BOMBANANA Mode Rankings
Campaign teaches. Endless stacks waves. Custom is a knife you point at yourselves. Rank playlists, not trophies.
BOMBANANA ships three playlists in the Lefto Studio Steam build (app 4656000, published by TARK, released September 2, 2026): Campaign, Endless, and Custom. All three are exactly-three-player online co-op on Windows and macOS. None of them change the triangle. Mute still reads the manual, Mute still gestures to Deaf, Deaf still speaks to Blind, Blind still acts. What changes is timer pressure, hazard density, and how many module families hit the case at once.
This page is practical team advice, not an official ranking and not a completion checklist. Pair it with module rankings and role rankings. How to climb the 30 handcrafted levels sits in the campaign walkthrough. How to get three clients in a room sits in lobby setup.
The ranking for a working squad
- Campaign — lowest teaching pressure, best default. Thirty handcrafted levels that get harder on purpose. Families arrive as a curriculum. Use this until the callout shape is automatic.
- Custom — a spread, not a single tier. Knobs for difficulty, timer, module types, environmental hazards, and allowed mistakes. Easiest night on the list if you isolate Wires with a long clock. Hardest night on the list if you enable everything.
- Endless — highest default pressure. Procedural wave-based bombs that keep stacking. No curriculum. No mercy for a wet dictionary. Play it after Campaign, not instead of Campaign.
If your group only has one hour after work, Campaign beats Endless. If your group wants to drill Numpad branches, Custom beats both. If your group wants to see whether the triangle holds when the case will not sit still, Endless is the test, not the classroom.
Campaign — 30 levels, still a ranking not a story recap
Campaign is ranked first for learning because Lefto Studio controls the mix. You meet Wires before you live in CHAOS. You get airplane interiors as a launch environment, not as the first tutorial closet. Hazards (power outages, loud interruptions, obstructions) show up as events you can name, not as a random soup.
Timer risk is honest: enough clock to finish a correct packet, not enough to narrate your weekend. Communication load rises as more families share a bomb. That is the point of a campaign. Do not skip to Endless because level 8 felt slow. Slow is how Deaf Monkey learns to stop after the packet, how Mute Monkey learns to hold a sign, and how Blind Monkey learns to wait.
Use Campaign to lock left/right = Blind’s left/right, the wait sign, and one-module-at-a-time. Steal the sentence from the communication guide and the callout sheet. When a level introduces a new family, treat that level as a drill even if you already “know” demo Wires. Launch’s eleven standard modules and three CHAOS puzzles are in this playlist for a reason. Let the 30 levels feed them to you.
Custom — rank the knobs, not the menu label
Custom is the most misunderstood seat on this list because the word sounds friendly. The knobs are:
- Bomb difficulty
- Timer
- Module types
- Environmental hazards
- How many mistakes are allowed
Turn those toward teaching and Custom drops below Campaign on pressure: one module type, long timer, zero hazards, extra mistakes. That is how you practice Direction arrows or Switch Enter without burning a Campaign unlock. Turn those toward spectacle and Custom jumps over Endless: CHAOS plus Numpad, brutal clock, outages and noise, one mistake, airplane clutter. That is a party wipe machine, not a rank you should brag about.
Practical Custom presets for this wiki:
- Dictionary drill: Wires only, long timer, no hazards. Coach count-first packets.
- Branch drill: Numpad only, medium timer, no hazards. Coach Mute’s branch, not Deaf’s mental math.
- Enter drill: Switches only, medium timer, no hazards. Enter is a separate sign.
- Hazard drill: Wires + Direction, medium timer, outages on. Practice holds and re-reads.
- Do not use: every module, every hazard, shortest timer, one mistake, while someone is new on Deaf.
Custom is also where you test colorblind modes (two types) and sightlines without wasting a Campaign attempt. Random role button plus a gentle Custom bomb is a fair mixer. Random role plus a cruel Custom bomb is how friendships end before Endless ever loads. Specs for the three clients are on system requirements. Controls for emote wheel versus movement are on the controls guide.
Endless — waves as a stress rank
Endless is procedural and wave-based. Harder as you go. That sentence is the rank. Communication load climbs because new families, including launch modules, can stack without a loading-screen lecture. Timer risk climbs because a slow Mute page that was fine in Campaign is now overlapping the next wave’s CHAOS tell.
Play Endless when:
- Wires, Direction, Numpad, and Switches each have a clean packet.
- CHAOS does not make Blind skip repeat-back.
- Deaf can see Mute during a hazard instead of walking through it while talking.
- You can reseat between bombs without arguing about who “threw.”
Do not play Endless to learn signs. Do not play Endless as a substitute for reading the module guide. A wave that throws two high-talk families plus noise is not proof that Numpad is “broken.” It is proof you picked the stress playlist. After a wipe, drop to Custom, isolate the family that broke, then come back.
Airplane stages and the van both appear as spaces you can fail in. Endless will not wait for you to enjoy the art overhaul. Clear obstructions, then talk. Slap after the defuse.
How this list talks to the other two
Module rankings tell you which family to drill in Custom. Role rankings tell you who to coach when a mode spikes: Endless spikes Deaf and Mute first; CHAOS-heavy Custom spikes Blind; Campaign spikes whoever skipped the last teaching level.
Seats still come from the roles hub. Modes do not unlock a solo option. Server browser and room codes work in all three playlists; they do not make Endless kinder. Price is $7.99, introductory $4.95 through September 9, 2026, and that buy-in is the same regardless of which playlist you wipe on.
If a patch retunes wave timing or Campaign length, read patch notes and launch notes before you move Endless above Campaign in your head. This page will keep Campaign as the teaching default until the 30-level curve actually changes. For first install, ignore this ranking long enough to finish Getting Started and how to play with friends. Then pick Campaign on purpose, not because it was the first button.
Return to the tier list hub when you need the overview, and to the wiki hub when you need everything else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for three-player bomb runs.
Which BOMBANANA mode should we play first?
Campaign. Thirty handcrafted levels teach families in a kinder order than Endless waves. Start from Getting Started and the campaign walkthrough.
Is Custom easier than Campaign?
Only if you set it that way. Isolated modules and a long timer are a drill. Every knob at once is harder than Endless. Presets are on this page; knobs are listed in launch notes.
When is Endless worth it?
After Wires, Direction, Numpad, and Switches packets are clean and CHAOS does not make Blind skip repeat-back. Until then you are ranking your dictionary, not the mode. See module rankings.
Do modes change the three roles?
No. Blind still operates, Mute still holds the manual, Deaf still speaks and cannot hear. Seats and difficulty are on role rankings and the roles hub.
Can we use Custom to practice hazards?
Yes. Add outages or obstructions after the packet is stable. Do not add every hazard on a night you are still learning Mute signs. Dictionary lives on the callout sheet.
Does the airplane stage rank as its own mode?
No. It is a launch environment with its own objects and hazards, used inside the three playlists. Treat it as a modifier that raises sightline and obstruction pressure, especially for Deaf.