What is the Banana game? Random Cookie Clicker-style project explodes on Steam

A random game is suddenly charting on Steam with over 800,000 concurrent players at its peak — a game in which you just click on a Banana and see a number go up. So, what’s all the fuss about? 

Simply titled ‘Banana’, the game is extremely simple. There’s a picture of a Banana overlaid on a garish shade of yellow, and every time you click it, a number goes up. That’s it.

Unlike other clicker games such as Cookie Clicker where there are graphics to show your progress and upgrades to help you click more, Banana simply increases the number right above the fruit for every click. There’s nothing more to it.

Despite the comically simple concept, the game has already racked up a whopping 815,679 players at its peak and still counting.

So, what is Banana, and why are thousands playing the game? 

What is the Banana game on Steam? 

The Banana game was released on April 16, 2024, but didn’t gain much traction until May 20, particularly on May 31 when it hit its high of over 38,591 concurrent players.

It was in June when the game truly exploded and got on everyone’s radar, peaking just above 800,000 players on June 16.

For context, this rivals the numbers of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring, while beating out games like Starfield and GTA 5. In fact, as of writing it has the most concurrent players on Steam than Counter-Strike 2.

While the gameplay behind it all is dead simple, how it really attracts players is that you can actually earn Steam items from playing — items that you can then list on the Steam Marketplace. 

The drop system works like this; you’ll get one item every three hours if you play for at least one minute. You can also get one more item every 18 hours if you play for at least one minute. 

Essentially, if you want to maximize your banana drops, open the game every three hours and click on the banana for a minute. 

There’s currently no way to use those items in-game, like Counter-Strike 2’s skins, but they can be sold, and some of these items are surprisingly rare. 

Why are so many people playing the Banana game? 

It’s quite hard to nail down why folks are checking out the Banana game in droves. Perhaps it’s the hilarity of a dead simple banana-clicking game, or maybe it’s the potential to earn some real money from it. 

Most of the Banana drops will only ever sell for a few cents, however, there are some pretty rare bananas players can get that are being listed for several hundred dollars online. 

The exclusive bananas are normally dropped during limited-time events where players can get rare bananas if they’re lucky. Events like the Shiny Banana event or the Crypticnana event let players have the chance of getting said elusive bananas. 

Some of these bananas are going for a lot on the Steam Marketplace — and they’re actually selling. Items like the Shiny Banana or the Diamond Banana are racking in several hundred dollars.

Currently, the most expensive item on the market is the Crypticnana, with a listing price of $1,144 on Steam’s marketplace.

So, if players aren’t playing it for the gameplay, it’s probably to collect some cool-looking bananas and make a quick buck, or perhaps simply to participate in the meme.

Who created the Banana game? 

According to the Steam listing for the game, the developers and publishers have never made any game other than Banana. 

However, across the game’s Steam forums, a developer going by Robert Partyson (and ending off announcements as Boris as well) has been helping out players with their queries, so presumably they are the creator.

As for why Robert Partyson, aka Boris, made banana, we have no idea — presumably for a laugh. As they joked on the game’s forums that it’s “just a worse-made egg game lol”. The Egg game is quite similar to Banana, where you just click on an egg and a number goes up.

Although, there’s a good chance the game was just made as a joke, considering that the Banana’s trailer is just the dev recording the game with their Nvidia Shadowplay notification in full view, embracing the absurdity of the game.