Hey there folks, on the phone with my fantabulous mother - and she just said “I wish I could find that game. That one with the monkeys. Where you had a business, and you sold bananas. And the monkey was in a suit…”
*She also adds the bananas were called “nanas” and you had to go to “The little houses which were the suppliers”
Honestly, I have no clue what this game is. Sounds like a simulation game. I thought it was that old black and white pixelated game from Mac - but I sure as HEY can’t remember what game that is. But I feel like someone on here might know what it is. So if anyone knows about this magical monkey mac pixel game can someone give me the 411? Thank you!
*Was my grandmother’s Mac - and we played it ~92-93. The disks were stored in a little white clamshell, and we think maybe it could have been shareware. No sure though. Ho-no!
*Down the rabbit hole I found it’s from a Macintosh 128K, still trying to find it.
*The saga continues. My mother and I searched for a large quantity of time before we realized it was more than likely shareware and in turn might be so obscure that it might be too difficult to find. But I did find two things. Internet Archives has various [vintage mac](https://archive.org/search?query=Vintage Apple Macintosh Shareware Games ) games all alphabetized. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything "banana, “nana,” or “monkey” related in there. (Well actually Monkey solitaire and one other game, but neither were the ones). I also found another pretty cool site with lists of games. Which I might paw through, cause I love to make my mama happy. So eh! If anyone has any idea what this might be - feel free to toss it my way, even in a message. Thank you!
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This is one of those rare cases where AI might just be useful. ChatGPT suggests this:
The game being referred to sounds like " Monkey Business," an old game from the classic Macintosh era. In this game, players managed a business involving monkeys and bananas, with the primary objective of selling bananas to turn a profit. The game was known for its simple graphics and pixelated art style, typical of early Mac games.
“Monkey Business” was a business simulation game, and the reference to a monkey in a suit aligns with the humorous and lighthearted nature of the game. It’s understandable that the poster’s mother would remember it fondly, as it was a unique and quirky title from that era.
With 4o I might trust it, but prior to that, it would just pull shit out /dev/urandom and say it like it was fact. Ask it for a list of songs about a certain topic and watch it produce >50% fiction.
Yeah, I mean I don’t trust it for any kind of facts, but it’s really good at figuring out what you want from a vague description, or finding a title based on a few unique things about the movie/book/song. It’s also a good thesaurus when the word you want is on the tip of your tongue and just can’t quite get it. It’s pretty fucking awful at everything businesses want it to do.
Worst case scenario OP checks it out and that isn’t it.
Hey either way I thank you and my mom said it was absolutely amazing what you said and she’s totally happy =)
So, smooches! For making my mama happy =)
What I mean though is it might just make up a video game and tell you about it.
What’s the downside here? Whatever game it suggests can be quickly checked.
Yeah I for sure don’t think it’s that but I can’t elaborate cause I’m still on da phone =P!
But big thanks and you got my mom super happy =)!
Is this it?
I wish it was that, but my mom actually said that was quite cute. Thank you!
There were blue monkeys: https://cdn.mobygames.com/screenshots/9229863-monkey-business-apple-ii-title-screen.png
Unfortunately not, we thought it might be that - but it was black and white and very pixelated. I believe you swang from powerlines but I can’t remember too much. The bananas I think might have been floating in air and may have twirled. I am really pushing it because this was at least 30 years ago.
Thank you though! Still on da phone with mama - we’re trying to find it too.
With these additional details:
Based on the additional details—black and white, very pixelated graphics, swinging from powerlines, and floating bananas—it’s likely that the game you’re thinking of is Bananarama, also known as Monkeys! on the classic Macintosh.
Bananarama was a simple black-and-white game released in the mid-1980s, where the player controlled a monkey swinging from vines or powerlines, collecting bananas. The bananas often floated in mid-air and twirled, matching the description given. The game had a very pixelated look typical of early Macintosh games.
This seems to align closely with what you’ve described, so it might be the game you’re looking for!
Any idea what year range it could be? And did she play it in school as an educational game or at home? What type of floppy it was on might help, too.
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I trust 4o less than the previous version. I literally cancelled my subscription it is so bad now. I don’t know what they did to fuck it up so badly, but it hardly works at all anymore. It will just repeat the same nonsense no matter what I ask it.
Just a heads up it unfortunately isn’t this game =
Sorry! Maybe someone else will know. I asked it for other guesses but they all seemed pretty weak. I guess check Simian Acres but they were some low quality guesses. Like “Maybe they are thinking of Lemonade Stand and just hallucinated monkeys.” Either way I’m bowing out. I never had a Mac until like 2022 so I can’t go off memory. Good luck!
Hahaha! My ma actually said Lemonade Stand is similar and she thanked you for your help =)! Hahahah! No seriously though, you really made her super happy. Thank you!
Based mainly on “Nanas”, any chance it’s a version of this? I know you said Mac, but just in case.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3358/ZX-Spectrum/Naanas
EDIT - also, here’s a list someone posted a link to on Reddit, with 400 or so “binary colour” games, which presumably includes black and white: https://www.uvlist.net/gamesearch/?fplat=48&fplatname=Macintosh OS Classic&ftag=binarycolor&sort=name
Couldn’t see anything under banana or monkey, but might be hiding in there somewhere.
Monkey Money or Monkey Mart? Something like that?
I think these two might be a bit newer? I am not sure, because I can’t find anything on it. I did go through about a decade’s worth of games on this website and man my eyes are bleeding - but I can’t seem to find anything and can’t find anything other than Monkey Island on that.
Thank you though, it was very sweet =)!
Hehe, oldtimers…
I mean bugs are cool, but I’m talking monkeysss hahahaha!
I was referring to the term old-timer pretty much meaning classic car in German.
The bugs were just a bonus^^ And yes, bugs are quite cool, especially the car variety.
Hahaha, I didn’t know! You know I know so little about cars. But I know bugs, on account of them running across my mind the other day when watching that five skits of Springfield episode of The Simpsons. There’s a guy in a bug who’s super tall and Nelson laughs at him and he hops out and humiliates him. But it reminded me of when I was younger on account of my father and his very tall friend both cramming themselves into one. Do they still make them? Last I saw them they were around…the 00s I think? An ex of mine had a lime-green one.
They made them in Mexico until 2011, but only for the domestic market.
I thought Germany was huge on developing cars? Maybe I am just a fool. Also I was thinking about in the past, Mexico for sure is a major car manufacturer nowadays. And…I just realized you’re talking Bugs. I liked those Rabbits. I wish as a whole America had more economical, small-form, simple cars. All of the cars here look like shitty space-ships and they’re way too big and I am not sure how these “luxury cars” ever feel like any kind of luxury. Because everything feels cheap, probably because it is.
