Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes (KTANE) can be played over the phone, Skype, or other mediums, but the whole idea is that one player is isolated with a bomb to defuse while the other player has a twenty-three page manual that explains how to defuse it. Bombs are procedurally generated so there are no repeats, and the controls could not be any simpler, so it’s a game that is really easy to pick up and enjoy.
In my experience, KTANE was best played in the same room and with at most three people, with two ‘experts’ and (obviously) one person wearing the Oculus HMD. You can print out the manual or put it on a mobile device, but honestly, the most efficient way is to just have someone at a PC and able to CTRL+F search the PDF for keywords like ‘wire,’ ‘button,’ ‘symbol,’ and such terms that the defuser will say to let the ‘expert’ know what he’s seeing as the clock to detonation continues to countdown.
In addition to the countdown timer, most bombs have a three strike rule, meaning that if you make three mistakes in defusing, it automatically detonates. Furthermore, after two mistakes, the countdown timer speeds up by about a half of a second. Combined with the randomness of the bombs and that the expert must search through the manual and posit follow-up questions to the defuser, the pacing gets fast and fun, and can often be pretty funny.
Playing in VR is, in terms of content, no different than playing outside of VR. But the convenience of being able to have the expert sit at the PC that has the manual while the defuser sits nearby or stands works great as it maintains that inability for either person to see what the other is looking at. As the one who often played the defuser, I also felt a better sense of isolation in not being able to see the expert(s) helping me since I had the HMD on. Anyway, the game requires just the manual and a gamepad. The expert can search and organize the manual how they please but the defuser has just a few simple controls to remember. Look around with head movement, although there is very little of this to do. Actually on that note, you can simple look to the wall next to you and see the control map posted there should you forget it somehow. But essentially, you’re using A to select the bomb, then A to select an individual module, and A again to interact with the module (like to snip a wire). Pressing B backs you out one step while the right stick allows you to rotate the bomb around to show its serial numbers, batteries, and so forth.
The rest is literally up to the players to work out. It’s all about communication and working together to solve increasingly challenging puzzles utilizing a range of different modules. These modules include wires, push buttons, symbol matrices, keypads, and other tricks, all of which require the defuser to relay info to the expert who will then have several follow-up questions that need to be asked quickly, clearly, and concisely. As the challenges get tougher, the answers to those questions will also need to be efficient.
Given its accessibility and simplicity in understanding how to play, its randomness, and the fun of working together, KTANE is a great game, especially for the price. The VR version gives an appreciable added sense of seclusion for the defuser, and in that respect I like it more than just playing it outside of VR. If you have a significant other or friends or family to play this with, you’re sure to have a fun time, and that’s not something you can say for most games.
To the summary…
