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Rats to Riches
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1670 Victory Points
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Description
Rats to Riches is a finance strategy card game. Players are sewer-dwelling rats who invest, acquire properties, pursue career paths, or even steal their way to financial superiority!
The object of the game is to be the first rat to get 100 coins. To achieve this, players spend their coins on cheese, which they in turn spend on businesses, properties, and other deals that give them the return on their investment.
So, you think you are the Big Cheese do you? That sort of confidence can grate with me. A bit like unnecessary cheese-related puns when talking about Rats to Riches. A board game about doing business with gangster rats. What any decent, self-respecting board game reviewer would be doing, is paying fromage to classic mobster movies instead.
Those sort of things can whey heavy on your mind. I have however thought Caerphilly about my introduction, and figured I ricotta slice into this review and cheddar some light on the game regardless. Having re-read it I don’t think I will raclette my decision!
Well, you have gouda ask yourself if you want to find out more about the game? Brie my guest… You will be cheesed to hear the play on words will stop now as you are probably feta up with them!
Gameplay
To win Rats to Riches you need to be the first player to gain 100 Swindles, the currency of the game ($). At the start of the game you will be issued with $5 from the Slush Fund, a Flush Card and three pieces of cheese of your choice from the red, green and blue wedges available.
The setup of the game is very easy, everything has a nice neat home on the board. Setup complete, the rat race starts. A player’s turn consists of collecting income, buying cards with cheese wedges or Swindle, using cards that you have purchased and then finally buying more cheese wedges.
Once everyone has taken a turn that concludes a round. The Swindle of each player is counted up and the player with the most money becomes The Big Cheese and gains $2 income extra on their go. A little house rule is that we pay this when the Big Cheese is decided as we tend to forget to collect it on our turn otherwise.
Rats to riches is a game for 2-5 players and does play well at all counts. It is also intended for 8+ and this is there or thereabouts depending, as always, on the child. I also think younger players will generally benefit from adult supervision, making it more of a family game.
The Cards
The cards are split into two phases, first comes the Scrappy Sewer cards, which generally have lower rewards but help build the foundations of your ratty empire. The Supreme Sewer cards indicate the impending end of the game and ramp up the opportunities and actions available to each player.
In Rats to Riches there are different types of cards which reap different benefits. Green cards (purchased with green cheese) grant more income each turn. Blue cards (purchased with blue cheese) can be cashed in at any time, the money received is the number of pipes multiplied by itself. Red cards (purchased by red cheese) are action cards offering one off bonuses or sabotage opportunities.
There are three other types of cards that appear: purple cards which grant lasting benefits to a player. Yellow cards that are one-off events that instantly affect players. Finally grey cards which allow you to bundle assets together for a one off bonus, these are the only cards that can be purchased with Swindle.
How it actually Plays
You can only buy cards from what is known as the open sewer, an offering of three face up cards that are constantly replenished. This adds an element of luck as the cheese you have collected may not be able to buy the overturned cards. You will forever be wishing you had a few more cheeses, a certain card, or a bit more income.
The flush card you obtain at the start of the game is powerful, it allows you to take any card from the open sewer and get rid of the other two. This can help you nab a powerful card you can’t afford.
Rats to Riches starts at a plod as you slowly scavenge for a couple of swindles here or there, and grab a small offering of cheese too. There is a little bit of down time between turns but you still feel like you are involved. Someone might swipe your card or, be negotiating who to share the spoils of a card with. Generally, play moves around swiftly and gathers momentum the whole time.
Scrappy to Supreme
There are various strategies you can undertake to claim a victory. Will you gain lots of income with green cards? Gather a load of blue pipes or be the rat that sabotages and schemes their way to victory? Inevitably, it will be a mixture of them all.
The game reaches its crescendo once you have burned through the Scrappy Sewer cards and hit the Supreme Sewer deck. This pretty much marks the end game with play only likely to last a few turns more. On your first play you won’t believe me, but you soon realise this is when you can maximise whatever strategy you adopted and start cashing in bundles that are worth $25 each.
The box says it plays in 15 to 45 minutes. If you get through this game in 15 minutes it will be a rarity. An average game will be around 45 minutes – and that’s the average. Don’t let that put you off though, you’ll be enjoying every minute.
Components
I really like the theme of Rats to Riches. There are plenty of play on words relating to rats and life in the sewer. These lighten the mood of the game and for me, add to the fun factor.
