I Smell a Rat!

In I Smell a Rat!, players take turns “attacking” each other by blindly exposing cards from other players’ hands.

The player who was attacked then plays out the action on the exposed card.

Finally, the attacker ends their turn by burying a card in the draw pile and drawing a new one. That’s the whole game.

How is this fun?

Well, first of all, “fun” is entirely subjective. But to answer your question, it’s all in the cards.

The Good, the Bad, and the Smelly

There are three different card types in I Smell a Rat!, and they are divided into the following categories:

Special Cards - Special Cards are the lifeblood of the game. They can help you pull ahead when you’re in a pinch, or bring someone else down when they’re ahead. They’re easy to lose as they get buried after exposure - And losing all of your cards means you’re out of the game.

Smelly Cards - If you’re feeling lucky and you need a bit of a boost, Smelly Cards can give you a huge advantage. Included with the base game are two Rat Sandwich cards which allow you to draw a card at the start of your turn for every Rat Sandwich in your hand. If a Smelly Card is exposed from your hand, you LOSE, so be wary as others will catch on if you hold onto one for too long.

Rat Cards - These cards alone do basically nothing, but if you expose one from your opponent’s hand and you happen to have an exact copy of it in your own hand, you get to steal it from them. Otherwise, it goes back into their hand. Collect three of a kind and you can do something mischievous.

Playing a “Mischief”

“What do I do with all of these useless Rat Cards?”, you might be asking.

Rat Cards are the most common card type in the game, so you’ll be sure to see plenty of them. If you manage to collect three exact copies of any card, you can perform a powerful move called a “Mischief”.

When playing a “Mischief”, you begin by Burying the three matching cards in the draw pile, and then follow up by blindly stealing a total of THREE CARDS from your opponents.

All possible scenarios would include stealing...

-One card from three different players.

-Two Cards from one player and one from another.

-Or all three cards from a single player.

(This move is purely offensive and can only be played during your turn)

How do I win?

To come out on top, you need to be the last player still alive (so don’t hold back). Alternatively, you can win by drawing the final card in the draw pile, but that probably won’t happen since all cards are recycled.

Aaaaaand that’s that, friend! Try your luck, don’t run out of cards, and try not to get caught with a Rat Sandwich.