A demo was released in 1997 for MS-DOS, but the full version was never published. Blast Chamber is a 1996 action puzzle video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Activision for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

The Story Behind Blast Chamber

The other players will try to grab the crystal, by pushing its bearer and causing them to fall by rotating the chamber. Adding and losing time on the timer is the same as in Eliminator Mode, where the crystal is dropped off in different players' squares. Once an orb is dropped off into a chamber, falls on spikes, falls in a pit, or blows up via the "Crystal Bomb" powerup, another one will appear.

It was the first non-sports four-player game for the PlayStation and Saturn. With so many first-person shooters - so many driving games, we wanted to make something different that made a game what it's supposed to be - an original game that draws people in. How much time is gained or lost when a crystal is placed in a reactor depends on the difficulty.

How Blast Chamber Plays

For every 10,000 points, the player gains an extra life. In the single-player game, the player navigates through 40 different cube-shaped puzzles, known as chambers. Once the crystal is dropped off in the reactor, the player moves on to the next level.

If the player makes it through all 40 chambers without using any cheat codes, there is an animation at the end. In addition, some "kickers" (switches in the form of green arrows) are placed on some walls to mislead the player. Obstacles range from platforms, to spike pits, to giant fans.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Each player has a small pyramid holochamber assigned to them (one on each "side" of the chamber belonging to each of the players and color-coded to match) in which they can bring a crystal that is dropped at the beginning of the level to extend the amount of time on their timer. Also, on Conflagration or Thermonuclear difficulty, if a player blows up and another player is standing too close, both players are blown up simultaneously. However, when a player possesses the crystal, that player's "Kill Clock" freezes until they put it in a reactor or lose it by being pushed or falling.

The player who dies the fewest times is the winner. Once an orb is dropped off into a chamber, falls on spikes, falls in a pit, or blows up via the "Crystal Bomb" powerup, another one will appear. Shawn Smith and Dan Hsu of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) were most positive, calling it "the most original game of the year" and "almost a perfect multiplayer game, like a Bomberman for the next generation." EGM later named it a runner-up for Best Original Concept of the Year (behind Tecmo's Deception).

Blast Chamber — Frequently Asked Questions