The strategy game for scheming Rats
Rats to Riches
4.8/5 Stars
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Rats to Riches™ is ‘The strategy game for scheming rats’
It’s a Rat Race! you’re a pack of filthy, scheming rats, racing to collect $100 Swindle, working your way to a better class of sewer, by investing in assets, hiring gangsters and – of course – stealing whatever you can!
Earn income, buy-sell assets, become the Red Ruffian, Green Gangster or Blue Boss or even The Big Cheese, sabotage other rats and build your sewer empire!
A deceptively detailed multi-level strategy game combining skill with an element of luck.
Made with multiple, custom-designed quality components and meeples, as well as an innovative playing board, integrated into the base.
And yes... leave your manners and politeness at the door!
Suitable for ages 8+, for 2-5 players, lasts between 25-45 minutes.
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The Tail of Rats to Riches
Whilst studying for a BA in Business Management at The University of Manchester one of my projects was to reach out to local schools to teach basic business and finance. It was an utter failure until I had the idea of creating a game to actively engage my young audience.
In June 2017 I rolled out the first prototype of Rats to Riches™, an educational business game. Drawing inspiration from a multitude of games, most notably Seven Wonders and the Game of Life, I built the foundations for Rats to Riches™ ‘s multi-layered strategic game-play. Through the summer of 2018, I launched the BETA version, which was play-tested more than 180 times and sampled to over 200 Instagrammers world-wide.
I first met the Accentuate Games team in June 2018 and haven’t looked back since. My early concerns of loss of control and learning disappeared, and we inked our licensing deal in August 2018.
Together we ironed out the rules and mechanics and made significant changes to capture a clean, dynamic and strategic experience as well as creating a truly innovative and captivating look and feel to the game.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to coordinate design, launch and exhibit a new game whilst completing your finals at the age of 21 but with the help of Graeme, Fiona and Daphne at Accentuate Games that’s exactly what I did.
One of my key learnings was the importance of how a game makes you feel when you play it rather than how a game plays. Ultimately, the product is an experience, rather than just a set of rules.
Rats to Riches™ has gone from an idea, to a GOLD Medal winning international game and as the Zodiac Year of The Rat approaches in 2020 I reflect on what perfect timing this represents as my zodiac sign is also the Rat.
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Tap Me For Game Instructions
Aim of the game
So what’s the big idea? Well… You’re a pack of filthy, scheming rats. You’re racing to collect $100, working your way to a better class of sewer. You do this by investing in assets, sabotaging other rats and building your sewer empire!
It all looks messy, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through it… you’ll be a stinking rat in no time!
The objective of every player in this game is to be the first to collect $100 Swindle. Once this happens, that player wins, and the game ends.
Building the Sewer
Cheese
There are 3 types of Cheese: Green, Blue and Red. Place the Cheese holders on the positioning board in the space marked The Cheese Bank. Each rat then takes 3 pieces of any Cheese.
Cash
The currency of The Sewer is the Swindle with the symbol $. There are 1, 5 and 10 Swindle notes, which collectively are called The Slush Fund. Each rat takes five $1 coins.
Cards
Separate the different cards by looking at their backs. First, give one Flush Card face-up to each rat. Put any spares in a discard pile on the board, called The Cesspit. That leaves Scrappy Sewer and Supreme Sewer Cards. Shuffle each separately, then place them face-down in the space on the board marked The Rat Pack, with the Scrappy Sewer Cards on top. Finally, turn over the top three cards from The Rat Pack and place them face-up in the spaces on the board marked The Open Sewer.
Core Rules
This is a rat race! The first rat to get $100 wins the game. Since you’re reading the rules, you get to start first! In a clockwise direction, each rat takes their turn following these steps:
Step 1: Collect Income.
Income is the sum of all values in this white ring. Take that value in Swindles ($) from The Slush Fund. The Flush Card gives you a base Income of $2 every round with Green Cards increasing this value.
Step 2: Buy and/or use Cards.
- Buying Cards: You may only buy Open Sewer To do so, pay the cost of that Card to The Slush Fund, then keep the Card face-up in front of you. The cost of each Card is in the bottom-right corner. When a Card is bought from The Open Sewer, immediately replace it with the top Card of The Rat Pack. You may buy newly-replaced Open Sewer Cards on the same turn as well.
- Use Cards: Red Cards, Blue Cards, Grey Cards, Bonus Bonanza and your Flush Card can be used. To use a Card, carry out its effect, then place it in The Cesspit. You may use Cards on the same turn you bought them or save them for future use.
Step 3: Buy Cheese.
You end your turn by buying up to 3 pieces of Cheese, of any colour. Each piece of Cheese costs $1, paid to The Slush Fund.
Types of Cards:
Flush Cards are starter cards; each rat begins the game with one. It gives you a base Income of $2 per turn. You may dump the card to Flush The Sewer. This lets you take one Open Sewer Card and sends the rest to The Cesspit. After doing so, however, you no longer enjoy the $2 Income the card gives, so use it wisely.
Green Cards affect Income. Most Green Cards increase your Income, while the Bonus Bonanza Card is an active card that lets you collect your Income an additional time on the same turn. Green Cards are bought with Green Cheese.
Blue Cards are Pipes! When you sell them, square the number of pipes sold, then take that amount in $ from The Slush Fund. For example, if you sold 5 Pipes, you collect $25 from The Slush Fund. Sold Pipes go to The Cesspit. Blue Cards are bought with Blue Cheese.
Red Cards are Opportunities. They are one-off actions and are sent to The Cesspit after use. Red Cards are bought with Red Cheese.
Purple Cards are Careers, which grant you a unique, lasting benefit. Each Purple Card costs 3 Cheese.
Grey Cards are Bundles. Buy these for $5, not Cheese. They let you bundle stuff together for fast, $25 sales. Dump the bundle of cards in The Cesspit.
Yellow Cards are Events. When a Yellow Card turns face-up in The Open Sewer, it affects ALL rats immediately, before being sent to The Cesspit and replaced by the top Card of The Rat Pack.
Meeples
Cheesy Crooks - If a rat owns the ‘Red Ruffian’, ‘Green Gangster’ or ‘Blue Boss’ Cards, give them the respective figurine(s) to show other rats who to pay their Swindle to.
The Big Cheese - The rat with the most Swindle ($) at the end of each roundis crowned The Big Cheese and is given the golden rat meeple. The Big Cheese receives +2 income on each round