Social deduction · No moderator · 5–10 players

SERVICE RAT

Free Social Deduction Game for 5–10 Players

Secret Hitler App Alternative · Android & iOS · No Account

Pass & Play  ·  LAN  ·  Online

A free alternative to Secret Hitler and Mafia, set in a cartoon town run by cats. Most of the table are honest Cats. A few are Sellouts, and they quietly know each other. One player is the Service Rat, and nobody can spot him.

5 Cat Laws to win 6 Rat Laws to win Kick the Rat out of town
Google Play App Store

Free · No account required · Optional Remove Ads IAP

Rated Everyone · No political content · No text chat in the app · Family & party friendly

Read the town charter ↓

Roles

Three roles.
One truth.

Service Rat is a free mobile social-deduction app for 5 to 10 players, inspired by the Secret Hitler board game. The phone handles everything: it deals hidden roles, runs votes, applies the Mayor's prerogatives, and AI bots fill empty seats, so there is no moderator and no need for physical cards. Three play modes are included: pass the phone around one device, LAN multiplayer over local Wi-Fi, and global online multiplayer via a shared room code. The Cats win by passing five Cat Laws or by kicking the Rat out of town; the Rat Pack wins by passing six Rat Laws or by getting the Rat appointed Ratcatcher once three Rat Laws are on the board. Service Rat runs on Android and iOS, requires no account, collects no personal data, and is the closest native-mobile alternative to secrethitler.io and the boxed Secret Hitler when you have a group but no cards or moderator.

The docket is intentionally stacked toward the rats. Without careful oversight, Rat Laws are inevitable.

The Cat role · a grey cat in a cap

Cat

Keep the town cat-run

Goal: pass 5 Cat Laws or kick the Rat out of town. You know nobody's role, so read behaviour and voting patterns instead.

Cat role guide →
The Sellout role · a cat in a dark collar with a fang

Sellout

The rats pay well

Goal: pass 6 Rat Laws or get the Rat appointed Ratcatcher. You know the other Sellouts and the Rat. Now blend in.

Sellout role guide →
The Service Rat · the crowned rat in a cat's cap

The Service Rat

A rat in a cat's cap

Goal: hand City Hall to the rats. Every Sellout knows you, but you only learn your one ally in 5–6 player games. With 7 or more you play blind. If 3+ Rat Laws are on the board and you take the Ratcatcher's chair, your team wins on the spot. Avoid getting kicked out of town!

The Rat role guide →

The Docket

What is in
the docket.

The Mayor picks the top 3 laws off the docket, shreds 1, and passes 2 to the Ratcatcher, who signs 1. Watch what gets signed.

Cat Laws · 5 needed

Cats win at 5 Cat Laws · only 6 in the docket

Rat Laws · 6 needed

Rat Pack wins at 6 Rat Laws · 11 in the docket

The Round

The vote,
then the council session.

Every round is a vote plus a closed-door council. Three failed votes in a row bring the Caterwaul: the top law passes on its own and the Uproar tracker resets.

1

Nomination

The current Mayor nominates a candidate for Ratcatcher. Term-limited players cannot be nominated.

2

The Vote

Everyone votes MEOW! or HISS! A majority passes the council. A tie fails it, and Uproar climbs by one.

3

The Mayor Shreds

The Mayor takes the top 3 laws off the docket, secretly shreds 1, and passes the other 2 to the Ratcatcher. You can lie about what you had.

4

The Ratcatcher Signs

The Ratcatcher signs 1 of the 2 laws; the other is shredded. Once 5 Rat Laws are on the board, the veto unlocks.

5

The Mayor's Prerogative

Certain Rat Laws hand the Mayor a prerogative. It is used immediately, before the chair moves on.

Mayor's Prerogatives

The deeper the rats burrow,
the more power City Hall gets.

Prerogatives unlock as Rat Laws pile up, and the thresholds depend on the table size: at 9–10 players the Mayor may Sniff Out a player after the very first Rat Law, while a 5–6 player table gets nothing until the third. Each prerogative is used the moment the law that triggered it is signed.

