BOMBANANA! (Bomb Banana) Calculator Module
Two stages, not one
The Calculator (often called the Math module) has two distinct steps, and mixing them up is the most common way teams lose time:
- Stage 1 — the equation: read the equation, calculate the raw result, and enter it. This advances the module.
- Stage 2 — the final key: after the raw result is accepted, the Calculator reveals a new LED color. Combine that LED with whether the raw result was odd or even to pick the single final digit.
The arithmetic answer does not finish the module — it only advances it. If the equation gives 57, entering 57 may be exactly right even though 57 is not the number that ends the module.
Why there is no light at the start
The first Calculator state can show an equation with no useful LED at all. That is normal. The correct order is: read equation → calculate raw result → enter it → wait for the module to change → read the new LED → classify the raw result as odd/even → use the table. If you are staring at an equation asking "where is the light?", you are one stage early.
The final-key mapping
Once the raw result is accepted, two values select the final key: the new LED color and the parity of the raw result.
| New LED | Raw result odd | Raw result even |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 3 | 5 |
| Green | 2 | 9 |
| Blue | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow | 7 | 0 |
Note that 0 is a valid final answer — a Blue LED with an odd raw result gives 0, and so does a Yellow LED with an even raw result. Do not treat zero as "no answer."
The keypad is jumbled
Press the digit printed on the button, not the physical spot where that digit sits on a phone or numpad — the keypad layout can be shuffled. If the correct final key is 3, find the button that shows "3" and press it, wherever it happens to be.
Three worked solves
55 + 2, then a Red light
55 + 2 = 57 → enter 57. The module advances and shows a Red LED. 57 is odd. Red + odd → 3. Full solve: 55 + 2 → 57 → Red → odd → 3.
55 − 27, then a Green light
55 − 27 = 28 → enter 28. After it advances, a Green LED appears. 28 is even. Green + even → 9. Full solve: 55 − 27 → 28 → Green → even → 9.
60 + 22, then a Blue light
60 + 22 = 82 → enter 82. After 82 is accepted the Calculator shows a Blue LED. 82 is even. Blue + even → 1. Full solve: 60 + 22 → 82 → Blue → even → 1.
Notice that in every case the two numbers belong to different moments: 82 and 1 are two different answers used at two different stages. If somebody hears "82" after the panel has already moved to the coloured-light stage, the old number sounds completely legitimate while being completely useless.
The maths is not the hard part
Calculator is the module where the question changes halfway through the solve. In stage one the only useful information is the equation. The colored light is not part of the first arithmetic step. You calculate the raw result and enter it — and only once the game accepts that result does the useful information change, to the new light plus the parity of the raw result.
So the difficulty is not 60 + 22. The difficulty is that two different answers are used at two different moments, and the module gives no signal that the moment changed unless someone is watching for it. That is also why Calculator is a poor module to practise while a Chaos pressure or a second panel is pulling attention away: the arithmetic survives distraction, the stage boundary does not.
A practical guard: whoever reads the panel announces the stage change out loud. Not "82" but "82 accepted — new light. Waiting." The team hears the moment pass instead of discovering it three calls later.
Call the two numbers "raw" and "final"
Calculator becomes much safer when the arithmetic result and the final key have different names. Use raw for the equation result and final for the digit chosen from the LED table:
- "Calculator. Raw 57."
- after the panel changes: "Red. Odd. Final 3."
The exact wording does not matter — what matters is that nobody hears an unlabelled number and has to guess whether it belongs to stage one or stage two.
Diagnose the stage that failed
When Calculator goes wrong, find where the process stopped instead of restarting every rule from memory:
| Symptom | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Equation visible, but no LED | Still stage one | Solve the equation and enter the raw result |
| Raw result accepted, no final answer yet | Stage two | Read the new LED, then classify the raw result as odd or even — not the final key |
| Final key looks impossible | Earlier step contaminated | Re-check in order: arithmetic → parity → LED colour → table lookup |
| Correct digit called, press failed | Keypad problem | Press the digit printed on the button, not its usual position |
| Nobody knows if the first number was entered | State is uncertain | Stop using remembered state; read the panel as it is now |
Stop and re-read when the stage is unclear
Abandon remembered state and rebuild from what the bomb shows now if any of these is true:
- two players heard different equations;
- nobody knows whether the raw result was already submitted;
- the LED was called before the raw result was accepted;
- odd/even is still being argued about;
- a mistake has already occurred;
- somebody remembers a number but not which stage it belonged to.
If the panel still shows the equation you are in stage one; if the raw result has been accepted and the LED is visible you are in stage two. Continue from the bomb, not from memory.
Calculator is ready when nobody waits for the wrong stage
You do not need the LED table memorized before moving deeper into the Campaign — a solver or thefull BOMBANANA! manual can carry the lookup. What should disappear are two specific mistakes:
- Waiting for a light before solving the equation. If the team is staring at an equation asking where the LED is, they have not understood stage one yet.
- Treating the raw result as the final key. Entering the arithmetic answer and then waiting for the module to clear treats a stage-one action as a full solve.
When neither happens, the module's real structure is understood and forgotten table values stop mattering. What should be automatic instead is the sequence itself: do the maths → enter it → read the new state → finish the lookup.
Where the Calculator shows up
Calculator enters the Campaign at Level 5 (3:00) paired with Color Slider, with Slider chaos already active — so the very first Calculator a team meets is a two-module bomb with a moving value on the other panel. Level 6 adds Cable to the same mix and switches the chaos to Pressure.
Because it never appears alone as a teaching level the way Cable does at Level 1, Calculator is usually learned under load. If the team is failing it, the fastest fix is Custom mode: build a bomb around Calculator alone and run the stage boundary until announcing it costs nothing. See all modules for how Calculator's tier compares with the rest.