How 500k wishlists for BOMBANANA! helped indie studio Lefto build a 30k player Discord community
And what Lefto Studio can learn from that player data
BOMBANANA! was the most-played demo at this year’s June 2026 Steam Next Fest and also added the most wishlists of any game at Next Fest, recently surpassing 500k wishlists and over 2.5 million demo players, according to the game’s developer, Lefto Studio.
While many people might not have heard of this three-player bomb disposal game prior to Next Fest, BOMBANANA! isn’t the surprise sleeper hit that some people might think, as it entered Next Fest with an impressive 70k wishlists and millions of social media views already behind it, as detailed in a lengthy Reddit post from one of the game’s developers detailing its pre-launch marketing strategy.
Impressive stuff. But what’s more impressive is the growth of the BOMBANANA! Discord server, which went from just seven (7!) daily posts the day before its Next Fest demo launch to over 2000 daily posts by the end of June.
This means Lefto Studio experienced 614% growth in Steam wishlists, but a massive 28000% growth in Discord activity.
As a three-player co-op game, embracing this community will be key to the continued success of the game.
With that in mind, we wanted to explore why Discord has become such an important platform for Lefto Studio, how player messages will be a valuable data point for Lefto Studio to grow and improve the game moving forward, and what other studios can learn from this.
Lessons from BOMBANANA’s Discord growth
One of the biggest takeaways from this growth in Discord activity is BOMBANANA’s Discord server didn’t experience an influx in activity relative to the game’s marketing efforts before launching on Steam.
So while the coverage in massive video game publications such as denfaminicogamer (1.4 million X followers) and posts from influencers such as Indie Game Joe converted to Wishlists, they didn’t convert to new Discord members.
This growth only happened once people had started playing the game, which lines up with what Lefto Studio said in their Reddit post when reflecting on the game’s success.
“Most of the marketing strategies we used are things that almost any developer can do. The real difference was having a game concept that people immediately understood, wanted to talk about, and felt compelled to share with their friends.” - Lefto Studio via Reddit
Having a Discord server publicly available and linked in the game’s Steam page (at the top of their social links) means BOMBANANA players had somewhere to go and talk about the game, allowing Lefto Studio to build a solid community of players ahead of its global launch later this year.
More importantly, BOMBANANA’s three-player co-op gameplay mechanics are perfect for Discord voice chat. In the game, players work together to defuse a bomb with limited communication:
One player is blind - they can touch and interact with the bomb but cannot see colours, read the defusal manual or speak.
One player is mute - they can see the manual but cannot speak and can only communicate with limited gestures
One player is deaf - they can see the bomb and speak to the team, but they cannot hear anyone else and have to interpret the mute player’s signals and translate those to the blind player.
Three-player voice chats in Discord (set up by the studio as ‘Monkey Squads’ add an additional layer of communication for players who might need an extra hand figuring out the game’s mechanics, while also helping new players find other people to play with outside of the in-game matchmaking.
How Discord data can be used to prepare for a full launch
Outside of using the Discord server to matchmake with other players, we wanted to get a better idea of what players in the Discord server are actually talking about, and whether these messages can help Lefto Studio improve the game ahead of its PC launch in August this year.
We used the ‘Studies’ tool in Accord to help us analyse over 13,000 messages relating to the game and filter them into action points for the studio.
While Lefto Studio has dedicated channels within the game’s Discord server for players to share feedback and report bugs, our research consistently finds that some of the most important messages and bug IDs are posted in non-specific channels such as #general, or in this case, the #chat-English channel (as all of the text-based channels in the Discord server are split into different languages for communication purposes).
Critical bugs and connectivity issues
Important note: Any bugs we highlight in the following sections may have been actioned since they were posted in June - we’re just showcasing the level of insight that game studios can instantly get from players in their Discord server.
Analysis of player messages posted during the demo period identified several bugs, including:
Widespread ‘Play’ Button Failures: A critical bug rendered the main menu’s ‘Play’ button completely unresponsive for many users. Community moderators frequently step in to suggest disabling or uninstalling background VPN software as a fix.
