Viral Banana Game Generates Free Skins Worth As Much As $1,300

A game titled Banana has been rapidly climbing Steam’s most-played charts, attracting attention for its incredibly simple premise: clicking on a banana to increase a number. With no animations or unlocks, it may seem mundane, but the allure lies in the occasional item drop that can be sold on the marketplace.

According to Polygon, most of these items fetch mere cents, making the potential earnings from clicking the banana for hours minimal, likely less than $1. However, amidst the sea of common items, there are astonishingly rare bananas fetching prices as high as $1,378.

Unlike games like Counter-Strike, notorious for selling cosmetic skins for exorbitant sums (with one even reaching over $1 million last week), Banana offers free entry into its economy. The game itself is free, item drops are free, and selling on the marketplace is free, essentially providing a legal avenue for money-making.

Despite its viral popularity, a significant portion of Banana’s player base consists of bots. Developer Hery disclosed to Polygon that during Banana’s peak at 141,000 players last week (now surpassing 250,000), only a third were genuine players, while the rest were bots.

Hery assured that the development team is actively addressing this issue and has reached out to Valve for assistance. However, combating botting remains a challenge, as Banana’s minimal resource requirements make it susceptible to exploitation, with some individuals utilizing up to 1,000 alternative accounts to maximize rare item drops.