| Game | Junta | Complexity | Low |
| Company | West End Games | Time | 3 |
| Setting | Banana Republic | Players | 2-7 |
| Type | Political | Rating | 7.5 |
Junta is game of political satire set in a hypothetical banana republic, the Republica de los Bananas. Players take the role of political families and try to amass the greatest amout of ill-gotten wealth by game end. (It has so many resemblances with some real-world countries I am surprised it is not banned at least in some!)
The game begins by the players selecting one amongst them as the President. The President then hands out cabinet offices in his government: 3 generals, an airforce general, the navy admiral and the Minister of the Interior. Each of these offices controls some forces that can be used in coups. In addition, the President controls his presidential guards himself.
Each turn, the President collects a random budget and hands it out to his cabinet. The budet has to be passed by the Chamber of Deputies. The game gets interesting when the budget fails to pass. The Interior Ministry may step in to force passage at gunpoint, or coups may result. Other interesting features are assassinations, exile and coups.
The coup phase is a separate game in itself. When a coup occurs, game shifts to a map of the city. Troops from the various offices, together with rioters, demonstrators and other forces of chaos sweep through the city, attempting to control the important locations, such as the Presidential Palace, radio station, etc. If a coup succeeds, it is time to elect a new President, and the merry party goes on!
Junta is a great game with the right group of people. Role-playing, a sense of humour, champaign, bad accents are a must!
A note of warning: The game involves a lot of politiking, backstabbing and broken promises. This is definitely not a game to play with your spouse, in-laws, and generally anyone you want to stay on congenial terms with.