The Sellouts see you. In big games, you see no one.
The Rat
Get elected Ratcatcher when it counts.
The Rat is the most asymmetric role in Service Rat. You are on the Sellout team in spirit and on the win screen, but how much you know depends on the table size. In a 5–6 player game you learn your single Sellout ally at role reveal - the same rule the original board game uses. In a 7–10 player game you see exactly one piece of information: your own role. The Sellouts always see each other and they see you - they know they have to protect you, and they will, but in bigger games you will never quite know which MEOW! votes were friends and which were Cats being polite. Play it solo, and stay boring until the right moment.
Goal
The Rat wins whenever the Sellout faction wins, but there is one win condition that belongs to the Rat directly: get yourself 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 you out of town with a mayoral prerogative.
How to play this role
In Nomination and Voting, your job is to look exactly like a Cat. Vote on evidence, not on vibes - Sellouts are reading your votes too and will follow you when they can. Do not protest too loudly when accused; calm denials read Cat, defensive monologues read Rat. Accept being out of the Mayor seat for long stretches: the goal is not to lead, the goal is to be the obvious compromise pick once the board is heavy with Rat Laws.
When you handle laws, play the docket math honestly until you must lie. There are eleven Rat Laws and six Cat Laws - drawing two Rat Laws and a Cat Law as Mayor is the most common hand in the game, and any Cat with a calculator knows it. Your reads on the docket will be picked apart in discussion, so keep your claims plausible and brief. Remember the Sellouts are watching you shred; they will calibrate their lies to yours.
End-game is yours. Once three Rat Laws are on the board, every Ratcatcher nomination is a potential winning move - the Sellouts know this, so they will push your name. Do not push it yourself. Let a Sellout (or even a confused Cat) nominate you. Remember term limits: if you served as Ratcatcher on the previous round you cannot take the chair again, and while more than five players are alive the previous Mayor is locked out too, so you may need to spend a round in the background before the Sellouts can set the table for you again.
Quick tips
- In 7–10 player games you do not know the Sellouts. Do not guess; observe. In 5–6 player games you know your one ally - never let your eyes drift to them.
- Never nominate yourself for Ratcatcher - let someone else do it.
- Vote consistently with the room's reads, not with hunches; a Rat who breaks pattern is a Rat who gets kicked out of town.
- Watch the Rat Law count; from three onward, every Ratcatcher vote is potentially the final one.
- Dodge Sniff Outs. A sniff reveals which side you are on, and you smell of rat: one Sniff Out plus one Kick Out of Town ends your game.
- Stay quiet in heated arguments; survivors talk less.
Common mistakes
- Acting like you have a team in a 7–10 player game. You do not - the Sellouts have a team that includes you, but you know no one. Any wink or knowing nod is a tell.
- Pushing for the Ratcatcher chair too early. Before three Rat Laws are on the board, taking the chair only burns your cover.
- Voting suspiciously in lockstep with one player. The Sellouts may follow your lead, but the table will see the pair and shoot the wrong one - or worse, the right one.
- Forgetting your term limit. The previous Ratcatcher can never be nominated again straight away, and the previous Mayor is locked out too while more than five players are alive, so do not let the Sellouts waste a setup on an illegal nomination.
Think you can hold your nerve as the Rat? Download Service Rat free and host a table for five to ten players.