How Modules Work

What actually happens in BOMBANANA! when the Mute Monkey signals a wire count that doesn’t match what the Deaf Monkey is reading off the bomb screen? Usually it’s a wrong cut, a lost attempt, and a fast lesson in why each module type leans on a different reporting order between the three roles. The demo currently splits its bombs across four confirmed module types, wire, Braille, keypad, and switch, and each one runs the Blind Monkey, Deaf Monkey, and Mute Monkey through a distinct sequence of who says what to whom. None of the four module types are interchangeable once a bomb is actually running, and in a game built entirely around who’s allowed to say what, knowing which role is supposed to be talking at any given moment is most of what separates a clean defusal from a wasted attempt.

Look down that table and the Deaf Monkey’s column stands out: on every single module type, this player is the one narrating out loud, whether that means colors and lights, repeated digits, live keypad feedback, or switch positions. The Mute Monkey and Blind Monkey each get a turn holding unique information depending on the module, but the Deaf Monkey never gets a module off.

Wire Modules: Reading Color and Light Together in BOMBANANA!

Wire modules are usually the first thing a new team runs into, and the job splits cleanly across the three roles from the start. The Deaf Monkey reads the wire colors and any indicator light state out loud, always in the same order, top-to-bottom or left-to-right, so nothing gets described twice or skipped over by accident.

The Mute Monkey takes that description and cross-references it against the manual using two variables at once: how many wires are on the module, and what color the indicator light is currently showing. Both have to line up, since the same set of wire colors can point to a different answer depending on the light.

Once the Mute Monkey has settled on the correct wire, that instruction gets passed to the Deaf Monkey, spoken aloud to the Blind Monkey, and the Blind Monkey cuts exactly one wire per confirmed cycle. Wire modules end up being where most teams first practice the full four-step relay, since campaign progression introduces them before any other module type.

Because the same handful of wire colors can appear on module after module with different indicator light states attached, teams that start pattern-matching instead of re-checking every time are usually the ones who cut correctly on one module and incorrectly on the next. The Mute Monkey re-reading the manual fresh for each module, rather than trusting memory from the last one, is what keeps that from happening.

Braille Modules: Where the Blind Monkey Leads

Braille modules flip the usual information flow, because for once the Blind Monkey is the one holding new information instead of waiting to receive it. Only the Blind Monkey can read the raised dots by touch, reporting the value back to the team digit by digit as it’s felt out under their fingers.

The Deaf Monkey’s job here is to repeat those numbers aloud, less to relay them to someone new and more to confirm out loud that the whole team heard the same digits. That repetition matters, since there’s no visual way for the other two roles to double-check what the Blind Monkey just felt on the panel.

The Mute Monkey then matches the reported digits against the correct row in the manual, cross-checked against whatever the current indicator light color happens to be, before signaling approval back through the Deaf Monkey. Player guides are consistent on one point here: nobody but the Blind Monkey should ever guess at a Braille value themselves, even when the answer seems obvious from context.

That single rule, sometimes called Braille ownership, exists because there’s no second source of truth on a Braille module. A wire module gives the Deaf Monkey a screen to look at as a check; a Braille module gives everyone except the Blind Monkey nothing at all until the digits are spoken aloud.

Keypad Modules: Digit by Digit Under Pressure

Keypad modules show up as a number pad built into the bomb casing, and they compress the relay into a tighter loop than wire or Braille modules do. As the Blind Monkey enters each digit, the Deaf Monkey reads back the live feedback appearing on screen, confirming in real time that the right number actually registered.

The Mute Monkey’s role is to confirm each entry against the manual as it happens, rather than approving the whole sequence up front. That keeps errors from stacking, since a wrong digit gets caught immediately instead of after an entire code has already been entered.

The Blind Monkey enters exactly one digit per confirmed cycle, the same discipline as every other module type, just at a faster pace since keypad sequences tend to run several digits long. Keypad modules appear within the same stretch of campaign progression that introduces switch modules.

That faster pace is exactly why keypad modules feel more intense than they might look on paper. The Deaf Monkey is confirming digits almost as fast as the Mute Monkey can approve them, which leaves far less room for the pause-and-repeat rhythm a team can fall back on with a wire or switch module.

Switch Modules: Cross-Checking Positions Against Braille

Switch modules ask the Deaf Monkey to narrate the current active switch positions, describing a full setup rather than the single value a keypad or wire module usually calls for.