The cheeses sit in little wedge troughs, these aren’t big enough to hold them all and some cheeses will overspill. At first this really bothered me, why aren’t they just a tiny bit bigger to hold them all? I have relaxed a little now having decided that perhaps the publishers have given me a few extra cheeses in case any get lost. Without these few spares they fit in and the solar system can keep turning.
The base of the box unfurls to become the board, a nifty gimmick for less wastage that I admire, but perhaps do not love. Everything is clearly labelled so setup is a breeze.
The bank notes are themed and tally nicely with the Big Cheese. I also think the cards are nice quality and have nice ratty vignettes. The cheese wedges are akin to something you would find in a Trivial Pursuits game, but have sculpted tops to resemble cheese. It’s all these little details that bring further subtle enjoyment. The logo with the mouse and cheese silhouette incorporated into the ‘R’ is inspired too.
The cheesy crook miniatures, which indicate who is in charge of certain colour cheeses, are fun. The Big Cheese meeple is truly something to behold; weighty, regal, and glistening in its gilt splendour. No wonder my youngest always wants to be the big cheese! It is probably among the best components I have seen.
Final Thoughts on Rats to Riches
Rats to Riches is the game you should be playing instead of Monopoly. In fact, if ever someone says they like Monopoly I would want to sit them down to play this instead. Knowing they will be converted by the end of the game.
The theme and the components are all great and really add to the gaming experience. Rats to Riches does play well at all player counts too. A little caveat being that I probably wouldn’t recommend it if you could only ever play it with two, but when you do, it is still good. I guess what I am trying to say is there are better two-player only games I would recommend first.
Don’t let the fun theme fool you, this is a serious game with plenty of strategy. I love the way it can scale from being a board game that can be enjoyed as a family or once the children are in bed. Younger players may get daunted when the game changes gear, but if they don’t they will remain competitive until the end.
Games will also quite often be close with one player exclaiming that they would’ve won on their next turn when someone pips them to the post. This balance for me, reflects a well-designed game.
This is an entry level game that will lure non-gamers away from the classics like sweets from the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Instead of imprisonment in the film they will move into the enlightenment of the modern board game hobby. I will also add there is also plenty of medium weight strategy to scratch the itch of more seasoned gamers who may have overlooked it because of its theme.
So you want to go from sewer rat to fat cat, huh? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We are going to teach you how to play Rats to Riches!
Groundworks in Rats to Riches
Stop your scavenging, let’s move on to setting up the game…
Firstly, unfurl the board which is the base of the box. Crack the hinges gently if you need to get it to sit flat. Place the small cheese wedges in the triangular wedge shapes; they don’t all fit but justify this by thinking they gave you some spares so your OCD doesn’t go into overdrive!
The currency of the game is Swindle. Separate these into 1s, 5s and 10s and place them on their allocated slots in The Slush Fund.
Next, distribute a flush card to each player and return any unused flush cards to the box. While you’re at it, give 5 Swindle to each player. Then, each player can also take 3 cheeses of any colour, or combination of colours, from the supply.
To finish set up, separate the Scrappy Sewer and Supreme Sewer cards, shuffle each deck and then place the Supreme Sewer Cards onto The Ratpack slot. On top of these place the Scrappy Sewer cards. Turn the top three cards over and place them onto The Open Sewer.
You are now ready to play. Let’s learn how to play Rats to Riches!
Cis-turn order
The winner is the first to have 100 Swindle.
Learning how to play Rats to Riches is pretty simple. On your turn, you will take the following actions:
Step 1. Collect income. As the game progresses, some of the cards in front of you will have a plus symbol with a number on it. This is what you gain in income at the start of your turn.
On your first go, the Flush card gains you 2 income, so you will take 2 Swindle from The Slush Fund. As the game progresses, you will probably gain more at the start of subsequent turns.
Step 2. Buy and/or use Cards. The cards in the Open Sewer are available to buy. The cost of the card is in the bottom right corner and if you have the required cheese or money you can buy it.
Pay for your purchase by returning the cheese or money back to the supply and take the card. Immediately turn over the next card. If you can afford this one you can buy it too. In fact, you can buy as many cards as you can afford on your turn!
You can also use your card’s power at this moment. If you do, carry out its effect and then discard it to the cesspit.
Step 3. Buy cheese. You can buy up to three cheeses of any colour on your turn. Each cheese costs one Swindle which is paid to The Slush Fund or the mob boss – more about those in a minute.
Play continues with each player following those steps in a clockwise direction until it comes back to the player who went first, thus completing one round.
