Deaf Monkey
The Deaf Monkey is the only player who sees the bomb clearly and can speak, which makes you the team’s eyes and voice at once. You also hear absolutely nothing. Every answer reaches you as a gesture from the Mute Monkey, and every instruction leaves you as speech for the Blind Monkey. Player guides consistently call this seat the bottleneck of the team: when the Deaf Monkey is clear and calm, the whole relay works; when the Deaf Monkey rushes, everything downstream breaks.
| Role | Deaf Monkey |
| Main job | Read the bomb aloud, read the Mute Monkey’s gestures, tell the Blind Monkey what to do |
| Can see | The bomb in full detail, including colors and module screens, plus both teammates |
| Can hear | Nothing – in-game voice is silent for this role |
| Can speak | Yes – a microphone is needed |
| Touches the bomb | No |
| Reads the manual | No |
Why This Role Is the Bottleneck
Information always travels the same way: the Mute Monkey reads the manual and gestures, you translate the gesture into words, and the Blind Monkey acts. You also feed the start of that chain by describing the bomb. That means you’re the only player who handles information in both directions on every single module.
The hard part is attention. You have to watch the bomb and the Mute Monkey at the same time, and the two are rarely in the same place on your screen. Look away from the Mute Monkey at the wrong moment and you miss the answer. Stare at the Mute Monkey for too long and you lose track of what the panel shows. Nobody can remove that tension; you can only get faster at switching between the two halves of the job.
Your Three Jobs
1. Describe the Bomb
Nobody else can see what you see, so a vague description becomes a wrong answer two steps later. Report state in a fixed order: which module, how many parts, then the details left to right.
- Attach an object to every value: say “slider two, red”, not just “red”.
- For a horizontal row, count left to right. For a grid, give the location first: “top right, four”.
- Read the whole panel before anyone acts, so the Mute Monkey isn’t looking up half a module.
2. Read the Mute Monkey
The Mute Monkey can hear you, so the fastest way to get an answer is often a yes/no question. Instead of waiting for an elaborate sign, ask: “Is it the green one?” and watch for a nod. Name colors or positions one at a time and stop on the nod. This keeps the Mute Monkey’s job small and your reading reliable.
3. Instruct the Blind Monkey
The Blind Monkey sees only outlines, so colors are useless to them. Every instruction has to be physical: a position, a direction, an action. “Second cable from the left. Cut.” Then wait for them to repeat it back before you say “go”.
Your Job on Each Module
You narrate on every module, but what you narrate changes. This table shows the part you usually own, based on community module guides:
| Module | What you report or do |
| Cable | Cable count, active light color, colors left to right; then the target’s position |
| Color Slider | Each slider’s color in order, then up or down for the Blind Monkey |
| Direction | The active light color; the Blind Monkey supplies the Braille number |
| Calculator | Read and solve the arithmetic, then call the light color |
| Piano | The active light color; the Braille octave comes from the Blind Monkey |
| Switch | The colors left to right; the Braille numbers come from the Blind Monkey |
| Monkey-Says | The real color of the button the Blind Monkey points at |
| Braille readings | Repeat the Blind Monkey’s digits aloud so the whole team hears the same number |
Some modules lean on sound – Symbol, Soundboard and Morse – and those parts belong to teammates who can hear. On those modules your value is in the visual details and in keeping the relay tidy.
Callout Habits That Work
- Open “Cable. Four. Red light. Left to right: yellow, green, red, blue.”
- Ask “Is it green?” – then watch for the nod.
- Instruct “Blind: second from the left. Cut.”
- Confirm Wait for “Second from the left?” and answer “Yes. Go.”
- Close “Cable done. Next: Color Slider.”
Leave short pauses between pieces of information. One continuous stream of words forces the Blind Monkey to untangle what belongs to which module. Clear breaks keep both the bomb and the Mute Monkey’s gestures readable.
Common Mistakes
- Sending bare numbers. “Two” can be a position, a digit or a count. Say “slider two” or “digit two”.
- Narrating nonstop. If you never pause, you never look at the Mute Monkey, and answers get missed.
- Guessing ahead of the Mute Monkey. You see the bomb, not the manual. Translate the answer you were given, don’t predict it.
- Mixing modules. Attaching a value to the wrong panel, or to a state that changed after a press, is a classic wrong input. Finish one module and announce it before the next.
- Giving colors to the Blind Monkey. The final call must always be a position or a direction.
- Guessing Braille. Only the Blind Monkey can read it. Repeat their reading, never your own guess.
Is This Role for You?
Guides disagree slightly on where beginners should start. One view is that the Deaf Monkey is the most readable role for a newcomer, because you learn how the bomb is built just by looking at it. Another puts nervous beginners on the Blind Monkey, which carries the lightest mental load. Both agree the Mute Monkey is the hardest seat for a first evening.
The Deaf role suits a player who can multitask and keep talking calmly under a timer. If your Deaf Monkey keeps mixing up stages or colors, try your strongest information manager in that seat. If the problem is a disagreement about what “left” means, fix that rule first.
Pre-Run Checklist
- Your microphone works and the team can hear you.
- Everyone agrees how positions are counted and from whose point of view.
- You know the Mute Monkey’s signals for yes, no and wait.
- There’s a visible stop signal for when someone needs you to pause.
- You’ll read the whole module before anyone acts.
- Every instruction to the Blind Monkey is a position or direction plus an action.
- You’ll wait for a read-back before saying “go”.
FAQ
Can the Deaf Monkey hear anything?
No. In-game voice is silent for this role, so you rely entirely on what you see: the bomb, the Mute Monkey’s gestures and the Blind Monkey’s movements.
Does the Deaf Monkey need a microphone?
Yes. Two of the three roles speak – the Deaf Monkey and the Blind Monkey – and both need a working microphone. Only the Mute Monkey can play without one.
Can the Deaf Monkey touch the bomb?
No. Only the Blind Monkey interacts with the bomb. You describe it and give instructions.
Why is the Deaf Monkey called the bottleneck?
Because every answer passes through you twice: you describe the bomb to start the lookup and translate the Mute Monkey’s answer to finish it. When you slow down or miss a gesture, the whole team waits.
