Gameplay in Kaboom! consists of catching bombs dropped by the "Mad Bomber" with a set of three buckets using a paddle controller. Points are scored for every bomb caught, extra buckets (maximum of three) are awarded at every 1,000 points, and one bucket is lost every time a bomb is dropped. Bombs fall at increasing higher speeds, making higher levels exponentially more difficult than the earlier levels.
When Kaboom! was originally sold, anyone who scored above 3,000 points could send Activision a picture of their screen and receive membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade and also receive a Bucket Brigade patch.
The game was very successful, selling over one million cartridges by 1983.