Game Freezes: A significant number of players (over 45 unique reports in the sample) report the demo freezing completely in the main menu just moments after launch, requiring the deletion of local AppData to resolve. One player specifically noted persistent freezing while playing on Ubuntu.
Broken Lobby Transitions: Multiple players (over 20 unique reports in the sample) report that the Steam invitation system is broken. When players attempt to invite friends or join lobbies, the invite button either does nothing, or the invited players fail to appear in the same room
In-Game Voice Chat and Microphone Malfunctions: Several players (at least 30 unique reports in the sample) report issues with the in-game microphone and voice chat system. Players state that their microphones are “bugging,” their voices are not getting through to teammates, or they are unable to hear others. Additionally, players note a lack of static and echo cancellation, causing audio feedback issues during gameplay. This highlights another benefit of the Discord voice group chats.
False VPN and Connection Errors: Players have encountered connection errors that falsely accuse them of running a VPN. The game prompts them to close any active VPNs to proceed, even when they do not have any VPN software running.
Top priorities to address before the game’s launch according to player messages
Accord analyses thousands of player messages and creates action points for game studios according to their severity, which is based on message frequency.
These action points are classified as critical, high, medium, or low. This helps studios to understand which areas of focus should be their priority, which can be particularly useful if you have a short turnaround time between demo launch and going to market.
Players Request Lobby Codes and Public Matchmaking to Bypass Friend Invites (Critical)
Steam’s restrictive friend invite system was the biggest point of complaint according to player messages in Discord, as players can currently only matchmake by inviting friends on Steam. Matchmaking is an essential part of the game’s mechanics, but Steam’s policy requires a $5 spend to send new friend invites, which effectively gates the demo’s free-to-play features behind a paywall.
This issue directly undermines the goal of attracting new players with a free trial, which might explain the growth in Discord activity. Thankfully, the studio had the foresight to set up voice chat groups in Discord, which definitely would have helped mitigate some of these issues.
Game Freezes & Broken Play Buttons (Critical)
The game freezes we mentioned further up were identified as another critical issue, as they were so persistent. Suggested fixes involving the deletion of local app data worked for some users but not all. The broken play button issue also meant the demo was completely unplayable for some players, with many players reporting that basic troubleshooting, like restarting and reinstalling, did not address the issue.
Players Report Confusion Over Core Gameplay Manual (Medium)
Some players express confusion when trying to understand core gameplay mechanics, specifically the in-game manual. While players are still engaged enough with the game itself and the community to ask for help, this confusion does represent a potential friction point in the new player experience that could be improved with more guidance. That said, an established Discord server such as this with an engaged community should do most of the lifting here, and it’s not unusual for some players to experience confusion when picking up a new game for the first time (especially one such as this!)
What Lefto Studio should do next
BOMBANANA! is off to a great start, and Lefto Studio is likely already hard at work to address the significant bugs, such as the game freezes and broken play buttons we mentioned above.
The biggest area of focus for Lefto Studio should be on the matchmaking elements of the game. While they won’t have to worry about Steam’s $5 minimum spend policy to send friend invites for the game’s full launch, wider technical bugs still prevented parties from forming correctly, sometimes causing players to enter games solo even after successfully joining a party.
According to player messages in Discord, the biggest request from players is for Lefto Studio to bypass the current friend system and do the following:
Introduce alternative matchmaking options like lobby codes and a public lobby system to let players enter games more easily.
If Lefto Studio is unable to do this in time for the game’s launch, they can mitigate some of the challenges around Steam’s current matchmaking system by encouraging more players to join the Discord server, which is a win-win for the studio anyway!
As their Discord server grows, the only other thing they may want to consider is more active moderation of the voice-based channels in non-English languages that aren’t native to the game’s studio.
Voice-based channels are much more difficult to moderate than text-based channels in Discord, and as the game and its community grow, Lefto Studio will want to ensure its Discord server continues to remain a safe and welcome space for players from all over the world.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on BOMBANANA’s server growth as the game prepares for its global launch. As our data shows, Discord is arguably the most important social platform for Lefto Studio given the game’s focus on multiplayer and community building.
Keeping on top of player data can be difficult but it doesn’t have to be. If you need a hand, Accord is here to help!
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