Don't you love those beautifully honest answers in Cards Against Humanity? The ridiculousness of Big Potato Games? Well imagine if you could be the mastermind behind some of your favourite party games... with Dan and Phil's Truth Bombs, you can!
Big Potato Games have always had a special place in my heart, they are a staple at any games night for me - whether that be with the family after lunch on a Sunday or with a bottle of wine and a group of friends. My personal favourites include Blockbuster and Scrawl, but the one game I keep returning to is Truth Bombs. This game is the perfect ice-breaker and at the same time friendship destroying (if you are feeling really honest).
If anyone requires a bit of background, Truth Bombs is the combination of Big Potatoes Games and YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester. With a following of over 10 million, Dan and Phil first started creating videos on the platform in 2009 and are known for their truthful yet hilarious content.
Ready
The aim in Truth Bombs is simple, collect the most points by the end of the game. All you need to do is answer some absurd questions with the most ridiculous or honest answers about your fellow players. You also need to guess who wrote the truth bombs about you! Was it Bram that said you'd be reincarnated as a flea, or was he the one that said you looked most like a floret of broccoli?
Easy to grab and go, Truth Bombs requires minimal set-up. In classic Big Potato fashion though, what you do need to set up is bright and colourful! To start, you lay down the correct number of coloured mats (3 if there are 4 of you playing etc) and place a question card down on each. Remember the question cards are double-sided so there are endless possibilities! You then give each player a question card. Here, you can either fill in your own name OR fill in each other's names if you want to get really honest.
Always passing the answer sheet to the player on your left, you will take it in turns to pick a question to answer about each person in the room. You answer ONE question about each target, filling in the corresponding coloured answer slot on the sheets. This continues until the answer sheet is full of truth bombs ready to be released on their unsuspecting victims. Once the card is full, keep a hold of it as you are the one to read out the answers to the person named on the sheet.
Aim
At this point in the game, I like to have a little look around the table. Some people will look you dead in the eyes with an evil smirk plastered across their face. Others will avoid all eye contact at any cost, scared they went too far or revealed that gossip in an attempt at revenge.
It's important to note here, the game plays much better if everyone agrees to not hold back and to just get silly. Playing with a mix of people can make things a little awkward. If you are all of the same understanding, then the game flows seamlessly.
Your goals in this game is to simply work out who has dropped what truth bomb on you! That and also to write the funniest, most ridiculous answers, anonymously of course.
The key to winning Truth Bombs is all in the points. Once all of the questions and answers have been read out, the target gets to become the detective. The target chooses their favourite answer about themselves - it can be the most funny, creative or even the most accurate.
The writer of the target's favourite answer will then reveal themselves to score one point. However, if the target guessed correctly, they get a point too! The score pad goes up to 8 points for each player, I have found that this is the perfect amount of time to play this game, you get really honest but stop just before things get really personal...
Fire
Dan and Phil's Truth Bombs is all in all playful and a whole lot ridiculous. If you are looking for a different party game than your regulars, this is one to try!
As I have mentioned before, this game is as fun as you allow it to be. You need to embrace the silliness to really have fun with this one. That and a bigger group is much desired in this one, it makes for much more fun. You can play with a mix of people too, you'll just have to cater your answers to the ages in the group.
The only thing to be cautious of is going through all off the cards. No expansion packs are currently available for Truth Bombs so this is something to consider.
Personally, I have never found this to be an issue as this is one of the party games in my rotation so I don't play it on every single occasion.
If you are silly enough with it and answer different questions about different people, you should have countless hours of fun with this explosive party game!