Rat Trap Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Return to the Box
• Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Round Setup
• Turn Structure
  • 1. Roll the Dice
  • 2. Choose an Accomplice for This Turn
  • 3. Your Accomplice Chooses One Die to Keep
  • 4. The Actions Are Resolved Starting With Your Accomplice's Die and Followed by Yours
    • The Actions
  • Drawing and Storing Cards
  • Elimination of a Player From the Round
  • End of Turn
• End of Round
• End of the Game
• Advanced Rules
  • "The Bigger the Gang, the Bigger the Mess!" (4 to 5 players)
  • "Everyone Has a Role to Play" (3 to 5 players)
• Bonus: Two Players Variant
  • "The Third Rat"
  • Additional Rules for the Third Rat

Return to the Box

• The two white dice and the five Role cards (only used with the advanced rules).
• The six "Third Rat" cards (only used with the two player variant).

Goal of the Game

Rat Trap is played for a maximum of 3 rounds but the game ends earlier if a player manages to collect at least 7 points (in pieces of cheese tokens).

Game Setup

• Place the POINT and SCRATCH tokens in the middle of the table.
• Set out a number of Doorway cards based on the number of players. Look at the lower right corner of the cards. Keep only the cards indicating the correct number of players. Example for 4 players: keep the cards with the number 4. Put the rest of the Doorway cards back in the box as they will not be needed for the game.
• There should be 15 cards with 3 players, 20 cards for 4 players, and 25 cards for 5 players.
• The starting Active player is the one who has most recently eaten cheese.
• The starting Active player takes the Active Player token and the two black dice and places them in front of him.
• The Active player (who has the two dice and the Active Player token) will be the first player.

Round Setup

• Set aside a number of Trap cards equal to the number of players. Example for 4 players: set aside 4 Traps.
• Deal the remaining Doorway cards face down into a number of piles equal to the number of players. Example for 4 players: deal 4 piles.
• Place one of the Trap cards that was previously set aside in each one of the piles. Shuffle each pile and put them back face down in the center of the table.

Purpose of this setup: The goal is to have as many piles as players. Each pile consists of 5 cards including at least one Trap. These piles do not belong to individual players. They represent locations that the rats will try to search (by drawing from them during the round).

(The printed example diagram for 4 players is not reproduced here.)

Turn Structure

During a turn, when you are the Active player:

1. Roll the Dice

Roll the 2 dice. If you wish, you may reroll BOTH (rerolls may never be just one of the dice). If you choose to reroll, the second result is final. The dice represent the ACTIONS available for this turn.

2. Choose an Accomplice for This Turn

You must pick another player TO WHOM YOU WILL GIVE BOTH DICE.

It is a good idea to talk with the other players to help decide who to pass the dice to. Anything can be promised, but nothing forces players to keep those promises!

3. Your Accomplice Chooses One Die to Keep

Your accomplice chooses one die to keep and returns the remaining die to you.

4. The Actions Are Resolved Starting With Your Accomplice's Die and Followed by Yours

The actions: Actions are not optional. Players must complete them if possible.

The Actions

• 1 KEY: Draw the top card from the pile of your choice (See "Drawing and Storing Cards").

• 2 KEYS: Draw 2 cards consecutively from the pile of your choice. If the pile only contains a single card, only draw one.

  The "consecutively" is important because if you draw a Lucky Clover before a Trap, you can use the clover to protect yourself (where the inverse of this would not be the case).

• STEAL: Steal one card at random stored by another player of your choice.

• CAT ATTACK: You send the Cat to eliminate the competition. Give a Scratch token to another player.

  You cannot send the Cat on yourself but you may attack your partner if you wish and your partner may attack you if he kept a Cat Attack die.

  The Cat may not be sent to attack the same player twice on the same turn. Thus if the two dice are both showing "Cat Attack", the active player and his accomplice may not target the same player.

  Clarification: When using the action "Cat Attack", it is not you who takes the Scratch token. YOU decide who the Cat will attack.

• HEAL: You heal one Scratch token (if you have one). Return the token to the pile.

Drawing and Storing Cards

When you draw a card (with one or two keys), look at it secretly.

• IF IT IS A TRAP, REVEAL IT IMMEDIATELY and place it face up next to the pile it was drawn from. Immediately take a Scratch token.

  In the case of the "2 Keys" action, if the first card you draw is a Trap, this does not prevent you from drawing a second card (unless you were eliminated by the Trap).

• IF IT IS A CARD WITH 1 OR 2 CHEESE, STORE IT by placing it face down in front of you. It is worth points at the end of the round (1 or 2 points depending on the card).

• IF IT IS A CARD WITH A LUCKY CLOVER, STORE IT by placing it face down in front of you. A LUCKY CLOVER WILL PROTECT YOU AGAINST A SCRATCH TOKEN, whether from a Trap or the Cat.

  When you would be forced to take a Scratch token, you may, if you wish, reveal and discard this card to prevent taking a Scratch.

  A Lucky Clover does not allow you to heal yourself (only the HEAL action can do this); it only allows you to avoid taking a Scratch token.

Elimination of a Player From the Round

If you receive a third Scratch token, you are eliminated from the round (though not the game). It ends the round and you LOSE ALL THE CARDS THAT YOU HAVE STORED during the round.

End of Turn

When the two actions of the turn have been played, THE ACTIVE PLAYER PASSES THE TWO DICE AND THE ACTIVE PLAYER TOKEN TO THE PLAYER ON THEIR LEFT who becomes the new active player for the next turn.

End of Round

A round ends if:

• A PLAYER IS ELIMINATED (this player has three Scratch tokens.)
• or -
• TWO PILES OF DOORWAY CARDS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED.

