BOMBANANA! Manual Flow Guide

When Mute Monkey reaches a manual answer, do not let it travel as raw gesture. Package it first: target, rule condition, one action, and stop point. The Steam page describes BOMBANANA! as a three-player bomb-defusal game where Mute Monkey owns the manual, Deaf Monkey can see and speak, and Blind Monkey is the player who can interact with the bomb.

That route makes manual information fragile. Mute knows the answer but cannot speak it. Deaf can relay the answer but cannot hear correction. Blind can act, but the action changes the state everyone is solving from. This page gives the handoff checks that keep one manual answer from becoming three different team assumptions. It covers the relay protocol only — how a manual answer moves from Mute to Blind safely. Module-specific answers and puzzle rules are outside its scope.

The manual answer packet

A manual answer is ready for relay only when it has four parts. If any part is missing, the team is not waiting on execution yet. It is still waiting on the manual flow.

Packet part	Check before relay	Failure it prevents
Target	Which bomb area, panel, option, or input is this answer for?	Blind can act on the right instruction in the wrong place.
Rule condition	Which observed clue made this manual path valid?	The team cannot tell when the answer became stale after the bomb state changed.
Action	What exactly should Blind do once, and only once?	A multi-step answer turns into stacked inputs before anyone can verify the first result.
Stop point	What must Blind report or show before the next instruction starts?	Deaf and Mute continue solving against an old state instead of the new result.

The packet is this guide's term for a safe relay unit — not an in-game rule or official term, but a practical way to keep Mute's manual decision attached to the clue that made it valid and the exact Blind action it authorizes.

What Mute needs before checking the manual

Mute Monkey cannot see the bomb, so the manual path starts with a reported clue. Keep that clue neutral. A count, color, position, label, order, or changed state gives Mute material to check. A guessed rule gives Mute a conclusion to fight.

Message type	Safe form	Unsafe form
Observation	A visible fact: count, color, position, label, changed state, or current option order.	Turning the clue into a guessed rule before Mute checks the manual.
Question	A missing detail Mute needs before choosing a rule path.	Asking Blind to act while the rule path is still unresolved.
Answer	A compact manual decision that Deaf can relay as one instruction.	Passing a full explanation through gestures while Deaf is already speaking.

Use the reset phrase "observation only" when the team starts solving out loud before Mute has the clue. That phrase matters because Deaf can accidentally turn a guess into a confident relay before Mute has had a chance to accept or reject the rule path.

Sizing Mute's answer to Deaf's attention window

Mute's output is visual, so the answer must fit inside Deaf's attention window. The moment Deaf turns from Mute to Blind, extra gestures can be missed. Treat long explanations as multiple packets, not one performance.

What Mute has	Send first	Wait for
Mute has one clear answer	Signal target and action together.	Deaf repeats the packet before Blind acts.
Mute needs one missing clue	Signal the missing detail only.	A fresh observation from Deaf or Blind.
Mute has a multi-part answer	Signal the first action and stop point.	The result report before sending the next action.
Mute is unsure	Signal uncertainty, not a guess.	A reset of the clue or target.

The useful discipline is not "gesture faster." It is "make each gesture sequence complete enough that Deaf can relay it without watching a second channel at the same time." If the answer needs a sequence, Mute should signal the first action plus the stop point, then wait for the result before signaling the next action.

Deaf relays one sealed instruction

Deaf Monkey is the only role that can watch Mute's answer and speak to Blind in the same loop. That makes Deaf the sealing point. Before speaking, Deaf should confirm the packet target, the action, and where Blind must stop.

1. Name the target first. Blind should know which bomb area the instruction belongs to before hearing the action.
2. Say one action only. If the answer contains two inputs, split it into two relays with a result report between them.
3. End with the stop point. Blind needs to know whether to report a change, wait for a second instruction, or hold position.
4. Watch for the result before continuing. If the expected state does not appear, reset the packet instead of stacking another instruction.

When the manual flow breaks

Review the first broken handoff, not the whole round. The earliest break usually explains the later ones: a guessed clue makes Mute's answer unstable, an unstable answer makes Deaf's relay vague, and a vague relay makes Blind's action look like the first visible mistake.

Break you noticed	Why it felt safe	Reset rule
Blind acts on the wrong panel or option.	The action sounded correct, so the target felt obvious and did not get repeated.	Restart at target: name the bomb area before repeating the action.
Mute keeps gesturing while Deaf is speaking.	The next answer is ready, and sending it immediately feels faster.	Freeze the packet. Deaf must finish one relay before watching the next signal.
The answer was correct a few seconds ago but wrong now.	Nothing marks an old gesture as expired after Blind changes the bomb state.	Restart at rule condition: restate the current clue before using the old answer.
The team cannot tell whether Mute answered or guessed.	Under timer pressure, any decisive gesture feels better than admitting uncertainty.	Use the uncertainty signal and ask for the missing observation.
Deaf gives a second instruction before the first result is known.	The manual path is visible to Mute, so the next step feels already solved.	Return to stop point: one action, one result report, then the next packet.

Five agreements before using manual answers

These agreements should be made before the timer starts. They are ordered from the failure that most quickly corrupts the relay to the failure that is easiest to recover after the round.

1. Uncertainty signal. Mute needs one gesture that means "I cannot answer from the current clue." Without it, silence and guessing can look identical to Deaf.
2. Discard-last-answer signal. Mute needs a way to cancel a gesture after the bomb state changes. Otherwise Deaf may relay an answer that belonged to an older clue.
3. Target-first relay rule. Deaf names the target before the action every time. This prevents Blind from applying a valid instruction to the wrong panel.
4. One-action limit. Blind performs one instructed action, then reports or shows the result. This keeps the next manual packet tied to the new state.
5. Post-round first-break review. After failure, find the first broken packet part instead of debating the final mistake. The final mistake is often only where the earlier break became visible.

What this page refuses to turn into rules

This guide does not confirm wire rules, symbol orders, switch sequences, level-by-level Puzzle Module lists, or final-release best strategies. It only handles the communication path around manual-like information that public role descriptions already support.

Use the Puzzle Modules Index for the current evidence boundary around module facts. Use the Demo Callout Guide when the problem is shorter in-session wording rather than the full Mute-to-Deaf-to-Blind handoff.

Manual flow FAQ

Is this the official BOMBANANA! manual?

No. This page is a player communication workflow for the public three-role setup. It does not copy, replace, or recreate an official defusal manual.

Does this include complete Puzzle Module rules?

No. The page explains how to pass manual-like information safely between Mute, Deaf, and Blind Monkey. Complete Puzzle Module rules need stronger evidence than this site currently has.

Who should use the manual-flow check first?

Use it first with Mute Monkey and Deaf Monkey. Mute owns the manual answer, and Deaf is the relay point that turns that answer into speech for Blind.

How is this different from the Demo Callout Guide?

The Demo Callout Guide covers short in-session wording. This page covers the longer handoff that turns one manual answer into one safe Blind Monkey action.