BOMBANANA! is a three-player co-op bomb-defusal game from Lefto Studio.
You and two friends are the world's least qualified bomb squad, three monkeys crammed into a minivan, and each of you is missing a sense. One can't see, one can't hear, one can't speak. Between you sits a live bomb. If you've played Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, you'll recognise the shape of it, but BOMBANANA! is sillier, more chaotic, and built entirely around the three of you failing to communicate.
The free demo is out now as part of Steam Next Fest, with the full release due in August 2026, so there's never been a better time to grab two mates and start screaming at each other. This guide covers what the game is, who does what, and how to actually defuse your first bomb.
Once you've got the basics, our module and callout guide breaks down each puzzle type in detail.
Every round drops your trio into the van with a bomb, a stack of puzzle modules, a ticking timer, and a limited number of mistakes before the whole thing goes up. Your job is to clear every module before the clock hits zero.
The twist is that no single player can solve a bomb alone. The information you need is split across three roles, and getting it from one monkey to another is the entire challenge. This is a game about talking, not about puzzles - the puzzles are simple enough, it's the talking that'll kill you.
One hard rule up front: BOMBANANA! needs exactly three players. It won't start with two, and there's no solo mode. Round up your group before you sit down.
The Three Monkeys
Each player takes one of three roles, and each role is missing something.
The Blind Monkey is the only one who can physically touch the bomb. The catch is they're stuck on a black screen and can only perceive the bomb through silhouettes, touch, and gut feeling. They're also the one who reads the bomb's Braille panels by feel, since nobody else can. Every wire they cut and button they press is done on trust, following instructions they can't double-check.
The Deaf Monkey can see the bomb clearly and can speak, but can't hear a word their teammates say. They're the eyes and the voice of the team, reading the bomb out and telling the Blind Monkey what to do.
The Mute Monkey holds the defusal manual and knows all the answers, but can't say a single word. They communicate through the in-game gesture system, holding up fingers for numbers, nodding, and signalling with body language.
Memorise those limits before your first bomb, because the whole game flows out of them.
The Information Triangle
Here's how those three roles fit together, and it only really works in one direction. The devs call it the information triangle. The Mute Monkey reads the manual and gestures the answer to the Deaf Monkey. The Deaf Monkey, who can see and speak, relays that out loud to the Blind Monkey. The Blind Monkey, hands on the bomb, carries out the instruction.
The Deaf Monkey is the bridge in the middle, and the bottleneck. They have to watch the bomb and watch the Mute Monkey's gestures at the same time, then speak clearly to a teammate who's working blind. Glance away at the wrong moment and the whole chain breaks.
Try to run information backwards or skip a step, and you'll be cutting wires on a guess. Respect the triangle and things start to click.
Set Up Before You Touch Anything
A minute of prep saves a lot of explosions. Get your three players into a private lobby and assign your roles before the timer starts. Then sort out a few basics as a team.
Agree on what your core gestures mean - at the very least, settle "yes", "no", and "wait" so the Mute Monkey isn't improvising under pressure. Pick a direction convention too, so "left to right" means the same thing to everyone (the Blind Monkey's left and right is the sensible standard). And agree on a "full stop" phrase that instantly pauses everyone the moment someone's unsure.
Worth knowing: the game is designed around its own limited communication, and even nudges you away from leaning on external voice chat. The restrictions are the point, so build your signals around them rather than trying to cheat past them.
How a Round Plays Out
Once you're in, the rhythm is the same on every module. The Deaf Monkey calls out what they can see. The Mute Monkey finds the matching page in the manual and gestures the answer. The Deaf Monkey relays it to the Blind Monkey, who makes a single input and says what they did. Then you confirm the module's clear and move to the next one.
The golden rule is one module at a time. It's tempting to have someone describing module three while the Blind Monkey is still on module one, but that's how you get double inputs and instant fails. Finish what's in front of you, announce it's done, then move on. Slow and confirmed beats fast and dead, every single time.
What the Demo Throws at You
The Steam Next Fest demo runs across several difficulty tiers and gives you a couple of hours of content. The first tier is a gentle "cut the wire" introduction to teach the chain. By the middle tiers it ramps up hard, throwing in maths puzzles with odd and even numbers, greater-than and less-than signs, and switch panels that'll have your group yelling. Treat each new tier as another layer of tutorial rather than a race to the highest number.
The Easiest Role to Start On
If your group is brand new and someone's nervous, put them on Blind Monkey. It sounds counterintuitive given they can't see, but it's the role with the least to track. The Blind Monkey doesn't solve anything or hold any information in their head - they just carry out the instructions they're given, one at a time. The Mute and Deaf Monkeys are juggling the manual, the bomb, and each other, so they carry the heavier mental load.
That said, don't let one person live on the same role forever. Rotate every few bombs. It builds empathy for each limitation and makes your whole team sharper in the long run.
Common First-Run Mistakes
A few traps catch nearly every new group. The Blind Monkey touching the bomb before the Deaf Monkey has finished reading the module is the single most common first-run explosion. Calling out two modules at once is a close second, since the Mute Monkey loses track and the Blind Monkey acts on stale information.
Inventing Braille numbers is another one - only the Blind Monkey can read those dots, so everyone else has to wait for the report rather than guessing. And the big one: don't rage-quit after a single failed bomb. BOMBANANA! is built around misunderstanding, and the groups that improve fastest are the ones that take sixty seconds to work out what went wrong, then go again.
Quick Tips
You need exactly three players - it won't start with two.
Learn your role's limits before the timer starts.
Information flows one way: Mute, to Deaf, to Blind, to Mute.
Agree your gestures and a "full stop" phrase before the first bomb.
One module at a time, always confirm before you act.
Stick a nervous beginner on Blind Monkey, then rotate.
Debrief every explosion instead of quitting.
That's everything you need to survive your first few bombs. Grab the free demo, wrangle two friends, and embrace the chaos - the wrong cuts and panicked gestures are half the fun. When you're ready to get properly good, our module and callout guide walks through how to read and talk through every puzzle type. Good luck, and try not to explode.
