Fuse

Official Rules

The official rules are available from the manufacturer here. They are well explained including helpful illustrations.

Enhanced Rules

See our Custom Rules section for ideas on how to improve gameplay.

How many players?

• Playable with 1-5
• Best with 2-4
  
  

What ages can play?

• Playable for ages 6 to Adult
• Best for ages 8 to Adult
  
  Using the official rules, this game is very fast paced and challenging. This is why we suggest 8 and older for the best age. However, this game is great for reinforcing some key math concepts that most kids learn by 6 or 7 so it's also worth playing at a younger age using some of the ideas in our Custom Rules section.

Can different skill levels or ages play together?

Using the official rules, slower or younger players will feel like they are holding the team back. See our Custom Rules section for ideas on how to incorporate other skill levels and ages.

How long does it take to play?

10 minutes when using the timer.
15 - 20 minutes without the timer.

Will we get bored after a few games or does it have good replayability?

This game is very replayable. There are 54 different bomb cards and there is no predicting how dice will be drawn from the bag, so every game will be different. It's also very quick when using the timer, so there is no time to feel bored.

Setup/Cleanup

How much work is it?
Setup does take a few minutes to select the bomb and fuse cards to be used, but is not unreasonable. Cleanup is very fast.

Would kids be able to do it on their own?
Kids old enough to play the game on their own can manage setup with no additional help.

Will parents have fun too...

...when playing with the kids?
If playing with older kids that can use the timer, parents will have a lot of fun. When playing without the timer it will not be as much fun, but is still better than many standard "kids" games.

...without the kids?
Yes, this game is really intended for older kids and adults.

What skills will this game help develop?

Team Problem Solving
The cooperative play style means that players will have to work together. Any unused dice penalize the whole team so players must coordinate to increase the chances of all dice being used. This means a player shouldn't just take the first die they see that will work for them but they will also need to communicate when they can only use one of the dice available. And because of the timer, this coordination must be done quickly.

Basic Math
This game will exercise a range of basic math concepts including: basic addition and subtraction, greater than, less than, equal, and not equal.

But will my kids actually have fun playing it?

Yes, the game is fast paced and exciting. Even the math involved does not feel forced, but is a natural part of the game.

To make the game easier, especially for younger players

Use less bomb cards and/or fuse cards
This is actually part of the official rules and makes it very easy to scale the difficulty of the game.

Allow more than 10 minutes to win or remove the timer entirely
The timer makes this game challenging, even for adults. We suggest playing the first couple games with no timer at all, regardless of age. Then bring the timer back starting at 12 - 15 minutes and work down in time as your family is ready.

Eliminate or reduce the penalty for unused dice
The penalty for not using dice can very difficult to overcome if it happens at the wrong time. When playing with young kids, it may be helpful to only use the penalty when more than one die is left or not use it at all. This removes some of the coordination required, but also removes much of the stress of playing with younger kids.

Do you use custom rules we haven't thought of? If you have found some other ways to customize the rules, please share them with us through our Contact page. We're always interested in new ways to improve gameplay.

If you like this game, we suggest these others

• 5-Minute Dungeon
• Flatline
• Flip Ships

Or check out our full list of Reviews where you can sort by any of these categories

• Our Ratings
• Number of Players
• Playing Time
• Competitive vs Cooperative
• Educational Skills