BOMBANANA! Custom Bomb Designer vs Campaign 30 Levels
Stop wasting sessions on Campaign bombs that keep exploding for the same reason. Use Custom to isolate the module that is killing you, build a clean relay, then return to the 30-level Campaign with a working callout system.
Core goal: Players who cleared Campaign 30 keep saying the same thing: late levels are not harder math, they are more modules at once, Morse delay, Chaos pulling Blind off the bomb, and Deaf getting overloaded. Custom exists so you do not wait for Campaign to randomly give you the module that is actually killing you. Campaign answers "what should we learn next?" Custom answers "what exactly do we want to test?" Endless answers "how long can we sustain it?"
1What Each Mode Is For
| Mode | What It Answers | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign (30 levels) | What should we learn next? | A new module just appeared and you have not named it cleanly yet. Failures are different every bomb. You are still discovering new panels. |
| Custom (bomb designer) | What exactly do we want to test? | The same failure survived three bombs. You know which module is breaking. You want to drill one thing without random noise. |
| Endless | How long can we sustain it? | Only after Campaign procedures already survive. Tests endurance, not learning. |
Stay in Campaign or Open Custom?
2Custom Drills That Transfer to Campaign 30
- 1Lock the relay before you design the bomb.
Blind touches. Mute has the manual and cannot speak. Deaf sees and talks but cannot hear. Agree emotes for yes, no, wait, repeat, go-back, and numbers 0-9. Left and right always mean Blind's left and right. Nobody cuts, presses, or flips until Blind repeats the action and gets a confirm.
- 2Build a one-module bomb first.
In Custom, enable only the module that is failing. Wires only, then Direction only, then Calculator, then Switch, then Morse. Keep timer generous and mistakes high so the team practices the relay, not panic.
- 3Use this callout structure every time.
Module name, position on the bomb, the state that module needs, manual answer, Blind repeat-back, confirm, one input. Example for wires: "Wires, top right. Four wires. Left to right: green, blue, red, yellow. Red LED. Waiting for the cut." Leading with the count matters because 3-wire and 4-wire rules differ.
- 4Add pressure only after the callout survives.
When the one-module bomb is clean, add one thing at a time: shorter timer, fewer allowed mistakes, a second module, then one hazard (power outage, loud interruption, obstruction). Do not dump Campaign-30 settings on a team that still argues about left and right.
- 5Drill the late-game killers on purpose.
Morse: identify the active slot first, decode the full signal, keep the digit glued to that slot, then Enter. Players who beat 30 called Morse delay "brutal." Switch: hold the full ordered state until Enter. If one value is disputed, reread the whole bank. CHAOS modules: add one piece only after defusal modules are stable. When Chaos hits, decide what needs attention now before you keep solving the old module with stale state.
- 6Rotate roles on Custom, then lock them for a Campaign push.
Custom is where you test a swap with unrelated difficulty stripped out. Campaign is where you keep the assignment that already worked. Rotate every few Custom bombs so nobody only knows one sense.
- 7Return to Campaign at the last level you failed for a known reason.
Do not restart from level 1. Replay the checkpoint where that module or hazard first stacked. Campaign 30 is the end of the teaching route, not the only goal. After 30, Custom and Endless are the real replay.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating Custom as "harder Campaign." If you turn every slider to max on day one, you practice exploding, not communicating.
- Talking about module 3 while Blind is still on module 1. That causes double inputs.
- Blind touching before Deaf finishes the state. The relay must complete before any input.
- Mute miming a number before pointing at the manual page. Confirm the page first, then the number.
- Guessing Braille for Blind. If you are not sure, do not guess. Reread.
- Reusing an old Calculator or Direction value after a wrong press. Reread the new state. The old answer is stale.
- Pushing Campaign after three identical failures instead of opening Custom. If the same thing broke three times, drill it in isolation.
- Quitting after one boom instead of naming one fix. Was it a wrong manual row, a bad emote, or Deaf speaking before Mute confirmed? Name it, fix it, retry.
What Players Who Finished 30 Actually Reported
- 1Campaign 30 is doable in a few hours once the relay is clean.
The content complaint is "we want more after 30," which is why Custom and Endless matter.
- 2First-time kills and Morse delay show up late.
Expect that and drill Morse in Custom instead of rage-retrying the same Campaign bomb.
- 3After a Campaign clear, groups immediately ask for Custom sessions with friends.
That is the intended loop: Campaign teaches, Custom lets you keep playing the part you care about.
- 4If your group cannot assemble three people, neither mode works.
The designer will not fix a missing monkey.