Bomb Puyo
| Bomb Puyo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Margin time | None |
| Target points | None |
| Offsetting | None |
| All clear bonus | None |
Bomb Puyo (ばくだんぷよぷよ) is perhaps the most obscure game rule of all Puyo Puyo's history. It only appears in Puyo Puyo~n, and at that, it only appears in the Nintendo 64 version (Puyo Puyo~n Party), being the only console-exclusive rule to date.
This mode is not to be confused with Bomber rule from 15th Anniversary, which has an extremely different structure, and instead of featuring Bomb Puyos only has generic bombs.
Gameplay
In essence, Bomb Puyo mode is the Puyo series' adaptation of the party game "Hot Potato".
At the top of the screen is a Bomb Puyo, the rarest and most dangerous Puyo of all. This bomb is constantly ticking down, and after a set amount of time, will explode. The goal is to not be the person with the bomb when it explodes. The bomb falls into a random player's position to start with, and by clearing Puyo next to it, it can be sent to another player. Anybody who doesn't have the bomb when it goes off is the winner, so there can be up to 3 winners. Each winner is awarded 5 points to a counter below their playfield, persistent between matches.
Many features typical of Puyo are inaccessible in this mode. For example, you cannot send garbage to your opponent, meaning that there is no Margin Time, no Neutralizing, and nothing else of that sort. Strategically, there seems to be no apparent benefit to placing, clearing, or chaining Puyos whatsoever, outside of clearing the Bomb Puyo.
As in other 4-player modes, you cannot select a playable character, and chains for all players use Arle's chants.
Difficulty
Very Easy
The player plays with 3 colors.
Easy
The player plays with 3 colors.
Normal
The player plays with 4 colors.
Hard
The player plays with 4 colors.
Very Hard
The player plays with 5 colors.