The players represent various families in the Republica de los Bananas. Each game consists of 7 to 9 rounds, drawing cards, the President assigns roles, foreign economic aid arises, the President proposes a budget which is voted on, locations are chosen, assassination attempts take place, then the bank may or may not be open, there may be a coup and its consequences, and then the next round begins. The winner is the player with the most pesos in their Swiss bank account when the money runs out.

The game is for 4 to 7 players (although there are variants for 2 and 3 players). A president for life (El Presidente) is elected and then assigns roles to the other players. Depending on their office and the various cards they hold, each player has a certain number of votes. These are important for the first vote to elect El Presidente and then there are votes each round for the budget proposed by the President. The budget phase starts when the President draws 8 money cards face down from the money deck (which varies in denominations from $1 to $3) and proposes allocations. Not everyone will be included in the budget and the amounts are at the President’s discretion.

Players may attempt to assassinate other players, including the President, by guessing where they will be among five locations. Players who succeed in assassinating another player take their undeclared money; the only safe money is that which has been deposited in the players’ Swiss bank accounts, and the only way to get to the bank is to survive the assassination round. Players who are assassinated or killed simply become another member of their family and start again with new cards, keeping any of their family’s money that is deposited in their Swiss bank account.

If players are dissatisfied, see an advantage, or simply want to do so and there is a “coup excuse,” they can start a coup. A coup sees players competing using armed forces to control the majority of the 5 power centers. The rebel players control the forces of the role assigned to them before the coup (e.g. army, navy, air force), and the players loyal to the President do the same, trying to control the strongholds until the coup ends. At the end of each coup, the players who control the 5 power centers vote if they are pro-President or pro-Junta, determining whether the President remains or the Junta wins and elects a new President. And someone is sent to the firing squad.