# Game Manual Binder: Tabs, Sleeves and One Stack Each

- Author: Bomb Appétit (https://bombappetit.com)
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Category: Printing the manual
- Canonical: https://bombappetit.com/blog/game-manual-binder-tabs-sleeves-one-stack-each

> A game manual binder keeps printed pages in order between nights: tabs per module, sleeves for the edgework page, and a split stack for each Expert.
A game manual binder keeps a printed bomb manual in order from one game night to the next. Put a tab on every section in the manual's own order, slip the pages that never change into sleeves, and pull each Expert's pages out as a small stack before the round. Experts then find their module in seconds.

## Why a game manual binder beats a stapled stack

A binder beats a stapled stack because the pages need to come apart. In a bomb round, the Experts split the manual between them, and a staple fights that every time. A ring binder lets each Expert lift out their pages before the round and clip them back in the right place afterwards.

The printed manual for Bomb Appétit is built for splitting. Its print layout starts every section on a new sheet: the opening page, each of the 11 regular modules and 3 needy modules, the edgework appendix and the glossary. That is seventeen sections, and each one comes out of the printer as its own sheet or sheets. Stapling them undoes that work.

A stack held with a clip is better than staples but still drifts. Pages get turned round, a module ends up at the back, and the next week someone finds the glossary in the middle of the needy modules. A binder with tabs gives each page a fixed home.

The binder also keeps the paper flat and clean between nights. Loose sheets curl, collect coffee rings and lose corners. If a group plans to play more than a couple of times, the binder pays for itself in pages not reprinted.

One more benefit: a binder makes the seed visible. Write the rule seed, the number that generates every rule in the manual, on the spine and the cover. A stack can be mistaken for another; a labelled binder rarely is.

## Tabs for a game manual binder: one per module

Give every section of the manual its own tab, seventeen in all, in the same order the manual prints. The order runs from the opening page through the 11 regular modules, easiest first, then the 3 needy modules, the edgework appendix and the glossary. One tab per section means one place to reach for each name.

The tab plan below follows the manual's order exactly. The color suggestions are only an example: they group modules by the mission section where each first appears, so a group playing early missions can see at a glance which tabs matter.

| Tab | Section                 | Tab label | Color suggestion (example)         |
| --- | ----------------------- | --------- | ---------------------------------- |
| 1   | How to use this manual  | Start     | White: read before the first round |
| 2   | Wires                   | Wires     | Green: first appears in section 1  |
| 3   | Big Button              | Button    | Green: section 1                   |
| 4   | Glyph Keypad            | Glyphs    | Green: section 1                   |
| 5   | Color Echo              | Echo      | Yellow: first appears in section 2 |
| 6   | Word Grid               | Words     | Yellow: section 2                  |
| 7   | Recall                  | Recall    | Yellow: section 2                  |
| 8   | Blinker                 | Blinker   | Orange: first appears in section 3 |
| 9   | Tangled Wires           | Tangled   | Orange: section 3                  |
| 10  | Wire Panels             | Panels    | Orange: section 3                  |
| 11  | Labyrinth               | Maze      | Red: first appears in section 4    |
| 12  | Passcode                | Passcode  | Red: section 4                     |
| 13  | Pressure Vent (needy)   | Vent      | Purple: needy, from section 3      |
| 14  | Discharge Lever (needy) | Lever     | Purple: needy, from section 3      |
| 15  | Dial Alignment (needy)  | Dial      | Purple: needy, from section 3      |
| 16  | Appendix: edgework      | Edgework  | Grey: used every round             |
| 17  | Glossary                | Glossary  | Grey: reference                    |

Keep tab labels short and use the name the Defuser will say. The Defuser reads the module from the bomb, and the Expert hunts for that word. "Glyphs" on a tab matches what a Defuser is likely to say on seeing four symbol keys; a code or number does not.

The [missions page](/missions) lists which modules each mission draws from, which is how the section colors above were picked. Early missions use only the green tabs.

## Which pages go in sheet protectors in the binder?

Put the edgework appendix and the glossary in sheet protectors first. Both are handled every round, and neither changes when the rule seed changes. Module pages can go in sleeves too, but a sleeve on a module page holds only one seed's rules, so swap the page when the seed changes.

