Rat-a-Tat Cat® Product #204. Item is in stock and ready to ship. Get rid of the high cards (rats) and go for the low cards (cats). Sneak a peek, draw two, or swap. Rat-A-Tat CAT Price:$12.99 Add to wish list The goal of this fun child's game is to have the least amout of points at the end!
Rat-a-Tat Cat is a memory card game designed by Monty and Ann Stambler[1] and published by Gamewright. It won a Mensa Select award in 1996. The Washington Post described it as 'like poker for kids'.[2]
It is similar to the 2010 card game Cabo as well as to the card game Golf that uses a standard 52-card deck.
Cards[edit]
The game consists of a deck of cards: four sets of cards numbered from 0 through to 8, nine copies of a 9 card, and three of each of the power cards ('Peek', 'Swap' and 'Draw 2').
Setup[edit]
Each player is dealt four cards that are placed, face down, in a row in front of him or her. Each player looks at the two outermost cards in their row and turns the cards over,at the beginning of the game. Players may not look at any cards during the game except through the use of a Peek card. The remaining cards form a draw pile, and the top one is turned over to form a discard pile (if this card is a power card, it is shuffled back into the draw pile and a replacement is dealt).
Gameplay[edit]
The objective is to have the fewest points at the end of the game. The points are the total of all cards that the person has at the end of the round. Therefore, players try to get rid of high value cards and gain low ones. Since cards are left face down, memory is a very important part of this game.
On a player's turn, he or she takes a card. This can either be the top card of the discard pile (so long as it is not a 'power card'), or the top card of the draw pile. Anyone who takes a card from the discard pile uses it to replace one of his or her face down cards, and puts that card on the discard pile. If a player draws a number card from the draw pile, they may either use it to replace one of the face-down cards, or place the drawn card directly in the discard pile.
If the draw pile is exhausted, the discard pile is reshuffled and placed face down.
Power cards may only be used when they are drawn from the draw pile. They may not be taken from the discard pile, and are useless if found in the hand. After use, they are placed in the discard pile. If a power card is taken from the draw pile, it has the following effect:
- If a 'Peek' card is drawn, the player may immediately look at one of his or her face down cards.
- If a 'Swap' is drawn, the player may switch one of his cards with one of another player's cards. However, the player may not look at either card until receiving a peek card. If the player does not want to swap, he or she does not have to.
- A player drawing a 'Draw 2' card then draws another card from the pile, and may use this card as if it were a normal turn. However, if it is a number card and is discarded, or if it is a power card and the player decides not to use it, the player then picks another card from the pile, and plays that as if it were a normal turn.
At the end of a player's turn, he or she may choose to end the round by saying 'rat-a-tat-cat'. All other players get one more turn, and then everyone counts up their points. Any power cards[clarification needed] are placed at the bottom of the deck and replaced with the top card.
At the beginning of the game, the players decide how to win. They may either play for an agreed length of time or number of rounds, with the person with the fewest points at the end being the winner, or the game may be played such that when a player exceeds a certain points total, they are eliminated, with the last surviving player winning the game.
References[edit]
- ^'Rat-a-Tat Cat - Board Game - BoardGameGeek'. boardgamegeek.com.
- ^Joyce, Amy (17 December 2013). 'Best toys this year'. Washington Post. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
External links[edit]
- Rat-a-Tat Cat at Gamewright
- Rat-a-Tat Cat at BoardGameGeek
While traveling this summer, I was reminded of the quote from the movie Mean Girls (I know, you are wondering where this is going, hang in there), 'Math is the same in every language.' Yes this is an actual quote from Mean Girls. Look it up.
While in Paris, we had the pleasure of meeting an Italian cousin who we had never met before in person. He is the same age as my daughter and he was in Paris visiting his grandmother for a few weeks of his summer vacation. We were lucky enough to have overlapping time in Paris with this cousin and we got to hang out together for a little less than a week. Here was the slightly tricky part. We speak English and French, this little cousin only speaks Italian. Things were fine as long as we were out and about, but once we were back at my cousin's apartment, we weren't sure how to keep the kids entertained and playing together.
Luckily, we had brought a couple of very transportable card games, one of which was Rat-a-tat Cat. This game is a simple math and memory game which, as I learned this summer, is easily understood by all who get thrown into game play. This is the brilliance of math and memory based games (here again comes the Mean Girls quote), 'Math is the same in every language.'
My daughter and her cousin played rounds and rounds of Rat-a-tat Cat, and we soon learned that our little cousin is quite the card shark! Math is the international language!
Here is how to play:
Set up: Shuffle the deck of 54 cards (28 Cat cards that have the numbers 0-6 on them, and 17 Rat cards that have the numbers 7-9 on them, plus 9 power cards). The player to the left of the dealer cuts the cards.
The dealer then deals four cards, one at a time and face down, to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down, in the middle of the table, as the draw pile. The top card of the draw pile is turned over to start the discard pile. If that card is a Power card, it is placed back in the deck and another card is turned over.
Without looking at the cards, each player places four cards face down in a line on the table in front of him.
Game Play: To begin the game, players peek at their two outer cards once, then turn them face down again. During the entire game, players will always have their four cards face down on the table.
Once each player has peeked at their outer two cards, each knows the point values of two out of the four cards. The name of the game is to have the least amount of points in their hand by the end of the game (the four cards that are facing down). Since rats have high numbers attached to them, players want to get rid of all the rat cards and replace them with low point value Cat cards.
For each turn, a player may either draw the top card from the discard pile. This card MUST be used to replace one of her cards. The card replaced is then discarded, face up, to the discard pile; or, the player can draw the top card from the draw pile. A player may use it to: replace one of her cards, Peek, Swap, or Draw 2 if it is a Power card (these cards give you special card privileges for one turn), or discard it face up to the discard pile.
A player's choice is based on remembering the values of his four face down cards. Keep track of what you have so you won't accidentally replace your low point cards with high point cards.
During the game, when the draw pile is used up, shuffle the discard pile and turn it over for a new draw pile.
Rat A Tat Cat Rules
When a player thinks he has the lowest score and can win the round, they may end the game by knocking on the table and saying 'rat-a-tat cat' at the end of the player's turn. Once the player knocks, every other player has one more turn. Each player then turns over their cards and add the point values of their four cards. This is each player's score for the game. The player with the lowest amount of points wins!
Rat A Tat Cat Cards
The game is designed for 2-6 players ages 8+.
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