At this point, all players tally and declare their Swindle. The person with the most money becomes the big cheese and gets to have this rather awesome component in front of them. It also grants them 2 Swindle income each round.
I tend to award this when awarding the Big Cheese component as it is easy to forget otherwise.
Gutter know your cards!
The next part of learning how to play Rats to Riches is learning the different types of cards that you’ll encounter during the game:
The first is the Flush card that you are issued with at the start of the game. Just because you got this at the start doesn’t mean it’s not a great card. In fact, it is one of the most powerful so use it wisely!
The Flush cards allow you to take any card from the open market even if you can’t afford it. Not only that but you will also clear the other cards in the Open Market and issue three new cards.
The blue cards are pipes. These cost one, two or three blue cheeses and are worth their value squared. Be sure to notice that some cards have more than one pipe on. They have a value in Swindle. When you cash them in, they are worth their value squared. For example, if I have five pipes, I could cash them in for 25 Swindle, as five multiplied by five is 25. 3 pipes would only be worth 9 Swindle and 10 would be worth 100 Swindle and win you the game. Don’t ignore the pipes!
The green cards. These enterprises cost between one and three green cheeses and grant income of 2, 4 and 6 accordingly. They’ve got great names too.
For example who wouldn’t want to own the company Feta Frigates LLC which, because of the +2, will give you 2 more Swindle on your turn when claiming income.
Purple cards are careers cards and always cost three cheeses unless you have the career card, which means they cost less. These grant unique, lasting benefits and can be quite powerful. They are also the cards that dictate the mob bosses… but you’re still going to have to wait before I tell you about those!
Examples of purple cards include the Purple Partisan that allows you to buy other purple cards for any two cheeses. Not only is that a saving of one cheese on the usual price but the cheeses don’t have to match the colour of the card! There’s also the Sewer Superintendent that gets 2 Swindle every time another rat buys a card.
The Supreme Sewer Cards
That’s all the cards you will encounter in the Scrappy Sewer, but when you hit the Supreme Sewer cards the game ramps up a gear with more powerful cards and two further colours. With the right planning in the Scrappy Sewer and a little bit of luck, any player can win on their turn in the Supreme Sewer.
So, in the Supreme Sewer you may encounter yellow cards. These are event cards and when turned over usually affect all rats immediately. Carry out its action and send it to the cesspit, replacing it from the top card of the Rat Pack like usual.
You might be pleased when Forget About It is revealed, for example. This card allows 2 free cheese; some yellow cards aren’t as nice!
The grey cards are bundles. These cost 5 Swindle instead of cheese and let you bundle stuff together to sell it off quick. The reward is always 25 Swindle and can quickly get you to the 100 swindle mark to claim victory if played at just the right time. Bundles go to the cesspit.
The Poor Rat’s bundle, for example, allows you to dump any card to get the 25 Swindle reward, but only if you are the poorest.
That’s all the cards. You’re almost done learning how to play Rats to Riches.
Water lot to take in!
Finally, I get to talk to you about the cheesy crooks that are granted with purple career cards. These mob bosses mean that the owner receives the Swindle payment for that colour cheese instead of it returning to the Slush fund.
That’s all! Now you know how to play Rats to Riches! For more information about the game, read our full review here. Remember the three steps on your turn and you will soon be turning from Rats to Riches!
So you want to go from sewer rat to fat cat huh? Well you’ve come to the right place! We are going to teach you how to play Rats to Riches!
Groundworks in Rats to Riches
Stop your scavenging, let’s move on to setting up the game…
Firstly, unfurl the board which is the base of the box. Crack the hinges gently if you need to get it to sit flat. Place the small cheese wedges in the triangular wedge shapes, they don’t all fit but justify this by thinking they gave you some spares so your OCD doesn’t go into overdrive!
The currency of the game is Swindle, separate these into 1s, 5s and 10s and place them on their allocated slots in The Slush Fund.
Next distribute a flush card to each player and return any unused flush cards to the box. While you’re at it give 5 swindle to each player. Then, each player can also take 3 cheeses of any colour, or combination of colour from the supply.
To finish set up, separate the Scrappy Sewer and Supreme Sewer cards, shuffle each deck and then place the Supreme Sewer Cards onto The Ratpack slot, on top of these place the Scrappy Sewer cards. Turn the top three cards over and place them onto The Open Sewer.
You are now ready to play Rats to Riches!
