Fuse

Gameplay

Fuse is a timed strategy game played with dice and cards. The object of the game to diffuse all the bombs within 10 minutes using different dice combinations. One of the best parts, in my opinion, is that the only opponent in this game is the clock; players work together to diffuse all the bombs before time runs out.

The game comes with 49 bomb cards, 25 custom dice, 1 dice bag, 11 fuse cards, and 5 advanced bomb cards. You can read more about the uses of the fuse cards and the advanced bomb cards in the Variations section.

To set up the game, check out the chart to determine how many bomb cards you need—it’s based on the number of players and the level of difficulty you desire. I strongly recommend starting out with the “Training” level, because this game is a lot harder than you think. Once you have the correct amount of bomb cards, place two face up in front of each player and five face up in the middle, with the remaining deck within reach. Of the two cards in front of each player, one should be a 3- or 4-point card, and the other should be a 1- or 2-point card. The points signify how difficult the diffusion will be.

Each bomb card has a different combination of icons that will tell you which dice you need to diffuse it. You may need a certain color, you may need a certain number, you may need a certain color or number, etc. There’s a page in the instruction sheet that tells you what each icon means—I’d recommend having this handy. Some cards call for a stack or a pyramid, in which case you need to stack specific dice on top of one another in a certain order to diffuse the bomb.

Once you’re set up, the clock begins—set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes. The game is played in a series of turns. Here’s a look at the components of a turn:

1. Draw & Roll the Dice
   1. One player reaches blindly into the bag of dice and draws out the number of dice equivalent to the number of players (unless you’re playing with 2 people, in which case, draw four dice). Roll the dice!
2. Distribute the Dice
   1. Each player must take exactly one of the rolled dice and place it on an open slot on one of their bomb cards (in a 2-player game, each player takes 2 dice). Because this game is played as a team, you must work together to figure out who should take which die, because there’s consequences for not taking a die!
3. Defuse Bombs
   1. If you have met all the dice requirements on a bomb card, congratulations! You’ve diffused a bomb. On to the next: place all the dice that were on that card back in the bag and set your diffused bomb card to the side. Replace the card with one from the middle five cards, then replace that one with a new one from the deck.
      1. In a 2-player game, you can diffuse bombs before you’ve placed all the dice. This way, if placing a die allows you to diffuse a bomb, you can replace it with a new bomb card before you place the other die
   2. Reroll Unused Dice
      1. Here are those consequences I was talking about. If you are unable to take a die, it must be rerolled by the player holding the dice bag. After this reroll, each player must remove from their bomb cards one die that matches either the color or the number of the rerolled die (if possible). All the dice removed this way are put back in the bag, along with the die that was rerolled. If there is more than one die not taken, do this process for both.
         1. Note: dice that are below other dice in a stack or a pyramid are safe from being taken away because of a reroll
      2. Pass the Dice Bag
         1. Hand it over to the player to your left and do it all again!

If you manage to diffuse all the bombs before the 10 minutes is up, you win! For some, winning or losing is enough, but if you’d like to keep track of your skills over time, you can also score the game. You get 10 points if you win, 1 point per full 10 seconds left on the countdown clock (if you saved the ship), and the total points shown on all successfully defused bombs.

History

Fuse was invented by Kane Klenko and was released in 2015. Kane is from the Madison, Wisconsin area and has invented numerous board games throughout his career. He’s also directed art on few different projects as well. His specialty is unique real-time and dice mechanics. Fuse was published by Renegade Game Studies. Other artists involved in the production of the game include Hokunin, Chris Ostrowski, and Sean Thurlow.

Variations

If you’ve somehow mastered all the difficulty levels, or simply want to spice up the game, you can introduce Fuse Cards or Advanced Bomb Cards.

• Fuse Cards
  • After dealing cards to each player and laying out the five middle cards, shuffle 1-11 fuse cards into the bomb deck placed to the side. The more fuse cards you add, the more difficult it will be.
  • Each fuse card shows a color or number. When a fuse card is added to the face up row in the middle, it activates, and each player must remove one die of the matching number or color from one of their bomb cards (if possible) and return it to the dice bag.
  • After the fuse card has been fully resolved, discard it and draw a new card from the top of the deck to place in the face up row.
• Advanced Bomb Cards
  • These are exactly what they sound like. After dealing all cards to each player and creating the face up middle row, remove 1-5 cards from the top of the bomb deck and replace them with an equal number of advanced bomb cards. The more advanced bomb cards you add, the more difficult it will be.
  • Advanced bomb cards are similar to regular bomb cards that have stacks and pyramids but require more dice. Advanced stacks each have two separate stacks, while advanced pyramids each have three rows that must be completed. You can place a die as long as the two dice directly below it in the pyramid have already been placed.

Even if you can’t find someone to play with you, you can play Fuse as a one-player game. If you choose to do so, set up and game play are the same, but instead of drawing one die per person from the dice bag, draw three. You must place all three.

Reception & Awards

In 2016, Fuse was a Mensa recommended game.