Designer game
River Rats
- Players
- 1–4
- Duration
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- 3/3
- Deck
- 52-card deck + 2 jokers
How to set up
A cooperative game for 1-4 players with a 52-card deck and both jokers. Together you build a poker hand to beat the River Rats, two kings, while saying as little as possible about your own cards.
Official rules (free PDF) (opens in a new tab) Publisher: Four Suit Studio
River Rats is a game by Mathijs Jansen and Robin Stokkel, published by Four Suit Studio. This is just a summary to help you decide whether it's for you: the full rules are in the free official rulebook linked above.
Objective
Everyone wins together if both River Rats, two K, pile up five debts each. Everyone loses together if the players reach five debts first, counted together across all players.
Setup
- Deck
- 54 cards: the 52 plus both jokers
- In hand
- 2 each
- On the table
- deck face down, market of three face-up cards, two kings (one face up) and both jokers face down
- Your character Everyone picks an A: it is their character, with a power tied to its suit.
- The River Rats Shuffle the four K and draw two: one face up is the River Rat to beat, the other face down comes later.
- The jokers The two jokers ★ ★ stay face down to one side: you earn them during the game.
- The deck The other cards form the deck.
- Mechanics
How to play
- The River Rat's hand Each round the River Rat gets five face-up cards and two face-down ones. A card turned next to the jokers sets the stake and makes a prediction: if your hand reaches the combination it names, you earn a ★.
- The shared hand In turn, each player fills their hand up to three cards, from the deck or the market, and plays one face up into the shared hand. Nobody may show or hint at their cards.
- The suit Every card played can trigger its suit's action. If the suit matches your A, you can use your character's stronger power instead.
Suit Action ♣ adds a card from your hand to the market ♦ swaps a card of the shared hand with one from your hand ♥ raises the stake by one debt ♠ discards a card from your hand or the market - The showdown When the shared hand has five cards, the face-down cards are revealed and the hands are compared as in poker. The loser takes the stake as debt, as face-down cards: on the River Rat if the players win, on one player's character if the River Rat wins. The River Rat wins exact ties.
For the details (predictions, each River Rat's ability and bonus, using jokers, and the Advanced and Expert modes) follow the official rulebook.