BOMBANANA!
Three players, three monkeys, one bomb, and a complete information gap between you. Each player can only see, hear, or speak. The launch discount has ended, so it now costs $7.99, and there is no solo mode. It went live on Steam on September 2, 2026.
What's actually going on
You and two friends run a bomb together. The blind monkey is the only one who can touch it, so they're physically moving wires and modules by feel. The mute monkey is the only one who can read the manual, so they know what the symbols mean but can't tell anyone. The deaf monkey can see the whole picture but can't hear either of the other two shouting panic at them. The point isn't to defuse the bomb fast: it's to figure out how three people, each holding a different piece of the puzzle, manage to communicate at all.
It's by Lefto Studio, an indie team with a small Steam history, and published by TARK, a label that's been quietly putting out oddball co-op games for a while now. The hook in the Steam description is honest about what's coming: "Players can and should expect peak amounts of misunderstanding, unjust accusations, and desperate body language, placing your friendships in jeopardy." The studio pitches it as an "argument simulator" with an in-house joke genre name of "anti-friendslop." You can take that as a marketing line or a warning. It works as both.
The three roles, in detail
Blind Monkey
The only one who can touch the bomb. The screen is darkened for this player, they can't read color, and they can't make out UI. They rely on the other two to know what they're doing and why. Color-blind support is built in for the modules so this player isn't at a permanent disadvantage, but they're still flying blind in a very literal sense.
Mute Monkey
The only one with the defusal manual. If the bomb has a wires-of-specific-color puzzle, this player can read which colors to cut. They just can't say so out loud. The whole point of the role is having the answer and being unable to give it directly. Most groups end up with this player frantically pointing at the manual.
Deaf Monkey
The only one who can see both the bomb and the other two players at the same time. They're the closest thing the team has to a coordinator, except they can't hear anything. Voice chat from the other two just isn't there. The deaf monkey reads body language, emote-wheel gestures, and what's actually happening on the bomb itself.
The interesting design choice is that the game never tells you how to communicate. There's no preset callout system, no button that says "the manual says cut the red wire." You wave, you point, you slap your teammate's character, you throw bananas at them, you make up a sign language on the fly, or you just lose.
What's in the box
Three modes, which is about right for a $5 party game.
- Campaign: 30 handcrafted levels with rising difficulty. The intended solo-with-friends experience and where the difficulty curve actually lives.
- Endless: procedurally generated waves that keep scaling up. The replay mode for groups that have figured out their communication system and want to stress-test it.
- Custom: you pick bomb difficulty, the timer, which module types appear, environmental hazards (power outages, obstructions, loud interruptions), and how many mistakes are allowed. The mode you go to once you've lost a friendship in Campaign and want to settle the score.
Modules vary per bomb. The dev page lists "different modules and different rules, all of which are guaranteed to induce different kinds of panic," which is the most honest single line in the marketing. The team is clear that slapping is a feature, not a bug.
Steam price as of Sep 12, 2026. It launched at $4.95 (-38% off); that launch discount has ended.
Should you actually buy it
It's a $5 party game, and at that price the threshold for "give it a try with two friends on a Friday night" is very low. The format is a real test of any group's communication skills and most playthroughs end in shouting matches, which is the genre the dev is openly selling into. It supports full controllers, has Steam achievements, and there's a color-blind mode for the blind-monkey role, so accessibility is taken at least somewhat seriously.
It's a hard pass if you don't have a reliable two-player group to play with: the game is online only and the only way to play is with three humans connected, no AI fill. It's also a pass if you wanted a serious co-op puzzle game: this is closer to a Jackbox-style party title than a co-op strategy game, and the difficulty comes from human miscommunication, not from the bombs themselves.
Quick facts
- Released: September 2, 2026 on Steam (PC)
- Developer: Lefto Studio
- Publisher: TARK
- Price: $7.99 USD (launch discount has ended)
- Players: Exactly 3, online co-op only
- Modes: Campaign (30 levels), Endless, Custom
- Controller support: Full controller, DualSense, Steam Input
- Languages: Interface and subtitles in English; check the Steam page for current full list
FAQ
- Is there a single-player mode? No. The game refuses to start with fewer than three human players. There is no AI fill.
- Can I queue with randoms? Yes, the public lobby system matches you with two strangers, which is the intended way to play if you only have one friend available.
- Does it work on Mac or consoles? Steam lists Windows and macOS support. There's no console version at launch.
- Is there voice chat in the game? Yes, built in — but restricted by role. The deaf monkey can't hear any of it and the mute monkey can't talk, so a chunk of your "comms" is gestures no matter what. Some groups also use Discord; it works, but the information gaps are the game, not a bug in your setup.
- How long is the campaign? 30 handcrafted levels. Most groups finish in one sitting. Endless mode is the replay value.
The official trailer is on the BOMBANANA! Steam store page. The Steam page is also where the public lobby lives and where you can add the game to your wishlist and see what people make of it.