Overview

In Rats of Wistar you will play the role of one of the four rats who organized the escape from the famous Wistar Institute.

The game takes place over 5 rounds, and you will score Victory Points (VP) as follows:

• building Beds
• digging Rooms
• solving Missions within the Farm
• welcoming Guest Mice
• creating new Inventions
• claiming Objectives

At the end of the game, the player with the most VP will be the winner. In the event of a tie, the player tied first in the turn order wins.

For a more detailed description of the game, please see the game rulebook on BGG.

Gameplay

The game is divided into 5 rounds (which represent the 5 days during which the challenge between the families of Rats takes place). Each round consists of 2 phases to be carried out in the following order:

1. New Round Phase
2. Actions Phase

1. New Round Phase

This Phase is skipped during the first round, and is 99% automated during the next ones.

In the New Round Phase, the following steps are carried out:

a. Update the turn order based on the position of your Chiefs on the Alchemist’s Hut. If there are no Chiefs on the Alchemist’s Hut, the turn order doesn’t change. If there are multiple Chiefs of the same color, consider only the position of the leftmost Chief to determine the turn order change.

b. Take your 3 Chiefs back from the Board and put them back on your Player Board.

c. If still present, discard from the game the Guest Mouse tile of the previous round and reveal a new one from the top of the Round stack.

d. Turn the Action Wheel 1 Sector clockwise (60°).

e. Receive income from the Invention cards you have played and the tiles on your Player Board with the icon . All players can do this step at the same time. In the rare event that you need to follow an order, follow the turn order

f. 1x Invention cards become available to use once more.

g. Discard the 2 rightmost cards from the display of Basic Invention cards into the corresponding discard pile; slide the remaining cards to the right of the display and restore the row of 4 face-up cards, drawing two new ones from the deck. Do the same with the row of Advanced Invention cards.

2. Actions Phase

Following the turn order, take your turn by placing a Chief on the Action Wheel or on the Alchemist’s Hut to perform the corresponding actions.

During your turn, you can also perform one or more Quick actions that do not require placement

of the Chief.

When all players have completed their 3 turns (i.e. they have placed their 3 Chiefs), the Actions Phase and the current round end.

2.1 Wheel Actions

To perform a Wheel action, you must place your Chief in a free space on a Sector of the Wheel. Then carry out the corresponding Main and Bonus actions, in the order you prefer. There are 6 different Main actions, divided into 3 Areas:

ACTIONS IN THE FOREST AREA

Collecting Wood

Take a number of Wood tokens equal to the Strength of your action.

Digging Rooms

You can dig as many Rooms as the Strength of your action. Each Room costs 2 Metal. Each time you dig a Room, remove the Underground tile with the lowest VP value from your Player Board; keep the Underground tile in your play area. You will use Rooms to host Bed tiles and Guest Mouse tiles. Each Room can host only 1 tile. At the beginning of the game, you have 3 Rooms already available. If you want more, you must remove the Underground tiles from your Player Board performing the Digging Rooms action.

ACTIONS IN THE LAIR AREA

Collecting Metal

Take a number of Metal tokens equal to the Strength of your action.

Building Beds

You can build as many Beds as the Strength of your action. Each Bed costs 2 Wood. Whenever you build a Bed, take the Bed tile with the lowest VP value and place it into a free Room on your Player Board. Place the Worker that was over the tile on the space above (the entrance of your lair). You will be able to move this Worker to the Board using the corresponding Quick action. If you have no free Rooms, you cannot perform this action.

ACTIONS IN THE FARM AREA

Developing Projects

This action allows you to take new Invention cards and add them to your hand. You have as many Project points available as the Strength of your action. Taking 1 Basic Invention card costs 1 Project point; acquiring 1 Advanced Invention card costs 2 Project points. You can choose cards from the display, or you can draw them from the top of the decks. At the end of your turn, restore the rows of Invention cards by sliding the remaining cards to the right and refilling the empty spaces with new cards drawn from the corresponding decks.

