The deck of 55 cards includes: 20 monkey cards with wild monkeys (red cards numbered 1 to 4); 20 monkey cards with mild monkeys (blue cards numbered 1 to 4); 8 Gotcha Gator cards; 6 banana cards (3 rotten and 3 fresh) and one Wild Gotcha Gator card.

The deck is dealt out to all players who make a face down pile in front of them. Players turn over the top card of their decks simultaneously and place the card in the center of the table. Players attempt to be the first to spot one of two types of matches: Two different colored cards with the same value on different players' piles OR two different colored cards of the same value on one player's pile. The first player to spot it slaps the pile and shouts "Go Bananas!" That player then takes the pile(s).

Additionally, players must watch out for matching Gotcha Gator cards (same number as card previously played in one player's pile) and rotten banana/fresh banana matches as well - each having its own shout as well.

The first player to collect all the cards in the deck is the winner.