For a first Banana Society night, gather 6–12 people on desktop or laptop browsers, keep the initial settings unchanged, and play one learning round. Your most useful job as host is getting everybody into the same room with a basic understanding of their role.
Before you send the invitation
Check that your friends have keyboards and a computer browser. A phone can open this guide, but the game's movement and interface are designed for desktop play.
Try practice with bots once yourself. Learn how to shake a tree, deposit the right color, read the map, and confirm a vote. You do not need to become an expert; you need to recognize the first questions your friends will ask.
Choose your conversation setup. Your regular group call is an easy starting point. If you want in-game voice, verify its status in Options before promising it to everyone.
Get everyone into one lobby
- Open Banana Society and select Create Game.
- Copy the invitation from the lobby and share it with the group.
- Ask anyone joining manually to use Join with code, not Create Game.
- Compare the player list with the people in your call.
- Add bots if needed, then explain the objective before starting.
A new host should create one room for the group. Separate room codes mean separate games. An expired or incorrect code needs a fresh invitation from the current lobby.
Share the rules page ahead of time, but give a short explanation in the call too. Reading a long guide should not become a prerequisite for joining your friends.
Match the setup to your group
| People available | Suggested first setup | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| One | Practice vs Bots. | A controls rehearsal, not a human bluffing session. |
| 2–5 | Create a room and fill seats with bots. | You can learn together, but fewer people contribute human alibis and accusations. |
| 6–7 | Start with the default settings. | The default role table uses one Eater. |
| 8–10 | Keep the defaults for the learning round. | The default role table uses two Eaters. |
| 11–12 | Give everyone time to explain one observation. | The default role table uses three Eaters, so discussion can become busy. |
Role counts follow total seats, including bots, and a host override can change them. These suggestions are starting points, not a claim that every setup has been equally playtested.
Explain the game in half a minute
Most of us are Citizens. Bring each banana color to its matching crate. A few of us are Eaters, secretly eating the stash and interfering. Watch what happens, compare evidence at the council, then choose and confirm a vote. You can move with WASD and hold E or Space to interact.
Tell Eaters to read their extra controls privately. Remind everybody that the goal is playful suspicion; an accusation in a round is not a personal argument.
Make the first match a learning round
Let newcomers ask about controls. Point them toward the minimap, but avoid narrating somebody else's hidden role. Explain that a filled belly and witnessed actions are different kinds of evidence from a guess about somebody's personality.
Agree on one conversation convention. For example, you can keep free conversation light while allowing each person to finish their account during councils. This is a group agreement, not an enforced game mode.
After the result, ask each newcomer whether they managed to collect, deposit, and vote. A second round with understood controls is more informative than immediately changing several lobby settings.
When setup goes wrong
Someone is on a phone: ask them to switch to a computer before the match. Do not promise touch controls that the game is not designed around.
Someone cannot join: re-copy the current invitation and compare its code. Check whether the room has space or the match is already in progress.
Voice is unavailable: use the group's usual call, or council text chat. Check device permissions if configured in-game voice is selected.
People have to leave: return to the lobby and reassess the group instead of measuring your night by how many empty rooms you create.
For a different mood after a few rounds, the Discord game guide compares drawing and word-clue options too.
Meet us in The Grove.
Free browser play. Bring your friends, or learn the controls with bots.
Play free