Cattaboom is a multiplayer word game where players sit in a circle and take turns naming items from a category before the timer runs out. If you can't answer in time, you're out. The timer gets shorter the longer the round goes, and other players can buy items to mess with you. Last person standing wins the round.
Getting Into a Room
Create a room from the homepage or join with a code. Once everyone's in the lobby, the host picks Cattaboom and can adjust the settings before starting. The options include things like which item packs are active, what happens if you give a duplicate answer, and whether the explosive answer feature is on.
How a Round Works
Every round a random category is chosen, something like "Countries in Europe" or "Things You Find in a Kitchen". A turn order is decided and players go around one by one, each naming one item from that category before the timer expires.
There's a bomb timer visible to everyone. By default it starts at 10 seconds per turn. Every time someone answers correctly it goes down a little, so turns get faster as the round goes on. When the timer hits zero on your turn, CATTABOOM! You're out.
If you give a wrong answer or a duplicate one that's already been said, there's a penalty. Depending on what the host has set, this either cuts the timer or eliminates you immediately. So listen to what everyone else has said.
Critical Mass
With Critical Mass enabled (which it is by default), the timer shortens with every correct answer. Early on you've got a comfortable amount of time. By the time half the answers have been said, turns can be down to a few seconds. This is where the pressure starts.
The rounds naturally get harder the longer they go as the timer dwindles and fewer answers are available. If you're one of the last players alive you'll be naming things under serious time pressure, often having to think of something fast while the answers are running out.
The Item Shop
Between rounds, players can spend points in the item shop to buy items that affect gameplay. Points are earned by surviving rounds and answering correctly.
Items include things like:
- Defusal Kit: skips the current player's turn
- Reverse: flips the turn order so whoever just went has to go again
- Hot Potato: automatically detonates the bomb after 15 seconds, eliminating whoever's holding it
- Detonator: instantly eliminates the current player
- Fuse Extender: adds 10 seconds to the timer
- Short Fuse: cuts the current timer by 25%
- Dead Man's Switch: if you get eliminated while this is active, the next player gets taken out with you
Items can only be used at certain times and most have round or turn limits, so you can't just spam them. The host can enable or disable specific items before the game starts.
Tips
Know your category before it's your turn. If you have five seconds to think while the person before you is answering, use it. Players who blank out are almost always the ones who weren't paying attention.
Don't burn points on items too early. The item shop becomes a lot more interesting in later rounds when the stakes are higher. Saving a Detonator for when someone's in first place is usually more valuable than using it too early.
If you're being targeted with items, remember you can defend too. Fuse Extenders bought at the right time can save you from a short timer being dumped on you mid-turn.