Cis-turn order
The winner is the first to have 100 Swindle.
On your turn you will take the following actions:
Step 1. Collect income. As the game progresses, some of the cards in front of you will have a plus symbol with a number on it, this is what you gain in income at the start of your turn.
On your first go the Flush card gains you 2 income, so you will take 2 Swindle from The Slush Fund. As the game progresses you will probably gain more at the start of subsequent turns.
Step 2. Buy and/or use Cards. The cards in the Open Sewer are available to buy. The cost of the card is in the bottom right corner and if you have the required cheese or money you can buy it.
Pay for your purchase by returning the cheese or money back to the supply and take the card. Immediately turn over the next card. If you can afford this one you can buy it too. In fact you can buy as many cards as you can afford on your turn!
You can also use your cards power at this moment. If you do, carry out its effect and then discard it to the cesspit.
Step 3. Buy cheese. You can buy up to three cheeses of any colour on your turn. Each cheese costs one swindle which is paid to The Slush Fund or the mob boss – more about those in a minute.
Play continues with each player following those steps in a clockwise direction. Until it comes back to the player who went first, thus completing a round.
At this point all players tally and declare their swindle. The person with the most money becomes the big cheese and gets to have this rather awesome component in front of them. It also grants them 2 swindle income each round.
I tend to award this when awarding the Big Cheese component as it is easy to forget otherwise.
Gutter know your cards!
Let’s look at the different types of cards that you are going to encounter during the game:
The first is the Flush card that you are issued with at the start of the game. Just because you got this at the start doesn’t mean it’s not a great card. In fact it is one of the most powerful so use it wisely!
The flush cards allows you to take any card from the open market eve if you can’t afford it. Not only that but you will also clear the other cards in the Open Market and issue three new cards.
The blue cards are pipes. These cost one, two or three blue cheeses and are worth their value squared. Be sure to notice that some cards have more than one pipe on. They have a value in swindle. When you cash them in they are worth their value squared. For example if I have five pipes, I could cash them in for 25 swindle, as five multiplied by five is 25. 3 pipes would only be worth 9 swindle and 10 would be worth 100 swindle and win you the game. Don’t ignore the pipes!
The green cards. These enterprises cost between one and three green cheeses and grant income of 2, 4 and 6 accordingly. They’ve got great names too.
For example who wouldn’t want to own the company Feta Frigates LLC which because of the +2, will give you 2 more swindles on your turn when claiming income.
Purple cards are careers cards and always cost three cheese, unless you have the career card that means they cost less. These grant a unique lasting benefits and can be quite powerful. They are also the cards that dictate the mob bosses… but you’re still going to have to wait before I tell you about those!
Examples of purple cards include the purple partisan that allows you to buy other purple cards for any two cheeses, not only is that a saving of one cheese on the usual price but the cheeses don’t have to match the colour of the card! Or the Sewer Superintendent that gets 2 swindle every time another rat buys a card.
The Supreme Sewer Cards
That’s all the cards you will encounter in the Scrappy Sewer, but when you hit the Supreme Sewer cards the game ramps up a gear with more powerful cards and two further colours. With the right planning in the Scrappy Sewer and a little bit of luck, any player can win on their turn in the Supreme Sewer.
So in the supreme sewer you may encounter yellow cards. These are event cards and when turned over usually affect all rats immediately. Carry out its action and send it to the cesspit, replacing it from the top card of the Rat Pack like usual.
You might be pleased when Forget About It is revealed for example, this card allows 2 free cheese, some yellow cards aren’t as nice!
The grey cards are bundles. These cost 5 swindle instead of cheese and let you bundle stuff together to sell it off quick. The reward is always 25 swindle and can quickly get you to the 100 swindle mark to claim victory if played at just the right time. Bundles go to the cesspit.
The Poor Rat’s bundle for example allows you to dump any card to get the 25 swindle reward, but only if you are the poorest.
That’s all the cards and you are very nearly to start playing Rats to Riches.
Water lot to take in!
Finally I get to talk to you about the cheesy crooks that are granted with purple career cards. These mob bosses mean that the owner receives the swindle payment for that colour cheese instead of it returning to the slush fund.
That’s all you need to know. Remember the three steps on your turn and you will soon be turning from Rats to Riches!
Zatu Score
You might like
- Family game
- Good strategy
- Fun theme
- Quality components
Might not like
- The board being part of the box
- The cheeses not fitting in the wedges
- It might make you realise you hate Monopoly (not a bad thing!)