top of page
Asset 1_edited_edited.png

RAT HIDERS

Rat Hiders

Official rules and regulations

Asset 1.png
Cool rat.png

Objective:

HIDE THE RATS! (By any means)

The player with the most rats in their hand at the end of the game wins!

Setup:

1 deck is intended for 4-6 players. You can  play with up to 10 players if you add a second deck. Shuffle the deck. Deal 5 cards to each player. The rest of the deck will be the draw pile. The player who most recently saw a rat goes first.

Card Types

Asset 1.png

Rats

(Red border) Rats must be hidden. Rats may not be discarded at any time. If one is found, it must be shuffled back into the draw pile. Never admit that you have, or have ever had, a rat - that would make you a bad rat hider.

Not a rats

(Gray border) Not a Rats do nothing on their own. You can discard 2 of the same Not a Rats on your turn, you can either choose a player to trade hands with, or skip the Risky Rat Pass. Draw until you have 5 cards after.

Rat Snacks

(Blue border) Rat Snack cards are activated when discarded during the Risky Rat phase.

  •  Show me your cheese: when discarded, you may choose a player who you suspect is cheating. If they are, they MUST pull out their hidden rats and dance while chanting, “I’M A CHEATER, I’M A CHEATER, I’M A DIRTY LITTLE CHEATER!” Rats Left: All players pass their hand to the left

  • Rats Right: All players pass their hand to the right

  • Rat Toss: Everyone puts one card face down in the middle. On the count of 3, everyone fights for a card

  • Rats Aren’t Funny: If you have any RATributes, play this card and tell a joke. If anyone laughs, you can lose your rat qualities and return to normal

Rat Traps

(Purple border) Rat Trap cards are activated when they are flipped during the RATcusation phase.

  • Safety Snowman: If revealed, you are safe from flipping more cards

  • Little Stinker Smells Rats: If you flip this card, you can choose any player to flip an extra card. If a player has flipped a Safety Snowman, they still have to flip a card if you tell them to

Asset 1.png

Game Play

Risky Rat Phase

Each player takes a turn.

  • Draw a card

  • Discard a card/play a Rat Snack

  • Do a Risky Rat Pass - choose any player, take a random card from each other’s hand 

RATcusation Phase

Once each player has had one turn in the Risky Rat phase, the RATcusation phase begins. Each player gets to RATcuse 1 other player of hiding rats in their hand. After RATcusations are made, each player shuffles their cards face down and chants all together:

At the end of the chant, each player flips over the amount of cards corresponding to the number of RATcusations they recieved.

If a Rat Trap card is flipped, the effects are activated. When RAT cards are flipped, players receive a level of punishment based on how many rats they revealed at this point in the game.

  • 1 Rat: RATccent - Player must talk with front teeth out (like a rat)

  • 2 Rats: Scamper - Player must hide (preferably under a table) - Don’t forget to keep your RATccent!

  • 3 Rats: RATified - Player is subject to having a rat nose and whiskers drawn on their face

*Your group may also choose alternative punishments

​

After all cards are flipped, return revealed rats to the deck, all other cards get discarded. Make sure all players have 5 cards, start the next Risky Rat phase.

"Hide the rats, hide the rats, it is bad to have the rats!"

Final RATcusation Phase

This phase starts when the draw pile runs out. If any player doesn’t have 5 cards in their hand, they may take Not A Rat cards from the discard pile. There is no limit on the number or order of RATcusations in this round. This is a 1 on 1 activity. When RATcusing a player, swap hands and shuffle each others cards to prevent cheating, then flip one over. Swap hands back after flipping. The whole group will chant “Hide the rats, hide the rats, it is bad to have the  rats” while shuffling. Rat Trap cards can still activate. The first player to have a Rat revealed from their hand loses!

End Game

Time to find the winner! All remaining players will reveal their 5 card hand while chanting, “Here are my rats, here are my rats, I have SOOO many rats!” The player with the most rats wins! Rats not in a 5 card hand are not counted. If you flipped cards during this phase and you were hiding rats, you may only pull out the number of hiding rats that correspong to the number of cards that were left in your hand.

Asset 1.png

Cheating

Cheating is optional, and highly encouraged. The goal is to HIDE THE RATS, remember? But if you get caught cheating, there are consequences. You can

catch a cheater by

  • Playing a Show Me Your Cheese card

  • Spotting the wrong number of cards in their hand

  • Seeing one hidden on their person, etc.

If caught cheating, you must do a little dance while chanting, “I’m a cheater, I’m a cheater, I’m a dirty little cheater.” If you wrongly accuse someone of cheating, you must do a dance while chanting, “I’m a liar, I’m a liar, I’m a dirty little liar.” If

cheating gets out of hand, your group may decide how you wish to deal with it. Get creative!

So you wanna 

rats, huh?

hide

Asset 1.png
bottom of page