# How to Host a Game Night Around a Browser Bomb - Author: Bomb Appétit (https://bombappetit.com) - Published: 2026-10-20 - Category: Game night - Canonical: https://bombappetit.com/blog/how-to-host-a-game-night-browser-bomb > How to host a game night with a bomb defusal round at its center: the screens to set up, the seating, the round order, the breaks and a checklist for the host. How to host a game night around a browser bomb comes down to three jobs: set up one screen for the bomb and separate screens or paper for the manual, seat the Defuser facing away from the Experts, and keep the rounds moving. Prepare the devices the day before, and let a guest defuse the first round. ## How to host a game night that starts on time A game night starts on time when the host finishes every technical step before the doorbell rings. Charge the laptop, open the bomb page, load the manual on a spare phone, and decide the first mission. Guests should arrive to a table that is ready, not to a host hunting for a charger. Late starts usually come from small problems stacked together. The laptop needs an update. Nobody knows the Wi-Fi password. Three guests are arguing about which game to play. Each costs five minutes, and together they eat the first half hour. Bomb Appétit removes some of these by design. It runs in any recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, on a computer, tablet or phone, and there is nothing to install and no account to create. Guests can open the manual on their own phones in seconds. That still leaves the host's own prep: - **Pick the first mission yourself.** Do not open the floor to a vote at 7 p.m. First bite has one module and five minutes, which makes it a good opener for a group that has never played. - **Put the Wi-Fi details on a card.** Guests will need them to open the manual. - **Open the bomb page ahead of time.** Go to [Play](/play), choose the mission, and stop before you start the timer. - **Decide the start rule.** For example: "We start the first round fifteen minutes after the invite time, whoever is here." The last point matters most. A group that waits for the last guest starts late every time. A late guest can join as an Expert in round two without anyone explaining anything, because the Expert's job is to read and talk. ## Screens and seating for a browser bomb The screen setup for a browser bomb is one device for the bomb and other devices or paper for the manual. Put the bomb on the largest screen you have, seat the Defuser so its screen faces away from the Experts, and give the Experts a table surface for phones, pages and a pen. Bomb Appétit is built around the rule that the Defuser cannot see the manual and the Experts cannot see the bomb. In one room, that rule depends on the seating. A laptop on a coffee table with everyone on one sofa will not work, because the Experts can lean over and look. A layout that works for most living rooms: - **The Defuser** sits at one end of the table with the laptop, its screen facing a wall or a window. - **The Experts** sit across the table, facing the Defuser. They can see the Defuser's face but not the screen. - **The edgework note** sits in the middle. One Expert writes down the serial number, batteries, indicators and ports there at the start of each round. The bomb is easiest to handle on a bigger screen, so a laptop or a tablet beats a phone. The game has a 3D view and a 2D view; pick whichever the device handles better. The manual reads well on any screen, and it also prints cleanly in black and white from the browser's print command. With printed pages, hand each Expert their own stack. The post on [playing with a printed manual](/blog/print-and-play-games-one-screen-stack-of-pages#dividing-the-printed-pages-between-experts) explains how to divide the pages between Experts, and the guide to [print and play games with one screen and a stack of pages](/blog/print-and-play-games-one-screen-stack-of-pages) covers the paper setup from the start. Whatever the device, check that the manual and the bomb use the same rule seed. The rule seed is the number that generates every rule in the manual, and seed 1 is the standard. The [standard manual](/manual/1) shows its seed at the top of the page. A mismatched seed means the Experts read the wrong rules, and the bomb goes off for no clear reason. If some guests are remote, skip the seating question. The host creates an online room, shares the five-letter code, and everyone joins a phone or video call. Online, the Experts see the timer and strikes but never the bomb. ## What does the host do during a round? During a round, the host keeps the evening on track rather than the bomb. That means calling the start, keeping spectators quiet, watching the clock for the next slot, and running a one-minute debrief after the bomb ends. If the host is also an Expert, those jobs wait until the round is over. A host has three moments in each round. **Before the timer.** Confirm who is defusing and who owns which manual pages. Check the seed. Then say "go" so the Defuser starts the bomb. In an online room, the host is the one who starts the bomb after everyone is on the call. **During the timer.** Stay out of it unless you are playing. Guests waiting for the next round tend to whisper hints, and a whisper from someone who saw the bomb breaks the game. If people are waiting, give them the job of reading the next mission description aloud when the round ends. **After the timer.