Players have to think of words associated with scenes pictured on the cards. For example you are challenged to think of things you would find in a sewing basket, or on the beach or in the garden. Nerves are tested as you are put on the spot to answer as quickly as possible. This comical word game is made all the more fun by the passing of a small ticking plastic bomb between players. The infernal ticking noise makes it even more difficult to think of an answer as the pressure to shout out your answer mounts knowing that the bomb might go off at any minute! The bomb goes off of different intervals each time so you never know when it will happen. If you end up with the bomb when it explodes, you take the card. The player with the fewest cards wins.
The pictures on the 55 cards can be used as prompts to include younger children in a version of the game. Freddy loves to join in and he was able to name some objects in the scenes. The cards are also printed with a caption which comes in three languages adding an extra educational dimension to the game.
I thought this fast paced game was really fun. It was suitable for the whole family to play together which is something that it is really important to me with my multiple-aged children! But with the element of luck involved in passing the bomb, anyone could win!
We really enjoyed playing this game...it is amazing how your mind goes blank under pressure and makes you blurt out nonsense, which of course the kids find hysterically funny!
The cards do get a bit repetitive with extensive play, but you can easily make up your own ideas for rounds and still use the bomb to keep it interesting. It would be a fun game for taking on holiday as it is very compact...but I would NOT recommend taking a ticking bomb on to an aeroplane!
Pass the Bomb Junior costs £15.99 at Toys R Us. The bomb takes 2 x AAA batteries.
