Bomb Busters Win & Loss Rules: Detonator, Red Wires and Empty Stands

When is the win checked?

Once every required tile has been revealed or cut and no tile remains in any player’s stand, the mission succeeds. A player whose own stands are empty earlier is skipped on later turns; the team keeps playing until all stands are empty. A player with only red wires left can use the Reveal Your Red Wires action on their turn to empty their stands legally.

What happens after a wrong Dual Cut?

If you call a teammate’s blue or yellow wire by the wrong value, move the detonator one space. If it has not reached the skull, the teammate places an Info token showing the selected tile’s true value. The active player does not reveal which matching tile they held. A miss is therefore public information plus a real cost.

What if the selected tile is red?

A standard incorrect Dual Cut that targets a red wire causes an immediate explosion. Do not move the dial and continue as if it were an ordinary wrong blue guess. Certain equipment, such as the Double Detector, has its own printed red-wire treatment; apply that exact effect instead of the ordinary one.

Yellow wires and decimal values

The decimal numbers on red and yellow tiles are for ordering them on the stand at setup. During play, each yellow tile has the same value YELLOW. A legal yellow pair can be cut with a Dual or Solo Cut. If a failed guess selected yellow, use the yellow Info token and move the detonator. Red tiles are simply RED and are not ordinary matching-cut targets.

What makes a Solo Cut legal?

All uncut copies of that identical wire must be in the active player’s hand. They may cut the remaining two or all four at once. In a two-stand setup, both stands held by that player form one hand. Seeing a pair on your own stand is insufficient if matching copies may still be held by teammates.

What happens after failure?

The English rulebook says to change the Captain and restart the same mission. You do not have to abandon the campaign or permanently consume components. The 66 missions can be replayed. The first eight teach the base concepts, and completing mission 8 opens the first surprise box with missions 9–19.

Fast table checklist

1. Did a selected red wire explode under this action’s rules?
2. Did a failed cut advance the dial to the skull?
3. Are all stands empty, including any legal red-wire reveal?
4. Does the current mission card add a different condition?

More Bomb Busters guides

• Game guide
• How to play
• Strategy
• The Pro Kit expansion status

Sources and scope

Checked September 2026 against the official English Bomb Busters rulebook. The Pro Kit is a separate announced expansion; use its own mission text when available.