Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Jr.
Location: at home
Date Played: December 20, 2018
Team size: 2-9; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 5 – 20 minutes per round
Price: $12
Publisher: YULU
REA Reaction
Hackathon, YULU’s kid-friendly take on the classic communication game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, was tangible and easy to learn.
Physical interactions that are both unusual and satisfying have been a hallmark of YULU’s game design. They delivered that again with Hackathon, although to a lesser extent than in some of their previous games. This served Hackathon well. It didn’t feel like it hinged on a gimmick.
The emphasis of Hackathon was on puzzles and communication. The devices and other components were there to facilitate.
Hackathon would be a great game for younger puzzlers and gamers. It was enjoyable as an adult, but more in an “I’m content playing this with a kid” kind of way… which in my experience is far more entertaining than most kid-focused games.
Who is this for?
- Younger puzzlers
- Younger tabletop gamers
- Families
Why play?
- Great interactions
- Solid children’s puzzles
- Amusing team collaborations
Story
Your spy team’s identities have been stolen by a group of villains. You have gained access to the super-advanced Console that holds your information. Time to steal it back.
The catch was that only one of you could access the Console, while the rest of the team was elsewhere deciphering the Console’s operating instructions.
Setup
The team split into two. One person went with the Console; the rest stayed with the instruction cards.
Once the player with the Console had activated the device, they needed to communicate what they saw to the people with the instruction cards. Those with the instruction cards deciphered the instructions, solved a puzzle, and told the Console operator what steps to take.
This loop repeated a total of 8 times, each with a different challenge, or until the Console operator ran out of time or made a critical error and failed.
Gameplay
Spy Code’s Hackathon was a child-friendly play-at-home puzzle and communication game with a low level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around communicating and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ This was a lovely, kid-friendly take on Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.
➕ Hackathon was easy to setup and quick to learn.
➕/➖ Most of the challenges in Hackathon were entertaining for all parties involved. That said, a few of the interactions feel like throwaways.
➕ There was a switch on the Console that would kick it into different modes, 1 through 4. These modes didn’t really change the difficulty, but they opened up different solution paths to keep the game interesting.
➖ It would be nice if there were more room for puzzle variation or even a purchasable expansion pack that could add more variety to the solutions. If you play Hackathon a lot and have a good memory, it would be entirely possible to memorize the solutions.
➕ The wrenches necessary for some of the puzzles were fun to use and connected elegantly to the Console.
➖ There was a clip on the underside of the Console meant to store the “Flash Drive.” It didn’t grip properly and the drive always fell out. It was just a storage mechanism and didn’t impact gameplay, but it wasn’t on par with what we’ve come to expect of YULU’s design and build quality.
➕ Yanking the drive out to complete the game was a great, physical way to stop the clock. I never would have thought to design it that way, but it felt so much more satisfying than pushing a button.
Tips For Player
- Space Requirements: a small table or the floor. Players will need to be split so that they can hear one another, but cannot see each other’s materials.
- Required Gear: 3 AAA batteries and a small phillips screw driver to install the batteries.
Buy your copy of Spy Code’s Hackathon, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: YULU provided a sample for review.
(If you purchase via our Amazon links, you will help support Room Escape Artist as we will receive a very small percentage of the sale. We appreciate the support.)
