To set up an online puzzle with friends so everyone plays the same rules, send two links. The freeplay link carries the bomb's settings and its rule seed, and goes to whoever will be the Defuser. The manual link carries the same seed and goes to the Experts. Both numbers match, so the rules match.
What does an online puzzle with friends need before anyone joins?
Before a round, the group needs three things settled: who holds the bomb, which rules the Experts will read, and how everyone will talk. In Bomb Appétit, the rule seed answers the second question, and a link can carry it. The game itself needs no install and no account.
Start with the talking. Bomb Appétit has no voice chat of its own, so friends far apart need a phone or video call running alongside the game. Pick the call app before you send any links, because a group that is still arguing about apps will not read a seed number carefully.
Next, the roles. One person is the Defuser and sees the bomb. Everyone else, up to four people, is an Expert with the manual. A group of two to five fits on one bomb.
Last, the rules. Every manual is generated from a rule seed, a whole number from 1 to 999,999. Seed 1 is the standard manual. Any other number is a whole new set of rules. The Defuser's bomb and the Experts' manual must use the same number, so that number is the one thing everyone has to agree on.
A link is the easiest way to agree, because nobody has to type the seed. The sections below show the two kinds of link and what each one carries.
The freeplay link: modules, timer, strikes and the rule seed in one URL
On the Play page, freeplay settings travel in the page address so a setup can be bookmarked or shared. Once the Defuser chooses settings and presses "Deal me a bomb", the address bar holds the whole setup: module count, needy modules, time, strikes, rule seed and, if narrowed, the module pool.
Here is an example freeplay link, with each value labelled. The values are examples, chosen to show every part.
https://bombappetit.com/bomb?modules=5&needy=1&time=420&strikes=3&rule=7&pool=wires,big-button,glyph-keypad,passcode,labyrinth
| Part in the example | What it sets | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|
modules=5 |
Regular modules on the bomb | 1 to 23 |
needy=1 |
Needy modules that must be kept happy | 0 to 3 |
time=420 |
The countdown, in seconds (here 7 minutes) | 30 seconds to 60 minutes |
strikes=3 |
Strikes allowed before the bomb goes off | 1 to 5 |
rule=7 |
The rule seed, so the manual number | 1 to 999,999 |
pool=wires,big-button,glyph-keypad,passcode,labyrinth |
Which regular modules the bomb may use | Any of the 11 regular modules; left out means all |
Regular modules plus needy modules can total at most 23. A value outside these ranges makes the link fail, and the page reports that nothing was found.
Parts you leave out fall back to defaults. With no modules value the bomb has three modules. With no needy value it has none. With no time value the countdown is the suggested one: five minutes for three modules, plus a minute for each module beyond three. Strikes default to three, and a missing rule means seed 1. Those defaults are handy when you type a short link by hand, and risky when you meant a different seed.
The matching manual link for the example is https://bombappetit.com/manual/7. Same seed, so same rules.
One thing a freeplay link never carries is the bomb itself. Each time someone opens it, the server deals a new bomb under those settings. So the link fixes the rules and the difficulty, not the exact case. That makes it a good way to replay a setup you liked on another evening.
Who gets the freeplay link? The Defuser. An Expert who opens it does not see the Defuser's bomb; they get a separate bomb of their own, which is no help and spoils nothing, but wastes time. Send it to the person who will hold the bomb.
Sharing the manual link for a rule seed
Every rule seed has a manual at its own address: the word manual followed by the seed number. Send that address to the Experts. The page opens on the manual's first page, which states the number in its header and reminds Experts to check that the Defuser's bomb uses the same seed.
The Play page offers this link for you. Beside "Deal me a bomb" sits a button reading "Open manual" with the current seed, and the briefing screen before the bomb is armed links to the same manual. Copy that address and paste it into the group chat.
For seed 1, the link is the standard manual, the right place for a first evening. For any other seed, change the number at the end of the address, or type the seed into the "Rule seed" box in the manual's sidebar and press Open.
Experts can also print the manual from the same page. It is laid out for black and white printing. If you print, the seed sits at the top of the first page, so one look confirms it matches.
A group with several Experts can share one manual link and still divide the work. Each Expert opens the same address on their own phone or laptop, then uses the sidebar's filter to jump to the modules they own. Same seed, separate screens, no page-flipping fights.
The manual link is safe to share widely. It shows rules, not bombs, so a friend who opens it early can study the page layout without spoiling anything about the round.
Should you share a seed link or open a room?
Share links when the group is in one room or when one person plays the bomb on their own device with friends on a call. Open an online room when Experts are far apart and you want the game to keep everyone on the same manual for you, with a live timer and strike count on their screens.
The two approaches differ in what the game tracks:
- Links. The Defuser plays a solo bomb and the Experts read a manual page. The game does not connect them. Experts see no timer unless the Defuser reads it out, and nothing checks that their manual matches.
- A room. Friends join with a five-letter code. The host sets the rule seed once, and every Expert's room page opens the matching manual when the bomb is armed. Experts see the time, strikes, solved count and a needy alert.
How a room holds the seed on everyone's behalf is covered in the guide to a room that holds the seed for you.
Links still have a place even when you use rooms. A freeplay link is a record of a setup you want to reuse. A group that found a seed it enjoyed can save the link and bring it back next week. And a pair of links is the simplest setup when everybody is on one sofa with phones.
If your group plays over a video call, the guide to running the round over a call shows how to place the call and the room side by side. For a broader walkthrough of call-based play, see the Zoom bomb defusal guide.
The seed link mistake: editing the number after sending it
The common mistake is changing the setup after the links are out. The Defuser tweaks the seed on the Play page, deals a bomb from the new number, and the Experts are still on the manual link sent ten minutes ago. Nothing breaks visibly. The rules just stop matching.
It happens for innocent reasons. The Defuser decides seed 7 is too familiar and tries 8. Or someone suggests more modules, and while changing that, the seed field gets bumped. The new freeplay address now says rule=8, but the chat still holds /manual/7.
There is also a quieter version. If someone trims a freeplay link by hand and drops the rule part, the bomb falls back to seed 1, the standard manual. Experts holding a manual link for seed 7 will be reading the wrong rules from the first module.
The fix is a rule for the group: whoever changes the seed sends both links again, together, and says the number out loud. Then each Expert reads the number at the top of their manual back to the Defuser before anyone arms the bomb.
If a mismatch slips through, stop the round and compare numbers. The bomb does not need restarting; the Expert only needs the right manual.
Once the group trusts the link routine, it opens up more ways to play. The seed plan for a group's evenings shows how to move from seed 1 to fresh manuals over several nights. And when the group wants a surprise, the guide to picking any random seed covers choosing one fairly on the spot.
You can start with nothing more than the Play page and a call.