Frequently Asked Questions — Service Rat

Yes. The full 5 to 10 player game, all three multiplayer modes, every role, every executive directive and bots are free on Android and iOS. There is an optional Remove Ads purchase and a Tip Jar to support development, but they are never required to play.

No. Service Rat does not have user accounts, sign-up forms or email collection. You open the app and start a game immediately. Online multiplayer uses a short game code shared with friends, not a profile or login.

Service Rat is a small download — well under 100 MB on both stores — and runs on Android 7.0+ (minSdk 24) and modern iPhones and iPads. It works offline for pass-device and LAN modes; only online multiplayer needs an internet connection.

Pass and Play mode runs fully offline on a single device — no Wi-Fi or mobile data required. LAN multiplayer needs only a shared local Wi-Fi network with no internet. Only the global online multiplayer mode requires an active internet connection.

Players are dealt one of three secret roles: Workers (the majority team), Saboteurs (the minority team), and The Rat (the Saboteurs’ hidden leader). Saboteurs know each other and know who The Rat is; Workers know nothing and must deduce who is on which side through votes and policy outcomes.

Workers win by enacting five Modernization blueprints or by terminating The Rat. Saboteurs win by enacting six Sabotage blueprints or by electing The Rat as Chief Engineer once three Sabotage blueprints are already on the board. Each match runs about 20 to 45 minutes.

If three elections fail in a row — the group cannot agree on a CEO and Engineer pair — the top blueprint is enacted automatically without anyone choosing. This represents the office descending into chaos and usually benefits the Saboteurs, so Workers are pushed to compromise instead of blocking every vote.

Once five Sabotage blueprints are on the board, the Chief Engineer can request a veto on the two cards they were handed, and the CEO can approve it. If both agree, the round is discarded with no blueprint enacted, but the election tracker still advances — three vetoed rounds in a row triggers Chaos on the Floor.

Service Rat has three modes: Pass and Play on one device, LAN multiplayer over local Wi-Fi, and global online multiplayer over the internet using a short game code. You can mix human players and bots in any of the three modes.

In the Online setup screen, choose Host, enter a player name and create a room. The app generates a short game code; share it with your friends, and they choose Join, enter the code, and land in your lobby. You need at least one human host, but bots can fill the remaining seats.

When everyone is on the same Wi-Fi network, the host taps LAN and starts a local server on their device. Other players see the game in the discovery list automatically (on Android) or type the host IP and port manually. No internet connection is needed once you are on the LAN.

Service Rat is built for groups of friends, not random matchmaking. There is no public lobby browser or stranger queue. Online multiplayer requires the host to share a game code, so you decide who is in the room.

Yes. The game needs 5 to 10 seats filled, but bots can take any of them. One human plus four bots is a valid game, so you can run a full match solo to learn the rules or whenever your group is short on players.

Bots use a suspicion model that tracks who nominated whom, how each player voted, and which blueprints came out after a CEO’s archive. They lie, bluff, and adjust their suspicion of you based on your shift history, so they make plausible — but not unbeatable — teammates and opponents.

Yes. In any lobby — pass-device, LAN host or online host — the host can add or remove bots seat by seat until the start of the game. Once a real player joins, you can drop a bot and free that slot. During the game itself the player count is fixed.

Service Rat does not require an account and does not collect personal data. The app uses Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics for anonymous gameplay and crash metrics, and the stores’ standard purchase flow for the optional Remove Ads and Tip Jar items. No chat messages, contacts or location are gathered.

No. There is no text chat, voice chat or messaging built into Service Rat. Players are expected to talk in person around one device, over a voice call, or in their own chat group of choice. This keeps the app moderation-free and safe for all ages.

Service Rat has no in-game chat, no random matchmaking with strangers, and no gambling or money-prize mechanics. The theme is a satirical corporate office with hidden saboteurs — no violence imagery, no political content. Most groups play comfortably from age 12 and up.

Service Rat ships in seven languages: English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese (Brazilian). The interface, role reveals, rule tooltips and store listing are fully translated in each one.

Yes. The language selector lives on the main menu. Tap it, choose a language and the entire interface updates instantly — no reinstall, no account, no app restart required.

Remove Ads is an optional one-time, lifetime in-app purchase. It permanently disables every banner, interstitial and rewarded ad in the app, including the gate in front of the post-game stats screen. There is no subscription.

The Tip Jar is a set of three optional one-time tips to support development. Buying a tip unlocks nothing extra in the game — all gameplay is already free — it simply helps fund updates, server costs and new translations.

Service Rat is heavily inspired by Secret Hitler and uses the same core legislative mechanics, but it is a standalone mobile app with a corporate-office reskin instead of the 1930s political setting. It adds bots, native online multiplayer via game code, LAN play and pass-device mode in one package — no physical cards required.

Mafia and Werewolf revolve around night-time eliminations narrated by a human moderator. Service Rat replaces all of that with an automated election and policy system: every round the group elects a CEO and Engineer, blueprints are enacted, and executive directives trigger automatically — no narrator, no players sitting out after they are eliminated.

No. Service Rat is a separate game inspired by Secret Hitler’s design lineage. The blueprints, directives, role mix and office theme are original; the project does not use Secret Hitler artwork or trademarks. Think of it as a spiritual successor that runs on your phone.