Sniff Out

The Mayor secretly sniffs out which side a player is on, Cat or Rat. Each player can be sniffed only once, and the Mayor may lie about what they smelled.

Peek at the Docket

The Mayor secretly looks at the top 3 laws on the docket. You can tell the table exactly what is coming, or something else entirely.

Snap Election

The Mayor personally picks who sits in the chair next. After that round, the rotation goes back to normal.

Kick Out of Town

The Mayor must kick one player out for good. If it was the Rat, the mask comes off and the Cats win instantly. No coming back.

Once 5 Rat Laws are signed, the veto unlocks too: the Ratcatcher may refuse both laws, and if the Mayor agrees, nothing passes and Uproar advances. All prerogatives explained →

Three Ways to Play

Pass & Play, LAN or Online.
No account required.

Pass & Play

One phone, passed around the table. Works fully offline.

LAN Multiplayer

Same Wi-Fi, everyone on their own device.

Online Multiplayer

Share a room code or open the game to everyone, then lie to each other out loud from three cities away: every room has its own voice chat.

5–10 Players

Role distribution scales with the size of the table.

Post-Game Stats

Masks come off: who voted what, who signed what, all of it.

Free to Play

The whole game. No mandatory purchases.

AI Bots

Bots fill empty seats. They track the voting history and will suspect you.

Ten Languages

English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Persian.

Screenshots

A look around
the town.

Roll call, the vote, the board, the Mayor's prerogatives and the lobby, straight from the app on Android and iOS.

→ Swipe to see all 8 screens

Service Rat roll call · the Service Rat role card on Android and iOS
Roll call · your secret role
Service Rat vote screen · MEOW or HISS on the proposed council
The vote · MEOW! or HISS!
Service Rat board · Cat Laws against Rat Laws with the Uproar tracker
The board · Cat Laws against Rat Laws
Service Rat Kick Out of Town · the Mayor removes a player permanently
Kick Out of Town
Service Rat pass and play hand-off screen on one shared phone
One phone for the whole table
Service Rat online lobby with a room code to share
Online · join with a room code
Service Rat lobby with AI bots filling the empty seats
Bots fill the empty seats
Service Rat post-game statistics · every role revealed
Masks come off · post-game stats

Role Counts

Role distribution
by player count.

Service Rat scales from 5 to 10 players. The number of Sellouts grows with the table; there is always exactly one Service Rat. Bots fill any open seat, so a game runs with one human and four bots.

Players Cats Sellouts The Rat Rat knows allies
5 players311Yes
6 players411Yes
7 players421No
8 players521No
9 players531No
10 players631No

Win Conditions

Four ways
the game ends.

The game ends the moment any of these four conditions is met. A 7-player table usually runs 20–45 minutes.

Cats · pass the laws

Sign 5 Cat Laws. The docket holds only 6 of them, so every council matters.

Cats · kick the Rat out

Use Kick Out of Town on the Service Rat. The mask comes off and the game ends instantly.

Rat Pack · own City Hall

Sign 6 Rat Laws. The docket is stacked with 11 of them, so time is on the rats' side.

Rat Pack · seat the Rat

Get the Rat appointed Ratcatcher once 3+ Rat Laws are on the board. Instant win.

Strategy

How to play
each role.

Service Rat is solvable, not random. Each role plays a different angle. Here is how to win at each.

Strategy: playing the Cat

Cats are the majority and can prove nothing. Your real job is pattern recognition: who hisses at every nomination? Who pushes a Ratcatcher the rats would love? When you are Mayor, nominate someone you would stake the round on. When you are Ratcatcher, study the two laws the Mayor hands you. If the docket has been clean and you still get two Rat Laws, the Mayor is lying. Spend Peek at the Docket on rounds where the answer will change votes, and remember exactly who you sniffed. Sellouts live on ambiguity; your weapon is putting things on the record.