Finish all the actions in the turn before ending the round (even if the first action eliminates a player or empties a second pile). It is possible for multiple players to be eliminated in the same turn.

Then:

1. THE PLAYERS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ELIMINATED REVEAL THEIR STORED CARDS AND RECEIVE POINTS with a total value equal to the amount of cheese on the cards they stored during the round.

   Point tokens are kept from round to round and cannot be stolen or lost.

   Special case: If no points were collected at the end of the round (no player has any cheese cards stored), all players who were not eliminated receive 2 points.

2. THE ACTIVE PLAYER PASSES THE 2 DICE AND THE ACTIVE PLAYER TOKEN TO THE PLAYER ON THEIR LEFT who will become the new Active player at the beginning of the next round.

3. PREPARE CARDS INTO NEW PILES (see "Round Setup") and BEGIN THE NEXT ROUND.

End of the Game

The game ends when one of the two following situations occurs:

• AT LEAST ONE PLAYER HAS ACCUMULATED SEVEN POINTS (OR MORE) at the end of the first or second round.
• THE THIRD ROUND IS COMPLETED.

THE PLAYER WHO HAS THE MOST POINTS WINS. In case of a tie, the player who stored the most cards during the last round wins. If they are still tied, they share the victory or play a tiebreaker round, but all players participate!

Advanced Rules

These two rules can be combined or played separately.

"The Bigger the Gang, the Bigger the Mess!" (4 to 5 players)

• All 4 dice (2 white and 2 black) will be used.
• The rules are the same as the basic game with the following exception when you are the Active player:
  • ROLL THE 4 DICE ONCE (no reroll is possible).
  • CHOOSE 2 ACCOMPLICES. Pass THE WHITE DICE TO ONE ACCOMPLICE and THE BLACK DICE TO A SECOND ACCOMPLICE.
  • In clockwise order, THE ACCOMPLICES GIVE BACK ONE DIE EACH TO YOU.
  • ACTIONS ARE RESOLVED IN CLOCKWISE ORDER. The Accomplice closest to the Active player in clockwise order will play, followed by the second Accomplice. YOU PLAY LAST BY PICKING ONE OF THE TWO AVAILABLE ACTIONS THAT IS BEFORE YOU.

"Everyone Has a Role to Play" (3 to 5 players)

The 5 Role cards will be used. At the beginning of each round, shuffle the Role cards. Deal one face down to each player who will secretly look at their own. Each card gives a special ability to that player for the round.

• THE MANIPULATOR: Reveal this card at the beginning of the round. You may look at the cards in two of the piles. Reorder the cards in each pile as you so choose and place them back, face down, on the table. You may not transfer cards from one pile to the other.
• AL RATONE: Once during the round, after the Active player has rolled the dice, you may reveal this card to force him to choose you as their accomplice. If playing by the advanced rules, you may also decide which color dice (black or white) the Active player passes you.
• THE HYPNOTIST: Once during the round, you may reveal this card if you are the target of "Cat Attack" and redirect it to the player of your choice.
• THE FOOL: Each time you draw a Trap, do not reveal it but rather store it without taking a Scratch token. But beware! If a player steals a Trap from you, he takes a Scratch token and you must reveal any other Trap cards that you have stored. Discard them, and take one Scratch token for each Trap revealed this way. Discard this Role card afterwards.
• THE ALCHEMIST: Each Lucky Clover stored and not used at the end of the round counts for one cheese.

Bonus: Two Players Variant

"The Third Rat"

For this variant, you will use the "Third Rat" cards. The game follows the same rules as a three players game.

Each round, shuffle and place the "Third Rat" cards face down. These will take the place of the third player.

WHEN YOU ARE THE ACTIVE PLAYER, YOU MAY CHOOSE THE "THIRD RAT" AS AN ACCOMPLICE. You may only do this if all six "Third Rat" cards have not been already taken (in which case, you must pick the other player as a partner).

Reveal the top card from the "Third Rat" deck which will indicate which die will be taken by the Third Rat and which die will be passed back to you. The "Third Rat" will keep the die shown in 1, otherwise the die in 2, otherwise in 3, etc.

The character shown on the right of the card indicates which player completes the actions for the "Third Rat" (you, the Active player, or your opponent). The card's action icons are read as follows:

• 1 or 2 Keys:
  • You decide which pile the Third Rat draws from.
  • Your opponent decides which pile the Third Rat draws from.
• Cat Attack:
  • You give a Scratch token to your opponent.
  • Your opponent gives a Scratch token to you.
• Steal:
  • You decide who the Third Rat steals (from your opponent or yourself), but if that player has nothing stored, the Third Rat steals from the other player if possible.
  • Your opponent decides who the Third Rat steals, but if that player has nothing stored, the Third Rat steals from the other player if possible.

(Transcriber's note: the printed sheet shows the two lines of each icon side by side, matched to the "you" or "your opponent" character on the card. The icon graphics themselves are not reproduced.)

Additional Rules for the Third Rat

• The "Third Rat" never rolls the dice, so it never becomes the Active player.
• All the cards stored by the Third Rat remain face up in front of the "Third Rat" deck.
• If the "Third Rat" has 2 Scratch tokens, it will always choose a Heal die if possible no matter what the "Third Rat" card indicates for this round.
• The "Third Rat" will always use a Lucky Clover to avoid gaining a Scratch token if possible.
• When you steal from the Third Rat, its cards are shuffled by your opponent before you draw one. Afterwards, the cards are returned face up in front of the Third Rat deck.
• The Third Rat collects Point tokens like any other player at the end of the round.