- BGG rank
- BGG #28,965
- BGG rating
- 5.4
Big Badaboom
- 3–5 players
- 45 min
- Complexity 1.7/5
- 2012
- BGG rank
- BGG #30,309
- BGG rating
- 5.2
Badaboom
2005
Rules assistance for Badaboom
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–5 players
- 30 min
- 12+
- Complexity 1.7/5
Rules assistant for Badaboom
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Badaboom is a board game released in 2005 for 3–5 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Peter Hansson, Christoffer Krämer, Daniel Ahlm, Johan Salomonsson, Peter Svärd, Jesper Moberg, Ola Janson, Linus Engström, Christian Johansson, Erik Lundström, Christoffer Nilsson, and Magnus Persson.
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About the game
Badaboom is a humorous card game for 3-5 players. The 30-60 minutes of game play feature loads of explosive action, a high level of player interaction, a non-sequential order of play, fabulous contraptions, numerous chances to stick it to your opponents in nasty ways and stunning graphics from the artists behind Spank the Monkey and Kablamo. The game contains 64 cards, 50 Gold Coin markers, 2 Bomb Armed markers and a rules folder. The players of Badaboom take on the roles of wretched goblins in penal servitude under the cruel High Necromancer. Their task is to sit in an explosive-proof dungeon and try reverse engineering, tinkering style, on various explosive contraptions manufactured by their master’s enemies. But the task to gain hands-on personal knowledge about what makes the devices go off and what damage they can do is no picnic, and not even a lifetime supply of resurrections can change that. The goblins want out, and the only way to succeed with this is to earn the gold coins needed for bribing their greedy guards. The fundamentals of Badaboom are quite simple, but there are lots of tricks and tactics that add depth. Basically, the players take turns holding and tinkering with the bomb while striving to do three things: • Remove valuable mechanisms from the bomb. • Change the nature of the bomb in a way that is favorable to the current player but not necessarily to the others. • Make damn sure to stay away from the explosion when the bomb goes off. This may sound straightforward, but things are made complicated by the fact that any player can steal the bomb during other players’ turns. And it’s very tempting to steal it. Not only do players get to tinker with the bomb when holding it. They may also draw a card from the deck, and as the deck is placed face up revealing the next card, the players know what they can gain by stealing the bomb. This makes the bomb skip and turn a lot during the game, keeping all players on their toes. To win, players need to perfect their timing, make every card count and, of course, avoid losing their heads. Reimplemented by Big Badaboom
Questions and answers
Badaboom supports 3–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Badaboom is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Badaboom for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Badaboom has a complexity rating of 1.7 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Badaboom belongs to these categories: Card Game, Fantasy, and Humor. Categories describe the theme, setting and style of a game rather than its rules. Filter the catalogue by the same category to find similar games when you enjoyed Badaboom and want something comparable for your next game night.
The credited designers of Badaboom are: Peter Hansson, Christoffer Krämer, Daniel Ahlm, Johan Salomonsson, Peter Svärd, Jesper Moberg, Ola Janson, Linus Engström, Christian Johansson, Erik Lundström, Christoffer Nilsson, and Magnus Persson. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Badaboom as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.