Strategy: playing the Sellout

Sellouts win by quietly steering the Cat track into the gutter. Do not out yourself early. Meow at questionable nominations for the first two rounds to look reasonable, then drop the hammer mid-game once the board leans your way. As Mayor, hand the Ratcatcher two Rat Laws whenever you can, and always have a believable story about what you shredded ("I had to keep one Cat Law back, the docket was awful"). You always know who the Rat is; never name him, and cover for him when Kick Out of Town comes up. The longer you stay boring, the harder the Cats find it to track suspicion.

Strategy: playing the Service Rat

Your win condition is conditional, and unless the table has only 5 or 6 players you do not know your allies. Until 3 Rat Laws are signed, play exactly like a Cat: vote conservatively, build trust, accept harmless-looking Ratcatcher nominations. Once the Rat track crosses 3, your job flips from "blend in" to "get into the Ratcatcher's chair". Lean on the players you suspect are Sellouts and let them nominate you. Avoid suspicion at any cost: if the Cats reach Kick Out of Town and pick you, the game ends in your loss. Trust nobody, least of all the loudest voice at the table. That confidence is often a tell.

New to the genre? Read the full How to Play guide for the round phases, win conditions, and a walkthrough of every prerogative. Comparing apps? See how Service Rat compares to Secret Hitler, the Companion app, Narradir, Triple Agent, and other social deduction tools.

Comparison

How Service Rat compares
to other deduction games.

If you have played Secret Hitler, Mafia, Werewolf, or Among Us, you already know most of the mechanics.

Service Rat: a mobile alternative to Secret Hitler

Service Rat uses the same core mechanic as Secret Hitler: players nominate a two-seat council (Mayor and Ratcatcher), vote it in by majority, and the approved council draws from a stacked docket: the Mayor shreds one law, the Ratcatcher signs one. The differences are theme, format, and platform. Service Rat drops the political setting for a hand-drawn cartoon town run by cats, with original role names (Cats, Sellouts, the Service Rat, Mayor, Ratcatcher) that suit any audience. The game is entirely digital: no physical cards, no printing, no moderator. It runs natively on Android and iOS and adds three built-in multiplayer modes (Pass & Play, LAN, and Online), AI bot opponents with suspicion modelling, and a post-game statistics screen. The original Secret Hitler has no official mobile app. Service Rat is free on both platforms.

Service Rat vs Mafia / Werewolf

Service Rat differs from Mafia and Werewolf in three fundamental ways. First, there is no human moderator, because the app deals the roles, keeps the hidden information, and enforces every rule. Second, there are no nightly eliminations: the only way to remove a player is Kick Out of Town, which unlocks only after enough Rat Laws are signed. Third, the tension is built on a legislative track instead of accusation and vote-to-eliminate. Every law signed narrows down who is likely a Sellout, leaving a persistent, checkable evidence trail of votes, signed laws and prerogative results that the whole table can reference and argue over. Service Rat also works on a single shared device in Pass & Play mode, which suits groups who do not want everyone on their own phone. Free on Android and iOS.

Service Rat vs Among Us

Service Rat and Among Us are both social deduction games where a hidden minority deceives a majority, but they are structurally different. Among Us is real-time: players move around a map, run tasks, and call emergency meetings when they spot the impostor. Service Rat is fully turn-based with no movement, and every action is a vote or a choice of law. Both want 5 to 10 players, but Service Rat fills empty seats with AI bots, so two or three humans still get a full game. Service Rat also works in Pass & Play mode on one shared device; Among Us always needs a device per player. The key mechanical difference is the persistent, public evidence trail of every signed law, every vote and every prerogative result, which the table can reference and dispute all game long. Free on Android and iOS.

Service Rat vs Werewolves of Miller's Hollow

The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow uses 16+ role cards (Seer, Witch, Hunter, Cupid, Thief and so on) and scales to 4–50 players through expansions. It needs a dedicated Narrator who memorises the script and reads each night phase aloud. Service Rat has three roles (Cat, Sellout, the Service Rat) and a fixed 5–10 player range, and the app runs the whole game with nothing to memorise. The Seer / Witch / Hunter night actions become the in-app Sniff Out, Peek at the Docket and Kick Out of Town prerogatives, handed out as the Rat track advances. No Narrator burnout, no mid-game rule lookups, and bots can take any seat if you are a player short.

