Junta (EN)

Junta is a legendary political board game built around corruption, betrayal, assassination, and military coups inside a chaotic fictional banana republic. Players represent powerful families competing to steal foreign aid money while surviving revolutions, backroom deals, and constant political instability. Loyalty is temporary, alliances are fragile, and every turn can completely shift the balance of power.

In Junta, one player becomes El Presidente and controls the distribution of foreign aid flowing into the country. Naturally, nothing forces the President to distribute that money fairly. Cabinet ministers must decide whether to support the proposed budget or begin plotting a coup instead. Meanwhile, every family secretly tries to move as much money as possible into Swiss bank accounts, the only truly safe place to store wealth.

The game constantly shifts between negotiation, bribery, and total chaos. Players can bribe opponents, organize assassinations, betray allies, or launch armed revolutions to seize control of the government. Coup attempts transform the game into a dramatic military struggle where armies, police, air forces, and rebels fight to control the capital’s major power centers.

One of Junta’s greatest strengths is its ability to create outrageous stories and unforgettable social moments around the table. Secret deals, broken promises, and shocking betrayals generate an experience where reading other players matters just as much as managing your political resources.

Despite originally releasing in 1979, Junta remains one of the most influential and respected negotiation games ever published. Its mix of dark humour, diplomacy, bluffing, and aggressive player interaction continues to make it a cult classic among groups who enjoy highly social strategy games.

You will likely enjoy Junta if you love games built around negotiation, manipulation, temporary alliances, and unpredictable player interaction. Groups that enjoy dramatic table talk, political scheming, and memorable betrayals will discover a uniquely chaotic experience unlike almost anything else in board gaming.

Originally published in 1979, Junta became one of the defining political satire games in modern tabletop history. Its reputation grew through decades of reprints and new editions while maintaining its distinctive identity centered on greed, corruption, and survival. The game overview document notably highlights that the ultimate objective is to accumulate the most money in Swiss bank accounts while navigating endless conspiracies and coups.

Junta was designed by Eric Goldberg, Ben Grossman, Steve Marsh, and collaborators whose work helped shape early thematic and negotiation-heavy board gaming. Its satirical tone and freedom-driven gameplay still stand out today as one of the hobby’s most iconic social strategy experiences.

Number of players: 2 to 7
Playing time: 240 minutes
Age: 16+