The edgework appendix explains the labels on the bomb's casing: the serial number, batteries, indicators and ports. The manual tells the Experts to ask for all of it at the start of the round and write it down. That makes it the most handled page in the binder, and the one most likely to get creased.

The glossary is short and steady. It defines Defuser, Expert, module, needy module, strike, edgework and rule seed in one line each. New players read it once, and it lives at the back for reference.

The opening page is a case apart. Most of its text is the same on every seed, but it states the manual's number more than once. A sleeve keeps it clean, as long as the page inside matches the binder's seed.

Sleeves also suit the four pages that name colors, Wires, Wire Panels, Big Button and Color Echo, if the group plays the same seed for many nights. A glossy sleeve can glare under a bright lamp, so test one page under the light where you play. Whether to go further and laminate is weighed in [should you laminate game pages](/blog/laminate-game-pages-for-a-printed-manual), which sorts every part of the manual into keep or reprint.

## One binder or a stack for each Expert?

Use one binder to store the manual and a separate stack for each Expert during play. The binder holds the whole manual in order between rounds. Before the timer starts, each Expert lifts out the pages they own, and after the round each one clips them back behind the right tabs.

The manual's opening page asks for exactly this split: share the pages so two people never search for the same thing. A binder passed around the table defeats that, because only one person can hold it at once. The suggested splits for two, three and four Experts are set out in [who gets which printed pages](/blog/print-and-play-games-one-screen-stack-of-pages#dividing-the-printed-pages-between-experts).

A few ways to hand out the stacks:

- **Clipboards.** One per Expert, with their pages clipped in catalog order. The clipboard gives a firm surface for circling lines.
- **Plain folders.** Cheap and quick, but pages slide around inside.
- **A second, thin binder per Expert.** Neat, but more to buy and more to put away.

At the end of the night, return every page to the main binder in tab order. A page left in a clipboard is a page missing next week.

Some groups skip paper for one or two Experts and read the manual on a phone instead. The trade-offs between the two are covered in [printed manual vs screen for Experts](/blog/printed-manual-vs-screen-for-experts).

## Storing a second seed in the game manual binder

Store a second rule seed in its own binder, or behind its own divider in the same binder, never mixed in with the first. Every module page looks alike from seed to seed. The only reliable difference is the number on the opening page, so the binder has to do the separating for you.

Most groups need seed 1, the standard manual. It is what nineteen of the twenty missions use, and freeplay starts on it. The final mission, called Bomb Appétit, uses manual 2026, so a group that reaches it needs a second printout. A group that wants fresh rules can also print any number from 1 to 999,999.

Two ways to store them:

- **Two binders.** Clearest. Put the seed number in large digits on each spine and cover.
- **One binder, two halves.** A heavy divider between them, with the seed written on the divider tab. Each half has its own seventeen tabs.

Either way, mark every page of the second seed on its top corner before it goes in. Pages that fall out then find their way home. The routine for [labelling each rule seed stack before play](/blog/print-a-different-rule-seed-without-mixing-stacks#labelling-each-rule-seed-stack-before-play) covers that marking step in detail.

## The game manual binder mistake: tabs in alphabetical order

The common game manual binder mistake is sorting tabs alphabetically. It looks tidy, but it breaks the match with the manual, which runs in catalog order from easiest to hardest, and with the list in the manual's on-screen sidebar. It also scatters the needy modules among the regular ones.

Catalog order has a purpose. The regular modules run from Wires to Passcode in roughly the order a group meets them in the missions, and the three needy modules sit together after them. An Expert holding the early missions' pages has them all at the front. Alphabetical order would put Big Button first, Blinker second and Wires at the very end.

Alphabetical tabs also cause trouble at the end of the night. Pages go back in print order from the clipboards, but the tabs ask for a different order, so pages land behind the wrong tab. Within a few weeks the binder no longer matches the paper.

The fix is to follow the manual. The order in the tab plan above is the order the manual prints and the order its sidebar lists. Keep the binder in that order and anyone who has seen the manual on a screen can find a page in the binder too. To print a fresh copy for the binder, start from [the standard manual](/manual/1).