"Clearly if you are the bomb, you are cool and the best. However if you bombed, something else is the bomb you are just the bomber and therefore someone is cooler than you."
- Chris Ravenscroft (Strictly Better Games)
Note: This is not a word for word transcript of the interview, some grammatical mistakes and other things of that nature were altered. For the full unaltered transcript, go find this interview listed under the interviews tab in The Social Deduction Network discord.
Dino: The Social Deduction Network is blown away by Strictly Better Games. Their game, “Bombs Away,” is a social deduction game live on Kickstarter right now, and we have Chris with us today to tell us all about it. Chris, when something is awesome, we say it is “Da Bomb,” but when something fails, we say that it “Bombed.” Why is this? And if somebody made a really cool explosive that failed, would it be fair to say, “Da Bomb Bombed”?
Chris: I see you're starting with the hard hitting questions. Clearly if you are the bomb, you are cool and the best. However if you bombed, something else is the bomb you are just the bomber and therefore someone is cooler than you.
Dino: Hmm... That sounds like pretty sound logic to me. So it's a bit of an oxymoron, I suppose, to say, "Da Bomb Bombed." Fascinating… Now that we got the tough questions out of the way, we can continue. When I first discovered the campaign for your game, one of the first things that came to my mind was the film Inside Man starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. The film is about a gang of bank robbers who hide in plain sight among the bank patrons post heist, and the authorities have the burden of discerning them all apart. Was this film an inspiration for your game?
Chris: I can say it certainly wasn't because I had never heard of it until now. I might have to give it a watch.
Dino: Oh, it's really good! Jodie Foster is in it, too! I won't spoil it for you… but it's really well done.
Chris: Now I'm intrigued!
Dino: The bank robbers planned it from the start, so they had their faces and hands covered completely, and they immediately rounded up the patrons into different rooms and kept moving them about, hiding amongst them periodically, so in the end, none was sure who the robbers were and who the patrons were. Felt a lot like your game where players move to a different room in different combinations.
Chris:I can see why. That's a fun coincidence.
Dino: At any rate, were there games that inspired you when creating the game? If so, what are they? If not, what are some of your favorite games that inspired you to create games of your own?
Chris: An obvious inspiration I'd be silly not to mention is Two Rooms and a Boom. The most famous game that uses the separation between rooms, thinking about how that game uses the different rooms helped me think about how I could use that mechanic differently. I enjoy a lot of hidden role games in general so I imagine I've picked up bits and pieces of everything along the way. The Police role has similarities to the assassin from the resistance avalon for example. I think one of my favourite games for social deduction is Battlestar galactica, which is definitely a much bigger game.
Dino: Yes, I remember someone in the comments compared your game to Two Rooms and a Boom, but you explained how very different the two games ultimately are, and I agree; they are quite different. For anyone who does not know how your game works, would you mind explaining the objective and the game’s mechanics?
Chris: Sure thing. All of the players are sat in a room with 2 item cards and a role card. In a completely different room lies the item deck. During the player's turn they will choose another player and take them to the item deck where they will perform their action to manipulate the item deck in front of the other player. After they have completed their action they return to the original room. After each player has taken a turn like this the game ends. The Bomber team is trying to plant a bomb item card into the deck without being caught by the police role. The rest of the players are trying to stop that from happening.
Dino: Right, and there are cards that defuse the bomb so long as they are placed adjacent to a live bomb, correct? Only players place cards into the deck blindly, so bombers can't see if they are placing a bomb next to a defusing card, and bystanders can't tell if they are placing a defusing card next to a bomb. What do the gold cards add to the game?
Chris: That's right. There are a couple defusers to help the Bystanders out. But they could just as easily end up in the Bombers hands. So you're going to have to get information about the other cards in the deck from the other players, who of course may not be that truthful. Gold cards add to the game with what they aren't. There are a limited number of Bombs and an especially limited number of defusers. If a Bomber is unfortunate and doesn't have a single bomb to do the perfect play, they might have to improvise and place a gold card in the deck instead, hoping a bomber places one later. Or alternatively they could try and steal a bomb from another player. You'll have to adapt to your hand each game and balance the risk/reward. This can be advantageous to the bomber team as well, since bombers might have to do strange things when they don't have a bomb. It can make your strange lies more believable.
Dino: Ah, I see! The fun part for me will be deciding who to trust. Someone can come back and say, "I placed a defuser in the deck," but I might be wondering if this person placed a bomb.
Could you also explain the Prime Suspect variant?
Chris: Of course. The Prime suspect replaces a bystander and their role is known to every player. At the very end of the game, if the prime suspect has a bomb card in their hand. They are on the Bomber Team (They don't have to be found by the police). Otherwise they are a bystander. I'm sure you can imagine with the abilities to swap cards around how this can be fun. One subtle thing is that a Prime suspect would need two bombs in their hand to bomb the deck and still remain on the bomber team. Be cautious of those who choose to take the prime suspect out!
Dino: Wow, that would add a lot! If the Prime Suspect feels a bomb has not been successfully planted, he would want to plant his own, but then he wouldn't have a bomb in hand anymore. Dilemma! Is there any reason why you did not think to include a Werewolf variant?
