The BOMBANANA! Manual
In BOMBANANA!, the bomb disposal manual is the single source of truth — and only the mute monkey can read it.
The manual is the core of the game's asymmetry. On the official page, the developers describe the mute monkey as “the only one who can read the bomb disposal manual. If only you could tell the others what you know.” Every bomb contains modules whose rules live in the manual; the rest of the team must relay enough information to the mute monkey for the right page to be found.
Who reads what
| Role | Sees | Hears | Reads manual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blind monkey | Nothing (can touch the bomb) | Yes | No |
| Deaf monkey | The bomb and everything on it | No | No |
| Mute monkey | Only the manual | Yes | Yes — cannot speak |
Working out who describes what is the player's job — the developer page is explicit that “there's no one right way to defuse the bomb. We don't impose any methods: wave, shout, throw bananas.”
How a manual-driven defusal works
- The deaf monkey reads what is on the bomb: module type, panel state, numbers, lights, labels.
- The mute monkey looks up the matching rules in the manual.
- The team negotiates a shared word for each thing the blind monkey can feel or act on.
- The blind monkey performs the confirmed action on the bomb.
- Disagree? Re-describe. The game is built around misunderstandings — shouting louder is a valid strategy.
Report templates we use on this wiki
Until exact module rules are officially published, the most useful thing this wiki can offer is a consistent way to describe each module to the mute monkey. The templates below are communication conventions, not game rules — players reporting in this shape make the manual hunt much faster.
- Cable: report by position then colour, e.g. “third from the left, red”. The deaf monkey names cables by their position on the panel so the mute monkey can find the right page. See the cable module page.
- Calculation: read exactly what the display shows, digit by digit. See calculation module.
- Direction: agree on a frame of reference first — “left” means whose left? See direction module.
- Switch: describe switch states from a fixed corner, in a fixed order. See switch module.
What is not yet confirmed
The official store page and news posts confirm the manual exists, that the mute monkey is its only reader, and that the full game ships 14 puzzle modules. The exact manual contents — the mapping of panel states to actions for each module — have not been published by the developer, so any specific rule you see elsewhere online is community-reported and should be treated as unconfirmed until it is cross-checked in-game.
FAQ
Common questions about this topic.
Why can't the mute monkey talk?
That's the role's whole point: the mute monkey is the only player able to read the bomb disposal manual, but cannot tell anyone what it says. The team must find another way to communicate.
Does the deaf monkey read the manual?
No. On the official page the deaf monkey “can see the bomb and your friends as they frantically gesture” but hears nothing — reading the manual is the mute monkey's ability.
Is the manual the same on every bomb?
The manual is the rulebook for all modules. Which modules appear on a given bomb, and their exact states, vary from bomb to bomb — the puzzle is identifying the right page fast enough.
Where can I see the real manual contents?
In game. The full manual text is not published outside the game, and this wiki does not reproduce unverified copies.