Rat-A-Tat-Tat is an easy-to-learn, easy-to-play card game for two or more players. Keep your cards low to win this game! Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play the card game rat-a-tat-tat below. A fun game of suspense! Improve strategy, addition, and memory building with the Rat-a-tat Cat Game from Gamewright! Get rid of the high rat cards and go for the low cat cards. Sneak a peek, draw two, or swap cards for an added twist.
Disclaimer
This was the first real analog game I remember ever playing. I was probably around six, at a marathon-watching party with my parents. The kids of the host were playing some Gamewright card games on the floor, including Slamwich, that witch game, and Rat-A-Tat-Cat. From the moment I saw those cards on the carpet, I knew that gaming was for me. It was fated. Thus, this review may be colored by nostalgia.
This was the first real analog game I remember ever playing. I was probably around six, at a marathon-watching party with my parents. The kids of the host were playing some Gamewright card games on the floor, including Slamwich, that witch game, and Rat-A-Tat-Cat. From the moment I saw those cards on the carpet, I knew that gaming was for me. It was fated. Thus, this review may be colored by nostalgia.
Gameplay
In Rat-A-Tat-Cat, 2+ players are distributed four random face-down cards each. They do NOT get to see those cards. Each card has a numeric value 0-9 (or one of two or three special powers), and your goal is to have the lowest total value among your four cards at the end of the game.
In Rat-A-Tat-Cat, 2+ players are distributed four random face-down cards each. They do NOT get to see those cards. Each card has a numeric value 0-9 (or one of two or three special powers), and your goal is to have the lowest total value among your four cards at the end of the game.
Rat A Tat Cat Online
On your turn you choose one: either take the top card of the discard pile and switch it for one of your cards, face down (remember, you don’t know the values of your cards, so it’s risky), or you draw the top card of the deck. If that card is a number, you may switch it with one of your 4 cards, or discard it. If that card has a special ability, you do that special ability and discard it.
There are three special abilities: Peek, Swap, and Draw 2. Peek allows you to look at any face down card (yours or your opponent’s). Swap allows you to swap your face down card for an opponent’s face down card (they don’t get to look at the card you gave them). Draw 2 allows you to take 2 extra turns.
One of the cool mechanics in this game is that it ends when any player calls “Rat-A-Tat-Cat,” so you have to believe you’re doing better than your opponents. When a player does that, his or her opponents each get one more turn and then it’s over.
Strategy
Most of the strategy in Rat-A-Tat-Cat revolves around memory, which is okay but not awesome. You really need to remember which of your cards are which values, and you really should remember which cards your opponent has as well.
Most of the strategy in Rat-A-Tat-Cat revolves around memory, which is okay but not awesome. You really need to remember which of your cards are which values, and you really should remember which cards your opponent has as well.
However, there are a few interesting strategies and tactics in Rat-A-Tat-Cat. Like in Gin Rummy, when playing against a skilled opponent you should do your best to give your opponent as little information as possible. Sometimes this means passing up better cards in the discard pile, or replacing a 3 with a 0 instead of a 5 with a 0, because your opponents know what the 3 is.
Another interesting strategy is bluffing, by replacing a 2 or a 1 with a higher card (although preferably not too much higher, like a 3), so they think you have a better score than you do.
Finally, it doesn’t come up when playing as a kid, but I now realized that if you get a 0 on one of the first draws, or start with one, it is probably a good idea to end the game right there and then.
Rat A Tat Cat Review
Rat A Tat Cat Directions
Summary
Rat-A-Tat-Cat is a fun little game, mostly for kids, for 2-6 players. It’s short, and very flexible in where you can play it. If you have kids who like the game, you could carry it with you and use it to entertain them when their bored, almost anywhere. It was my first real game, and it’s a good introduction to semi-strategic gaming for children.
Rat-A-Tat-Cat is a fun little game, mostly for kids, for 2-6 players. It’s short, and very flexible in where you can play it. If you have kids who like the game, you could carry it with you and use it to entertain them when their bored, almost anywhere. It was my first real game, and it’s a good introduction to semi-strategic gaming for children.