For Secret Hitler fans

Looking for a
Secret Hitler app?

Service Rat is a free mobile game inspired by Secret Hitler, available on Android and iOS. The original Secret Hitler is a print-and-play board game with no official mobile app, only browser-based clones. Service Rat brings the same hidden-role legislative mechanic to a native mobile experience: secret factions, council nominations, a stacked docket, and the same tense voting dynamic.

The setting is a cat town instead of a parliament, and the role names are original, but if you have played Secret Hitler, you already know how to play. Three multiplayer modes (Pass & Play, LAN, Online) work on a single phone or across devices. AI bots fill empty seats. No printing, no setup, no account.

Free on Google Play and the App Store.

FAQ

Common questions
from the table.

Everything a newcomer needs before their first round in town.

Is the full game really free?

Yes. All three game modes, Pass & Play, LAN and Online, are free. Optional in-app purchases include a one-time Remove Ads upgrade and a Tip Jar for players who want to support development. Nothing is paywalled.

Do I need an account to play?

No. There is no registration anywhere in the app: no email, no password, no profile. For online games the host shares a room code, or puts the game on the open list so anyone can join.

Can I play offline?

Yes. Pass & Play works fully offline: one phone passed around the table, AI bots filling any empty seats. LAN mode only needs a shared Wi-Fi network; an internet connection is required for the global online mode alone.

How many players does Service Rat support?

Service Rat supports 5 to 10 players. Role distribution scales automatically: a 5-player game has 3 Cats, 1 Sellout, and the Service Rat; a 10-player game has 6 Cats, 3 Sellouts, and the Service Rat.

Can I play alone or with fewer than 5 people?

Yes. Bots fill any empty seat, so you can start with 1 human and 4 bots. The bots score suspicion from the voting history and the council record, and they will call you out when your choice of law looks convenient.

Is Service Rat on both iOS and Android?

Yes. Service Rat is free on Google Play (Android 7.0+) and the App Store (iOS 16+). Both versions are built from the same codebase, so iPhones and Android phones play together in LAN and online games.

All 25 questions answered →

Who's the rat
this time?

Download Service Rat and find out before City Hall is sold.

Google Play App Store

About

Made by one person.
Tested by many.

I built Service Rat because every time my group wanted to play Secret Hitler, someone had forgotten the cards or we needed a moderator. iEDZ, the sole developer, wrote the game in Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform, so it runs natively on Android and iOS from one codebase. The bot AI scores suspicion from the council history, not from a dice roll.

The project is actively maintained. Bug reports and feedback are welcome at [email protected].

What's new · iOS 1.6.0 · Android 1.6.0

Open games and voice chat. A host can put an online game on the open list, and anyone can walk in without a code; private rooms and codes work as before. Every online room has its own voice chat, the host can remove a player from the lobby, and the game now speaks Italian. The whole table confirms a vote result together, and a player who drops on that screen no longer holds it up. Released .

Service Rat is not affiliated with or derived from any licensed property. It is an original social deduction game with a cat-town theme, free to play on Android and iOS.

More resources

Everything else about Service Rat

FAQ25 questions answered Online multiplayerPlay with friends via room code Secret Hitler rulesExplained simply Games like Secret Hitler10 alternatives worth playing Roles hubAll roles at a glance Mayor's prerogativesEvery power explained Player counts 5–10How group size changes the game The Cat roleStrategy and common mistakes The Sellout roleHow to blend in and win The Service Rat roleSurvive long enough to win vs secrethitler.ioNative app vs browser comparison vs Werewolf appsLegislative game vs Wolvesville-style vs Mafia (no moderator)How Service Rat replaces the narrator vs Among UsTurn-based deduction vs real-time Press kitBoilerplate, fact sheet, screenshots
Google Play App Store