Last yr we reported on a phenomenon that, frankly, left PC Gamer’s editorial crew somewhat baffled. We have been in one in all our morning conferences when somebody shared Banana, a free-to-play sport obtainable on Steam the place you click on on a picture of a banana, however what was mind-blowing have been the participant counts. This was in May 2024 and, on the time, tens of hundreds of gamers have been simply… clicking away on bananas.
The intrepid Harvey Randall seemed into Banana’s success, and found a whole style which he dubbed “Egglikes” after the ur-culprit turned out to be the sport that impressed banana: Egg. Again, you click on an egg.
As you might have gathered, the “sport” right here is de facto the trimmings exterior of the sport itself. Egglikes are all concerning the Steam market and producing gadgets that may be bought, principally for pennies, with Banana serving up a banana merchandise roughly each three hours and a “uncommon drop pool” that drops as soon as each 18 hours. There are even particular occasion bananas.
So there’s one clarification for why the concurrents have been getting so huge. Banana is a sport that you do not really want to play however, in case you’re into it, you in all probability have it idling in your PC not less than as soon as a day with a purpose to get your bananas.
What’s wonderful is that Banana solely appears to have gathered momentum since these early days. The sport is now the thirteenth most-played sport on Steam, with over 100,000 folks at present in-game, a rating that places it just under Apex Legends however above titles like Warframe, Call of Duty, Helldivers 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Rainbow Six: Siege, and EA Sports FC.
Yes, I’m evaluating apples to bananas there, however come on: This factor beating out Call of Duty—a unified launcher, so Banana is thrashing all of the Call of Duty video games on Steam put collectively—is hilarious. And loads about this sport is simply straight-up amusing, such because the banana drop charges. Banana has “uncommon” and “epic” bananas which have a 0.1% and 0.01% likelihood of dropping, however that is rooster feed: This factor accommodates “extremely uncommon” bananas with a one in 400,000 likelihood of dropping, and “legendary” bananas with, look ahead to it, a one in 10,000,000 likelihood.
A one in ten million banana jpeg. BRB, booting up Banana.
The factor about Banana is it is unattainable to dislike as a result of, whereas this will have a slight whiff of sketchiness about it, that is additionally a style {that a} sizeable contingent of individuals appear to take pleasure in enjoying round with and, exterior of the Legendary bananas, we’re speaking about fairly low stakes in nearly each different case: And the Banana folks simply appear, effectively, kinda good.
“The neighborhood has much less of that huge tech bro stank about it,” as Harvey wrote final yr, “and jogs my memory extra of youngsters buying and selling rocks in a playground, and I imply that as a praise. I really feel like I cracked open a door anticipating to stumble into some secret mafia hideout and as an alternative discovered a bunch of comparatively chill dudes racing their pet snails.”
And now there’s much more chill banana-fanciers getting in on that scorching clicker motion. Banana is free-to-play, in case you fancy making an attempt out for that Legendary fruit.