Chris: If a werewolf walked into the bank. I'd probably want them arrested first! I found the prime suspect works quite well on a thematic level. I can't help but feel people would notice a werewolf transforming.
Dino: The werewolf doesn't have to transform until later. Normally, they look just like everyone else, hence the challenge of identifying them! So... it sounds like you have no real reason not to include one, then...? Just think about it… Do players try to eavesdrop on the conversations that take place when two players are in the other room?
Chris: Players can't help but notice murmurings from the other room especially if someone is loud. But in the places we've played it it would have been very difficult to hear what's going on. It's usually everyone talking in the first room being heard by those in the second than the other way around since groups tend to get a little rowdier.
Dino: I see. Come to think of it, the two people who leave are also missing out on private conversations since the people who do not leave continue to talk, don't they...? You made a decision not to have any stretch goals for your campaign. Why did you make this decision?
Chris: Since this is my first campaign I wanted to make it short and sweet. Hopefully the simpler the campaign, the greater trust that people would have in a first-timer since I already have everything ready to go. I also didn't want any stretch goals to delay being able to get the game shipped to backers. The art to be done, extra-playtesting to make sure any additions are balanced. I imagine playtesting further properly would be quite difficult in the current world.
Dino: That makes sense. Think it's a wise decision. Of course it makes it difficult to add the werewolf that we now both agree should be in the game, but it is what it is. Though this is a game about trying to prevent a bombing, the art is pretty fun and whimsical. Who is the artist, and why did you decide to go in that direction?
Chris: The artist is Josh Huff, who goes by ablehat on Board game geek. He does great work! I was personally set on doing a more cartoony style to fit how I'd want players to feel. I definitely wouldn't want Bombers in the game to actually "feel" or look like real bombers (who are a bit more nasty in real life) , more like pyromaniacs. It's still a short game which is a load of fun for all the players and I needed the art to reflect that. Josh really helped with that feeling of fun to be a bomber without having to suffer the guilt of causing property damage or worse.
Dino: I see. I, for one, am glad you took that route. Last thing we would want is for players to stare at an image of the unabomber… Which of the following bomb related villains would you fear most if they weren’t fictional: Dennis Hopper’s character from Speed, Bomb-Omb from the Mario Brothers series of games, Bomb Man from Mega Man, Tyler Durden from Fight Club, or Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight?
Chris: I feel like an obvious contender would be the Joker, I'd definitely not want to be locked in a room with that unpredictable chaos. I feel like as long as I always stay on the opposite end of the room of the Bomb-Omb I'd be mostly safe. I can't remember. Bomb Man's attacks but as long as I work out the pattern I'd hopefully be safe.
Dino: Yeah, Bomb Man isn't so tough, especially if you have the right weapon to use against him.
Chris: He's probably weak to a bucket of water.
Dino: You are thinking of the Wicked Witch. Tyler Durden would be tough because it might turn out that you were Tyler all along… Do you have aspirations to one day create an expansion to this game? And do you have any ideas for it?
Chris: It would be nice to do. It's a system which has plenty of room for expansion. I did play around with some more alternate roles/items in some playtests, but none of them made the game better enough or different enough to warrant keeping them going. An idea that's always been floated around is where's the banker? Does he use all of the gold for something? But I haven't had any success creating anything fun as of now.
Dino: Interesting. A banker sounds like a pretty exciting role to include. People would be like, "Whoa! There's a banker in this social deduction game? Sign me up!" Or maybe there is another role that might have that effect… Have you thought about an expansion in which the off duty cop could be turned into a werewolf instead of getting disarmed? The bomber would know who he'd turned into a werewolf, but would be reluctant to say because he'd reveal himself as a bomber.
Just thinking there's something that could be done with the whole disarming part of the game. Maybe the cop could be turned into a banker?
Chris: Perhaps. I'll be sure to keep it in mind. I didn't really think about using the disarm police in a different way before. No one mentioned it! It could lead to something interesting.
Dino: Cool! Lots to play around with, I suppose. I do agree that it seems perfect for expansions.
What’s next for Strictly Better Games? Will you do more with Social Deduction or come up with something completely different?
Chris: The next game I make probably won't be social deduction. I have a few games currently which are contenders to develop much further, neither of which are social deduction. Currently the main two are a 1 on 1 fighting game a la Super Smash Brothers where you have to try to knock an opponent off a platform using your attack cards, and a 15 minute crime worker placement game where you have the option to eliminate other players, but those are still in the early days.
Dino: Oooh! Sounds cool. Branching off gives you a wider portfolio. Good luck on those.
I was just thinking that instead of disarming the cop, the bomber could strap the bomb onto the cop, and this causes some changes. Anyway, something to think about…
Chris: One of the items was a bomb vest you could give players!
Dino: Oh, really? Well, wouldn't the bomber strap it onto the cop after disarming him? Again, just a thought. Hope it keeps you up at night, thinking and designing… Well, this was great! Thank you so much for stopping by, Chris! Please check out the campaign for “Bombs Away” and give it your support.
Chris: Thank you for having me!
Dino: It was our pleasure. Here's hoping for a successful end to your campaign. Hope we send some backers your way. Your game deserves it.
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