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Welcome to the Ratcity Casino! Here, rats, weasels and rodents of all kinds gather to play Ratjack. Paws are sweaty, whiskers are quivering, the cards are dealt...it's your turn to play.
Each deck in Ratjack has twelve cards with values from 1 to 12, each with a special ability. A central draw pile is created by shuffling together two of the four decks of the game, each of them with different card actions. Players start with a card face down in front of them and a single card in hand. On their turn, they draw a single card from the central deck, then:
Play a card face down in front of them,
Play a card face up in front of them and activate its ability, or
Discard a card to flip over one of their face-down cards and activate its ability.
At any point in the game, a player with more than 25 in value in front of them is taken out. Card abilities are interactive effects that allow players to manipulate cards and their value. Players earn points by taking out their opponents — try to be the last player standing or reach 25 exactly!
—description from the publisher
Get into Rat Jack.
- Simple, quick, easy to learn
- Satisfying physical components (weighted chips, tokens)
- Requires setup to select decks; may be fiddly for new players
- Race to 25 points, dynamic card actions via chips
- Urban, rat-themed card game with deck mixing
- Compact, fast-paced play with modular decks
- Love Letter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- chip-modified actions — Poker chips with plus/minus/divide actions influence cards and outcomes
- deck mixing / deck selection — Two decks are chosen from four and shuffled to form a single stack
- point-based victory — Race to 25 face-up points; face-down points don't count toward win
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Ratjack is a race to 25 points.
- A super simple, quick card game that I think deserves a lot more love.
- This is an absolute staple game.
- To start the game, you will choose two decks.
- Are you looking for that next great quick-paced card game for your gaming group?
References (from this video)
- accessible entry into WWII-themed strategy
- strong thematic flavor with straightforward mechanics
- could be lengthy; complex to master for beginners
- Expansion and conflict; strategic expansion of power bases
- World War II era
- historical wargame flavor with approachable entry
- Risk
- Axis & Allies
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Players expand power bases by acquiring regions and contending for control
- combat system by unit type — Combat uses unit strengths based on historical roles
- economic production — An economic system determines production of resources and actions
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- combine real-time bag building and tile placement for a unique city building experience
- two minutes to build their city as optimally as they can
- it's really not as complex as I'm making it sound
- you look at it, it makes a lot more sense when you see it on the table
- an excellent worker placement game for just two players
- the object of this game is to be the player with the lowest number of points by discarding as many cards as possible and then bluffing your opponents