You know the whole conspiracy. The Cats know nothing.
The Sellout
Six Rat Laws, or put the Rat in the chair.
Sellouts are the minority faction with the most information. At the start of the game you see your fellow Sellouts and the Rat - everyone else is in the dark. In a 5–6 player table you are the only Sellout, and the Rat sees you too; from seven players up, the Rat knows no one and you carry the whole plan. Your job is to sign Rat Laws without getting voted out, while quietly steering the table toward a board state where the Rat can win the game by being elected Ratcatcher. You play in coordination, but never openly: the moment a Cat reads your team, the table will collapse on you.
Goal
Sellouts win in two ways: sign six Rat Laws, or get the Rat elected Ratcatcher once three or more Rat Laws are already on the board. You lose if the Cats sign five Cat Laws, or if the Mayor kicks the Rat out of town with a mayoral prerogative.
How to play this role
Vote like a Cat, not like a Sellout. The single biggest tell at the table is the player who always meows when their teammate is on the ticket. Split your votes deliberately on early rounds - a HISS! on a friendly ticket buys you the credibility you will spend later. When the Rat is the Ratcatcher candidate, you vote MEOW!, but so should at least one Cat, so do not be the loudest cheerleader.
Control the docket through the Mayor. When you are Mayor, shredding a Cat Law is easy because there are only six in the whole docket - claim you saw three Rat Laws and most Cats will accept it on the math. When your teammate is Mayor, back their claim consistently. Never accuse another Sellout publicly - even a 'soft' accusation paints a target on a teammate you will need later.
Once the board fills up, the spotlight swings to the Rat more than to you. The instant three Rat Laws are down, push the Rat into the Ratcatcher chair and the game ends the moment that council passes. Watch for term limits: the previous Ratcatcher is always locked out of the next nomination, and while more than five players are alive the previous Mayor is too. Use the Rat Laws you sign in the early rounds to set up the moment when the math forces Cats to accept a Ratcatcher they should reject.
Quick tips
- Memorize the docket math: 6 Cat Laws and 11 Rat Laws. Claim numbers that the docket can plausibly produce.
- Lose at least one early vote on purpose - a perfect voting record is the fastest way to get kicked out of town.
- Always know which player is the Rat, but never say their name first; let a Cat propose them.
- If you draw a Sniff Out power as Mayor, sniff out a Cat you can frame, not a teammate you would clear.
- When the board reaches four Rat Laws, prefer signing another Rat Law over a Rat-as-Ratcatcher push if the Rat is term-limited that round.
Common mistakes
- Hard-defending the Rat in public. The Rat is supposed to look innocent on their own - if you carry them, the table sees the shape of the team.
- Accidentally revealing teammates by mirror-voting. Every round, ask yourself if your vote could have come from a Cat holding the same cards.
- Burning a Rat Law when you could have set up a Rat-as-Ratcatcher win on the same round.
- Forgetting that in 7–10 player games the Rat does not know you. If you signal too clearly, the Rat will play along and the table will catch both of you. (In a 5–6 player game the Rat does see you - which makes visible teamwork twice as damning.)
Want to try a Sellout run? Download Service Rat free and queue an online room for five to ten players.