BOMBANANA! Guide: Start Here

BOMBANANA! is an asymmetric three-player online co-op bomb defusal game from Lefto Studio, a small indie team from Turkey, published by TARK. It is inspired by the Three Wise Monkeys — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil — and turns that idea into a bomb squad where miscommunication is the core mechanic, not a bug. Defusing the bomb is the easy part; talking about it is what blows you up.

Inside a BOMBANANA! round: a monkey works the bomb control panels while the countdown timer runs — Inside a round — the timer keeps running while one monkey works the bomb panels. Official Steam screenshot · Lefto Studio / TARK

The Three Monkey Roles

Role	Constraint	Job
Blind Monkey	Sees only a simplified, near-black view; reads Braille on the bomb by touch	The only player who can physically interact with the bomb: cutting wires, pressing buttons, typing keypad digits
Mute Monkey	Cannot speak; communicates through head nods, shakes and numbered hand gestures	The only player who can read the defusal manual; decides the correct action for every module
Deaf Monkey	Cannot hear teammates; sees the bomb in full detail, including the countdown timer	The communication bridge: describes modules aloud, translates Mute gestures into spoken instructions for Blind

Mental load is highest on the Mute, who must convert colors and directions into numbered gestures. The Deaf carries the filtering problem — not everything visible on the bomb matters. The Blind carries the clock, because every instruction has to survive two translations before their hands move.

The Round Loop

Lobby and role assignment — all three players join, discuss, and lock in Mute, Deaf or Blind.
Level selection — early levels have fewer modules; later levels add complex panels and tighter timers.
Bomb spawns — Deaf sees it fully, Blind gets a minimal dark interface with Braille, Mute sees only the manual.
Information gathering — Deaf describes modules aloud; Blind reports Braille markings; both relay to Mute.
Manual consultation — Mute cross-references the incoming state with the manual and picks the correct action.
Gesture communication — Mute signals the answer to Deaf (the only player who can see the gestures).
Verbal relay — Deaf translates the gestures into spoken instructions for Blind.
Defusal execution — Blind performs the cut, press or entry — and reports what changed.

If any link breaks, the bomb explodes and everyone shares the blame. That shared responsibility is the point.

Agree This Before the First Bomb

A gesture dictionary: yes, no, wait, repeat, go-back, and the numbers zero to nine.
Left and right always mean the Blind Monkey left and right — the hands on the bomb are the only perspective that matters.
A numbering system: numpad mapping works well — 2 = down, 4 = left, 6 = right, 8 = up. Assign numbers to colors before the round.
Simplest module first, to take timer pressure off.
Nobody cuts, presses, types or flips until the instruction has been repeated back once.

First-Session Checklist

Step	What to set	Why it matters
Assign roles	Confirm who sees, hears, speaks, reads and touches	Most confusion starts before the bomb
Agree callouts	Short words for colors, numbers, positions, buttons	Long descriptions waste timer time
Test voice and lobby	Check lobby join and voice delay first	Official hotfix history shows these issues matter
Track modules	Note which modules appear and what failed	Public module details are still thin — verify as you play

Where to Go Next

Sources: bombanana.net game overview, bombanana.org guide hub, Mobalytics module and callout guide, bombanana.site start-here route.