From there, the Mute Monkey cross-checks the manual row that matches the current setup, and in some cases that row also requires cross-referencing against a Braille number, tying a switch module’s answer to whatever the Blind Monkey has separately reported. That overlap makes switch modules one of the more demanding types once a bomb is carrying several module types at once.

The Blind Monkey flips one switch at a time, per confirmed cycle, the same as every other module. Since a single bomb can carry several modules of mixed types at once, and it only counts as defused once every module on it has been cleared before time or mistake limits run out, a switch module is rarely the only thing standing between a team and a finished bomb.

The Braille cross-reference is what makes switch modules feel like a step up rather than just a fourth flavor of the same relay. The Mute Monkey isn’t only reading one manual row anymore; they’re holding two pieces of information at once, the switch setup and a number that only exists because the Blind Monkey reported it earlier, and matching them before signaling anything back.

How BOMBANANA!’s Campaign Introduces Each Module Type

Campaign mode is built around defusing bombs to unlock further stages, and the difficulty curve comes almost entirely from which module types have been introduced so far rather than from harder versions of the same module. The order in which they appear is fixed and progressive.

1. Wire modules
2. Braille modules
3. Switch modules, with keypad modules appearing within this later stretch

That order isn’t arbitrary. Wire modules teach the basic four-step relay without adding any twist to how information is gathered, Braille modules force the team to handle the Blind Monkey originating information instead of just receiving it, and switch modules, arriving last, ask the Mute Monkey to cross-reference two data types, a manual row and a Braille number, at the same time.

Campaign runs across at least six stages, and because module types stack rather than replace each other as new ones are introduced, later bombs mix wire, Braille, keypad, and switch modules on the same casing. By the final stages a single bomb can be running all four relays at once, with the team switching between them as each module clears in turn.

That progressive stacking is also why early stages and late stages of the campaign feel like almost different games built on the same three roles. A first-stage bomb might only ask the team to run the wire relay a couple of times before it’s cleared. A sixth-stage bomb can ask the Deaf Monkey to jump between reading a screen, repeating Braille digits, confirming keypad entries, and narrating switch positions, sometimes on the same bomb, before time runs out.

The Custom Bomb-Building Mode

A second mode unlocks after some progress through campaign, and it lets a group design their own custom bombs instead of working through the fixed stage order. Rather than assembling a full bomb’s worth of mixed modules, it’s built around a single module at a time.

That narrower focus is what makes it useful. A team that keeps blowing Braille modules, for instance, can build a bomb that’s nothing but Braille modules and run it repeatedly without the added pressure of wire or switch modules stacked on top of it.

It amounts to practice without the stakes of a live campaign run: no stage unlock on the line, just the same three-role relay running against a single module type until the team’s timing between the Mute Monkey’s gesture and the Deaf Monkey’s translation actually holds up. For teams stuck on one module type in particular, it tends to be more useful than repeating campaign stages from the beginning.

Because it unlocks partway through campaign rather than at the very start, the custom bomb-building mode isn’t really a beginner’s tool. It’s aimed at a team that already knows what all four module types look like and has identified, usually the hard way, exactly which one keeps costing them a run.

1. What order does Campaign introduce module types in BOMBANANA!? Wire modules come first, then Braille modules, then switch modules, with keypad modules appearing within that later stretch of progression. Each new type stacks onto the ones before it rather than replacing them, so later bombs mix all four.
2. Who is allowed to report Braille digits during a run? Only the Blind Monkey. Teammates guessing at a Braille value themselves is a mistake specifically called out in player guides, since Braille ownership belongs to that role alone and nobody else has a way to verify a reading.
3. What happens when a bomb has multiple module types on it? Nothing simplifies just because the module types differ, since a single bomb can carry several modules of mixed types, and it counts as defused only once every module on it has been cleared before time or mistake limits run out.
4. What is the custom bomb-building mode actually for? It’s for practicing outside the pressure of a live team run, since it lets a group build a bomb around a single module type at a time instead of the mixed set found across campaign stages, which is useful once a team has already spotted which module keeps beating them.

Strip away the timer and the bomb casing, and BOMBANANA! is really four small translation problems stacked on top of each other, each one asking the Deaf Monkey, Mute Monkey, and Blind Monkey to hand information down the same four-step chain in a slightly different shape. A wire module wants a color matched to a light, a Braille module wants a digit felt out by touch, a keypad wants that digit entered without breaking rhythm, and a switch module wants a position checked against a number nobody but the Blind Monkey can read. Learning the four module types individually, in whatever order campaign happens to introduce them, is really just learning the same relay four different ways.