** Ask two quick questions: what went well, and what caused the strike. A strike is a mistake on the bomb, and each one speeds up the countdown. The default limit is three, and the third sets the bomb off. Most strikes come from a misheard color or a symbol named two different ways. One minute of talk is enough; then move to the next Defuser. The host also decides when to stop. If the group is laughing at the explosions, keep going. If the same team has failed the same mission three times and the room is quiet, switch to an easier mission or call a break. ## How long should a bomb game night run? A bomb game night runs well at two to three hours. Missions in Bomb Appétit have time limits from four to fifteen minutes, and each round needs a few extra minutes for setup and a short debrief. That gives you eight to twelve rounds with two breaks, enough for every guest to defuse at least once. Here is the arithmetic for planning, with example numbers: - **Short missions** in the first section run four or five minutes on the clock. With setup and talk, plan ten to twelve minutes per round. - **Mid-length missions** like Mixed plate (seven minutes, five modules) or Back of house (nine minutes, eight modules plus two needy ones) need twelve to fifteen minutes per round. - **The longest mission**, Double shift, has a fifteen-minute limit and fourteen modules on a bigger case. Treat it as a finale and give it twenty minutes or more. Breaks are part of the length. The bomb is loud and intense, and after about an hour people need food, a drink and a change of pace. A twenty-minute break after the first five rounds and a shorter one before the finale works for most groups. Two hours suits a weeknight. Three hours suits a weekend with food. Beyond that, attention drops, and a tired Defuser makes the same mistake twice. For a minute-by-minute example, the post on [game night ideas for adults](/blog/game-night-ideas-for-adults-bomb-defusal) has [a full evening's running order](/blog/game-night-ideas-for-adults-bomb-defusal#a-running-order-for-a-bomb-defusal-game-night) for five players. ## The host's mistake: hosting and defusing the first round The most common hosting mistake is taking the Defuser seat in round one. The host is the only person who knows the setup, so if they are behind the bomb, nobody can answer a guest's question about the manual or the seed. Let a guest defuse first, and stay free as an Expert or a helper. It is a natural instinct. The host set up the laptop and opened the mission, so the host is already sitting in front of it. But the first round is when guests have the most questions: "Where is my page?" "What is edgework?" "Is my manual the right one?" A host who is describing wires cannot answer any of them. The first round also sets the tone. If the host defuses and wins, guests may feel they watched a demo. If a guest defuses, even if the bomb goes off, everyone feels they played. Better options for the host in round one: 1. **Be the floating Expert.** Hold the manual, help the other Experts find pages, and answer setup questions. 2. **Be the timekeeper.** Stay off the manual, call out the minutes, and keep spectators quiet. 3. **Defuse in round three or later.** By then the guests know the drill, and the host can enjoy the bomb. In a group of three, the host will be busy whichever seat they take. The post on [games for 3 players with one Defuser and two Experts](/blog/games-for-3-players-one-defuser-two-experts) shows how to divide the manual so even a small group runs smoothly without the host carrying it. ## Host checklist for a bomb game night The host checklist below covers four moments: the day before, the hour before, the first round, and the end of the night. Print it or copy it into a phone note. Each item is one action, so you can tick it off without thinking about it under the pressure of guests arriving. ### The day before - [ ] Send the invite with a start time and a note that guests should bring a charged phone. - [ ] Open [Play](/play) on the laptop you will use and confirm the bomb loads in its browser. - [ ] Open the manual on a second device and check it shows the same rule seed as the bomb. - [ ] Decide whether you will use phones or paper for the manual. If paper, print one copy per Expert. - [ ] Pick the first three missions from the [missions list](/missions). - [ ] If anyone will join remotely, choose the call app and send the link. ### An hour before - [ ] Charge the bomb laptop and plug it in at the Defuser's seat. - [ ] Set up the seating so the bomb screen faces away from the Experts' side. - [ ] Put pens, scrap paper and the Wi-Fi card on the table. - [ ] Open the first mission and stop before the timer starts. - [ ] Write the Defuser order on a sheet: one name per round. ### The first round - [ ] Ask a guest, not yourself, to defuse. - [ ] Assign manual pages to each Expert out loud. - [ ] Ask the Defuser to read the edgework first; one Expert writes it down. - [ ] Say "go" and stay out of the way. - [ ] After the round, run a one-minute debrief: what worked, what caused a strike. ### The end of the night - [ ] Read out the tally: rounds defused, rounds lost. - [ ] Ask who wants their runs on the [leaderboard](/leaderboard) next time; signing in with GitHub ranks them, and guests can still play everything without it. - [ ] Note which missions the group finished, so the next night starts where this one stopped. - [ ] Pick a date for the rematch while everyone is still in the room. None of these steps needs special equipment. One laptop, a few phones or a printer, and a table are enough. The [how to play page](/how-to-play) covers the rules for guests who want a quick read before they arrive.