The quick version
Deal equal red and blue teams, including one President and one Bomber, and split people equally between rooms. Play rounds of three, two and one minute. Leaders choose outgoing players in secret from the other room, then exchange equal numbers. After the last exchange, reveal roles: together means red wins, apart means blue wins.
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Create two private conversations
Choose two areas whose conversations cannot be overheard from each other. Keep the route between them clear. Use one blue President, one red Bomber and equal numbers of ordinary red and blue cards to make one role per person. For this guide, use exactly 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16 people.
Randomly divide people equally between rooms, then secretly deal the shuffled roles. Each room receives a leader card. Explain the exchange schedule: with 6–10 people, send one person from each room after every round; with 12–16, send two after the three-minute round, then one after each remaining round. Leaders themselves cannot be sent.
Make a plan with incomplete information
Start three minutes and let everyone inspect their role. The first player appointed by somebody else becomes that room’s leader. A leader can hand the role to a willing replacement; that person cannot hand it straight back until the next round. Before time expires, more than half the room can appoint another leader by visibly voting for them.
Talk, claim a role, question others, or voluntarily show your whole card to selected players. You may lie in conversation but cannot swap cards. This basic format does not allow showing only the card’s color. Nobody must reveal their card. Stay in your assigned room and do not signal, listen or speak across rooms.
At the bell, each leader names their outgoing players within their own room and commits to that choice. The leaders meet between rooms without those players, confirm both choices are ready, then start the next timer and call the chosen players across simultaneously. Leaders return to their original rooms. Walk; nobody is grabbed or physically prevented from moving.
Repeat after two minutes, then after one minute. Following that third exchange, stop immediately and reveal every role. President and Bomber in the same room means every red player wins; in different rooms means every blue player wins. Your own room does not determine your team. One three-round sequence is one complete game.
Keep exchanges fair
The other room must not see your outgoing choices before its own leader commits. Keep the remaining time public and make the bell audible in both rooms. If a logistical interruption prevents a fair exchange, pause and complete that exchange before resuming. For another game, reshuffle every role and both rooms rather than preserving alliances.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Two Rooms and a Boom · See main rules
Published timing variantThree equal rounds
Make all three rounds three minutes long. Keep the exact same exchange counts and final result. This gives later negotiations more room without introducing new characters.
Two Rooms and a Boom · See main rules
Published variantUntimed negotiations
Remove the timer. When a leader has committed to outgoing players, they wait between rooms and may announce only that they are ready. Once both leaders are ready, exchange. Still play exactly three exchanges with the normal counts.
Two Rooms and a Boom · See main rules
House suggestionPublic room discussion
During each round, every conversation must be audible to everyone in that room. Private full-card shows remain allowed, but no whispered deals. Other rooms still receive no information except through exchanged people.
Two Rooms and a Boom · See main rules
House suggestionNew leader each round
After every exchange except the last, appoint a willing leader different from the previous round’s leader. Until chosen, no new negotiation time starts. Once appointed, normal replacement rules apply. Use ordinary exchange counts and outcomes.
Two Rooms and a Boom · See main rules
House suggestionOne voluntary opening reveal
At the beginning of each round, offer each player one chance to show their entire role card to the room or pass, in clockwise order. No one may speak during this opening circuit. Then start the normal round timer and negotiation. Cards shown may be hidden again, but people remember what they saw.
About this guide
Core roles, full-card sharing, leaders, round times and exchange counts follow the basic rulebook. The exact even-number range avoids a neutral role. The last three variations and logistical pause convention are house adaptations; timing alternatives are published.
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