BOMBANANA roles: three limits, one information chain

A BOMBANANA lobby requires exactly three players, so role assignment is part of preparation rather than an optional preference. Choose Blind, Mute, and Deaf before loading a serious run. Confirm that each person understands both the ability they have and the channel they lack. A player who remembers only “I read the manual” may still wait for spoken information that their role cannot legally receive. State the complete route from visible bomb state to gesture to spoken physical instruction.

Rotate BOMBANANA roles between practice runs so every player understands the pressure on both sides of the relay. Rotation makes callouts more empathetic: Deaf learns which gestures are easy to distinguish, Mute learns which observations arrive in a useful order, and Blind learns why a manual answer must be translated into position. During a progression attempt, keep roles stable so muscle memory and vocabulary do not change halfway through the session.

Blind is the only BOMBANANA role that can operate the bomb. That authority should make Blind the most conservative player, not the fastest. Keep hands clear while Deaf is still reporting, while Mute is checking a rule, and while a position remains ambiguous. Repeat the final instruction with the module name and location: “Cable, first from left, cut?” A yes signal closes the packet and separates a confirmed action from background conversation.

Blind also originates tactile or Braille information on modules that Deaf cannot fully read. Use fixed numbering and avoid mixing sensory description with guesses. If a raised pattern feels uncertain, say which cell or number needs another touch rather than offering two possibilities at once. In BOMBANANA, an honest reread is usable information; a confident guess forces Mute to search the wrong branch and gives Deaf no way to identify the original uncertainty.

Mute owns the BOMBANANA manual but cannot speak. Before the run, agree on gestures for numbers, colors, directions, yes, stop, repeat, and full reset. Use the smallest signal set that remains visually distinct. A clever gesture that resembles another under stress is worse than a slower two-part answer. When a rule returns several outputs, number them and wait for Deaf to repeat the sequence before confirming.

Mute should reject incomplete packets. If the Cable count arrives without an LED, or Switch arrives without all four Braille values, signal the missing field instead of choosing a likely row. Track the current stage visibly and clear old answers after the panel changes. This discipline keeps the BOMBANANA manual from becoming a source of false confidence: the lookup can be perfectly accurate while the inputs belong to different states.

Deaf sees the BOMBANANA bomb and Mute’s gestures, and can speak to Blind, but cannot hear teammates. The role must therefore narrate visible state in a fixed order and watch for interruption signals. After Mute answers, Deaf translates colors or abstract rules into the physical vocabulary Blind uses. “Red” may be the manual result, but “first cable from the left” is the actionable instruction. Say both when confirmation matters.

Because Deaf cannot hear Blind’s spoken repeat, the team needs a visual confirmation path. Blind can hold a hand position, point, or use a pre-agreed gesture before acting; Mute can confirm the manual branch; Deaf can watch both. If the room becomes visually noisy during BOMBANANA Chaos, call hands off and rebuild the packet. The relay is complete only when each role has acknowledged the same current action.

The four control signals on this page are a minimal BOMBANANA recovery system. Continue closes a confirmed field. Hands off cancels physical action. Repeat one field repairs a small gap without restarting everything. Full reread discards the packet after a state change or Chaos interruption. Practice the difference before the timer; if repeat and reset look similar, the team can combine a new answer with an old observation.

When recovery begins, stop all side conversation. Deaf names the active BOMBANANA module and stage, Blind rereads any tactile input, Mute clears the previous lookup, and the group rebuilds the packet in order. Do not debate who caused the break while the timer runs. Review responsibility after the attempt, using observation, lookup, relay, positioning, execution, and interruption as neutral categories. The purpose is to improve the protocol, not identify a guilty monkey.

A short role debrief should end with one wording change the team can test in the next BOMBANANA run. Small, observable protocol changes are easier to evaluate than vague promises to communicate more clearly.

• Define all positions from Blind’s viewpoint while facing the bomb.
• Send one field at a time when gestures are ambiguous.
• Translate every abstract answer into a physical location before action.
• Use a full reread after any BOMBANANA panel or stage changes.
• Review communication failures between runs, never during the countdown.