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Fuse Countdown is a real-time co-op game about defusing bombs under pressure

Sparks fly.

A new entry in the co-op board game series Fuse will increase the pressure with fresh gameplay mechanics and player roles.

Fuse Countdown is a board game set within the Fuse universe in which players become members of a bomb disposal unit. Called out to safely dispose of various explosive devices, players in Fuse Countdown must work together to fulfill all the requirements needed to defuse their assigned bombs within the allotted time.

As a co-op board game, players will be helping each other to make progress on each mission, working in real-time to assign their dice to the required cards. Similarly to the original Fuse released in 2015, players will be presented with a series of cards representing the combination to the bomb they’re trying to defuse. In order to defuse the bomb, players will need to roll dice and place the correct results on the cards before they run out of time.

Cover image for YouTube video
Watch It Played plays through Fuse.

The newest entry in the series will feature even more challenges for players to tackle, including an entirely new gameplay mechanic – the spark cards. Should players ever be unable to use the dice they’ve just rolled on any current cards, rather than rolling it and removing a die from their cards – as they would in previous entries in the series – players will instead draw a spark card. Spark cards act like bomb cards in that players need to use dice to defuse them, providing them with a smaller task within the larger challenge. Players cannot complete the game if they have any active spark cards.

Besides the spark cards, Countdown also adds additional roles for players to take, with each one offering a unique power that players can use to their advantage. On top of that, a selection of new bomb and fuse cards containing fresh gameplay mechanics are featured in the game. Countdown can be played either on its own or as an expansion with another mainline Fuse entry.

Watch on YouTube
Wheels lists some of his favourite co-op board games.

Fuse Countdown was created by Kane Klenko the designer behind the original Fuse, as well as several other tabletop titles such as the pirate-themed board game Dead Men Tell no Tales, the spin-off game Pandemic: Rapid Response – which is based on the gameplay mechanics of Fuse – and the dexterity game about defending against invading spaceships, Flipships.

Renegade Game Studios is the company responsible for releasing Fuse Countdown, with the studio publishing previous entries in the series alongside board games like Raiders of the North Sea and the two-player game Fox in the Forest.

Fuse Countdown is set to be released in Q4 at a retail price of $35 (£30).

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Fuse Countdown

Tabletop Game

About the Author
Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

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