Other obstacles to the Defuser include the lights in the virtual room going out momentarily, and alarm clocks that will distract the Defuser. Bombs will also have a maximum number of strikes resulting from errors made during defusing (also speeding the timer), and if that maximum is reached, the bomb will also explode. Each bomb will also have a countdown timer if the timer reaches zero, the bomb will explode. Other modules are "needy": they cannot be disarmed, and demand periodic attention to prevent them from causing a strike while the bomb is still armed. Disarming these modules requires the Defuser to relay visual indicators to the Experts, who then use the manual to determine what actions the Defuser to take. Most modules require disarming, with the bomb successfully disarmed when all such modules are successfully disarmed. The Experts and the Defuser can communicate with each other either directly from across a table, or online using a separate voice service.Įach bomb in the game consists of multiple modules the modules are independent of each other and can be disarmed in any order. As designed, the Defuser cannot look at the manual and must rely on the Experts to instruct them similarly, the Experts cannot see the bomb, and must rely on the Defuser to describe the bomb to them.
The game is designed to be played with at least two players, with one player as the "Defuser", playing the game on a device (supporting both keyboard and mouse, touchscreen and gamepad controls, as well as support for virtual reality headsets), and the remaining players as the "Experts" reading the provided bomb defusal manual. Non-VR ports for iOS and Android were released in August 2019.
An update for the game released in August 2018 removed the virtual reality requirement for these existing systems, as well as included releases for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. It was designed around virtual reality support, with availability first on Android-driven Samsung Gear VR, with later ports to supported devices on Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Linux though could be played without virtual reality in some cases.
The game tasks a player with disarming procedurally generated bombs with the assistance of other players who are reading a manual containing instructions. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a puzzle video game developed and published by Canadian studio Steel Crate Games.