Note: This is construct from the official Time Bomb rules.
London, 1890. Big Ben sits proudly atop Elizabeth Tower, the sound of its first toll echoing through the streets of the grand Victorian city. Passers-by are quietly enjoying the sunshine while strolling casually. There, amidst the background of laughter, stand Sherlock and his companions, still and silent.
Between two tolls, a ringing emerges from a pay phone box around the corner of the street. Sherlock picks up the receiver with a heavy heart. His face tenses and then he makes a mad dash toward the immense London clock.
At the first stroke of noon, Moriarty and his henchmen will trigger a bomb to destroy Big Ben.
8 Rules cards:
- 5 Sherlock team members (blue).
- 3 Moriarty team members (red).
40 Wire cards:
- 31 Secure Wires.
- 8 Defusing Wires.
- 1 Bomb.
1 Wire cutter card.
Moriarty has planted a bomb that he plans to detonate in the heart of Big Ben, while Sherlock rushes to defuse it. At the start of the game, you will secretly discover which team, Moriarty’s or Sherlock’s, you belong to and will try to identify your teammates without being unmasked by your adversaries. Each turn, you will choose a wire – displayed in front of another player – to cut, attempting to detonate or defuse the bomb according to which team you belong.
Sherlock's team wins the game if they defuse the bomb, while Moriarty’s team wins if they detonate the bomb and destroy Big Ben.
Role Cards
The Role cards determine which team each player belongs during the game. There are two types: Sherlock team members and Moriarty team members.
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Sherlock Team Members: The Sherlock team members are represented by the Role cards with a blue background. The objective of these members is defusing the Bomb before Moriarty arrives to detonate Big Ben.
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Moriarty Team Members: Members of the Moriarty team are represented by the Role cards with a red background. The purpose of these members is to detonate the bomb in order to destroy Big Ben.
Wire Cards
These cards represent the Wires cut to try to defuse or detonate the Bomb. They consist of three different types.
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Safe Wire: Cutting a Safe Wire has no effect.
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Defusing Wire: Cutting a Defusing Wire brings you closer to victory if you are part of the Sherlock team. If all Defusing Wires are found, Big Ben is saved.
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Bomb: Cutting the Bomb destroys Big Ben and hands victory to the Moriarty team.
Wire Cutter Card
The Wire Cutter is the tool used by players to cut Wires to defuse or detonate the bomb.
- Prepare the Role cards according to the number of players. Put remaining Role cards in the box; they will not be used for the game.
|Number of players|Sherlock Team|Moriarty Team| |-|-| |4*- 5|3|2| |6|4|4| |7*- 8|5|3|
Note: With 4 and 7 players, one of the Role cards will not be dealt. Put it aside without looking at it. During these games, you cannot be certain of the exact number of Moriarty's team members.
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Shuffle the Role cards and deal one face down to each player who secretly looks at it.
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Prepare the Wire cards according to the number of players. Put the rest of the wire cards in the box; they will not be used for the game.
| Number players | Safe Wire | Defusing Wire | Bomb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 15 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 19 | 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 23 | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 27 | 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 31 | 8 | 1 |
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Shuffle the Wire cards and deal five face down to each player.
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Each player secretly looks at his Wire cards, then shuffles them and spreads them out face down in front of him (without knowing the order of the cards).
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The last player to have visited London becomes the first player and receives the Wire Cutters, which he places in front of him.
The game is played over a maximum of 4 rounds during which you use the wire cutters to snip wires among other players hoping to complete your goal.
Overview of a round
Starting with the first player, take the Wire Cutters and place it in front of the Wire card you want to cut belonging to another player. Do not hesitate to discuss and listen to the arguments of each player before choosing which wire to cut. You cannot cut one of your own Wires. Then, reveal the cut Wire and place it in center of the table.
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If it is a Safe Wire card, nothing happens.
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If it is a Defusing Wire card, separate it from the other revealed cards to keep track of how many Defusing cards have already been found. If this is the final remaining Defusing Wire, the Sherlock Team wins the game immediately. Otherwise, the game continues.
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In the case of the Bomb card, the Moriarty team immediately wins the game.
Then the player who was forced to reveal his Wire card takes the Wire Cutters and proceeds in the same way.
End of the round
The round ends when the number of Wire cards revealed during the round is equal to the number of players.
Example: With 5 players, the round ends after the fifth Wire card is revealed.
Gather all the uncut Wire cards (i.e. face down) among all players and shuffle them without looking. Deal new Wire cards, face down, so that all the players have the same number. Then repeat step 5 of the setup.
With each new round, each player has one card less than at the beginning of the previous round.
A new round begins, and the last player to have received the Wire Cutters during the previous round becomes the first player.
The game ends immediately if one of the following three conditions is met:
1 All Defusing Wires are revealed. The members of the Sherlock team immediately win the game.
2 The Bomb card is revealed. Members of the Moriarty team immediately win the game.
3 At the end of four rounds, neither of the two above conditions have been reached. The members of the Moriarty team win the game.
- Author: Yusuke Sato
- Illustrator: Biboun
- Project Management and Responsible Range: Ludovic Papais
- Writing: Virginia Gilson