BOMBANANA! Roles
Three monkeys, three one-sided senses. Only together can they see, hear and read what a bomb needs.
The role descriptions below follow the official store page wording closely — each player has only part of the information, and working out how you communicate is your job (“wave, shout, throw bananas” is the developers' example, deliberately non-prescriptive).
The three roles
| Role | Official ability | Official blind spot | What they can do for the team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blind monkey 🙈 | Can touch the bomb | Cannot see colours or read screens | Performs actions on the bomb by touch |
| Deaf monkey 🙉 | Can see the bomb and the frantic gesturing | Hears nothing | Reads the bomb's panel states for everyone |
| Mute monkey 🙊 | Only player who can read the bomb disposal manual | Cannot tell the others what they know | Hunts the manual page and answers in gestures / typed words |
Playing the blind monkey
- You are the team's hands: feel, don't look. Ask for positions (“third from the left”), never colours.
- Work out a touch vocabulary with the deaf monkey — taps, hand positions, where “top” is on the bomb.
- Repeat the action before doing it: “cutting third from the left” — one last confirmation reflex.
Playing the deaf monkey
- You are the team's eyes: describe, don't decide. Read modules by the templates (modules).
- Everything you say has to survive a mute relay, so speak in fixed order and fixed vocabulary.
- You see the gestures — you are the natural coordinator between the blind monkey's hands and the mute monkey's page.
Playing the mute monkey
- You hold the answers: the manual is yours alone. Build a fast lookup habit — module type first, then state.
- You cannot speak, but the game does not forbid pointing, typing or gesture — invent your feedback loop with your trio.
- Say what to do, not what you know: “cut”, “skip”, “wait” — short commands beat explanations under the timer.
The game deliberately makes this hard
Per the official about page: “Players can and should expect peak amounts of misunderstanding, unjust accusations, and desperate body language.” Surviving the bomb guarantees nothing about your friendships. Treat the chaos as the feature, and a shared vocabulary as your only real weapon.
FAQ
Common questions about this topic.
Can the blind monkey read the manual?
No — the blind monkey cannot see colours or read screens (official). Only the mute monkey reads the manual.
Can the mute monkey hear?
Yes — the mute monkey hears everything; the role's limitation is speaking, not hearing.
Can the deaf monkey talk?
Yes, the deaf monkey can shout — the limitation is hearing. That makes them the natural coordinator: they see the bomb and can hear nothing, so they read states and relay.
Do roles change between rounds?
Not officially documented. Player reports (unconfirmed) suggest teams typically keep the same role throughout a run; the game does not state whether roles rotate.
Can I swap roles with a friend?
Roles are fixed positions in the trio — mechanics for swapping in a run are not officially documented.