How to Play BOMBANANA!
BOMBANANA! is a chaotic, explosively funny co-op game for exactly three players, where each player holds only part of the information. A blind, a deaf, and a mute monkey must work together to defuse a bomb — or everyone goes BOOM.
What is BOMBANANA!?
It's a three-player bomb-defusal game built around asymmetric roles. Each monkey sees, hears, and acts differently, so the team has to constantly translate information between players. There is no single "right" way to defuse a bomb — the developers leave communication entirely up to you: wave, shout, throw bananas, whatever works (Steam official description).
Meet the three monkeys
Official role descriptions (Steam store page):
🙈 Blind Monkey
"You can't see the bomb, but you can touch the bomb! Sadly, you can't see colors or read screens. You'll need to rely on your teammates for the rest."
🙊 Mute Monkey
"You are the only one who can read the bomb-disposal manual. If only you could tell the others what you know."
🙉 Deaf Monkey
"You can see the bomb and see your friends frantically gesturing at you. Sadly, you can't hear a thing."
Why it works: Blind operates the bomb, Mute has the manual, Deaf is the bridge carrying state from the bomb to the manual and the answer back. No solo mode exists — exactly three players are required.
Your first bomb: a simple loop
- Identify the module. Deaf/Mute name what's on the panel (e.g. "three wires"), before any values are discussed.
- Read the state. Mute opens the manual to that module; Deaf relays the current colors/numbers/positions.
- Compute the answer. Mute turns the state into one clear instruction.
- Deliver it physically. Tell Blind a concrete action: "second wire from the left," not just "blue."
- Confirm before acting. If the call is disputed, Blind keeps hands off until there's one unambiguous action.
Communication: lock in 5 agreements
Before several modules start competing for attention, a good team agrees on five things (strategy distilled from community play guides):
- One perspective for left/right. Default to Blind's viewpoint while facing the bomb; never switch mid-session.
- One counting direction. Left-to-right for a row; put the position before the value ("top-right, four").
- Unmistakable yes/no. Nod/thumbs-up vs shake/thumbs-down, visually clear.
- Repeat ≠ reset. "Repeat" resends one missed field; "reset" throws the whole state away and restarts.
- Blind waits on disputes. No guessing whether the team means "go" or "wait."
Game modes
📖 Campaign
30 handcrafted levels with increasing difficulty. The place to learn the game.
♾️ Endless
Procedurally generated, wave-based levels that keep getting harder. For testing how long your routine survives.
🛠️ Custom
Build your own challenge: bomb difficulty, timer, module types, hazards, and allowed mistakes.
Tips for surviving the timer
- Communication is the whole game. Relying on in-game voice chat, the devs built creativity into the system — but a missing bridge (e.g. a stuck Mute) stalls the run.
- Race the clock on Blind. Blind is the only one who can physically interact with the bomb; keep mechanisms from overheating or the mission fails instantly.
- Switch roles when stuck. A player who kept failing as Mute often solves it once they see the puzzle directly. Rotating seats shows everyone what the other two handle.