intricate in mind than "Try to describe one of a few basic puzzles quickly."

It does have VR, which I won't get to experience. That concept seems cool, certainly, but the gameplay itself isn't where it should be, and unfortunately, without an overhaul to the bomb system to provide much, much more depth and interweaving parts, I don't think there's much room for this game to grow. Buy it if you need a quick, kinda quirky party game, but consider passing if you're looking for something that develops well between two dedicated gamers.