Exploring

This action allows you to enter the Farm and explore its Rooms with your Explorer. You have as many Exploration points available as the Strength of your action. You can repeat the same action several times, provided that you have the necessary Exploration points and fulfill all the requirements. For each Exploration point, you can perform one of the following actions, as indicated in the upper left corner of the Board:

1. Opening a door;
2. Moving the explorer;
3. Revealing a Mission Card;
4. Taking a Guest mouse.

2.2 Bonus Actions

Bonus actions are distributed in the various Sectors of the Action Wheel in different ways depending on the number of players:

1. Moving workers;
2. Taking a Joker Token;
3. Taking a Basic Invention Card;
4. Taking Metal;
5. Taking Wood;
6. One Exploration point;
7. Obtaining the Alchemist Potion;
8. Taking the Guest for the current round;
9. Playing an Invention card
10. Resolving a Mission.

Playing Invention Cards

To play an Invention card, you must meet the requirements indicated on the card. The requirement may consist of:

• a payment in Wood and/or Metal,
• a payment in Movement tokens,
• the possession of a specific type of Invention cards,
• the possession of specic icons (on cards in your play area or on your Skill tokens),
• the possession of the Electricity token, Basic or Advanced,
• the presence of Guest Mouse tiles on your Player Board,
• having digged a certain number of Rooms.

You have to pay Wood, Metal and Movement tokens (discard them back to the general supply, as usual); on the other hand, you simply have to own all the other items that grant you the requirement (cards and tokens with the required icons, cards of the indicated type, the Electricity token and the Guest Mouse tiles), without discarding them. Once you have met the indicated requirements, place the Invention card face up in your play area.

From now on, the card is active and produces its effect, which is different according to the type of icon printed on it. See the game rulebook for a detailed description.

Resolving Missions

Mission cards are inside the Rooms of the Farm. You can only resolve a Mission if:

• the Mission card has been revealed (it doesn’t matter by which player);
• the Mission card is in the same Room as your Explorer or one of your Tents.

Each Mission card consists of 3 rows representing 3 different Missions. Each row contains one or more requirements, equivalent to those of Invention cards,which must be met to obtain the corresponding reward.

When resolving a Mission as a Bonus action or as a result of other game effects, choose a row on the Mission card not already occupied by a Cube (yours or another player’s). You must meet the requirements indicated in that row; then, place one of your Cubes from your Player Board in the designated space and immediately obtain the indicated reward.

Abilities of the Player Board

There are 10 spaces on your Player board where you place your Cubes at the beginning of the game. Each space shows an ability that you unlock when you move the related Cube on a Mission card. The Cubes from the “brown” spaces (6 in total)can be placed on any Mission card; the Cubes from the “grey” spaces (4 in total) can be placed only on Basement Mission cards. See the game rulebook for a detailed description.

2.3 Alchemist Actions

The Alchemist’s Hut, unlike the Action spaces on the Wheel, can host any number of Chiefs, even from the same player. When you choose to perform the Alchemist’s action, place your Chief in the Alchemist’s Hut, to the right of any Chief already there. Immediately gain 1 Movement token and the Alchemist’s Potion.

Important: The position of the Chiefs on the Alchemist’s Hut determines the next round’s turn order. If you have performed this action multiple times, consider only the position of your leftmost Chief to determine the turn order change.

The Alchemist’s Potion allows you to perform one of the following actions:

1. Play 1 Invention card;
2. Resolve 1 Mission;
3. Take 1 Metal;
4. Take 1 Wood.

2.4 Fast Actions

During your turn, you can perform a Fast action before or after each Main or Bonus action. You can perform any number of Fast actions on your turn and repeat the same action multiple times. All the Fast actions are described in detail in the rulebook, but to sum up they are:

• Buying a Joker token;
• Buying the Electricity token;
• Using a Movement token;
• Using a 1x effect;
• Putting Workers on the Board for the first time;
• Pitching a Tent;
• Claiming an Objective.

End of the Round

When all players have completed their 3 turns and placed their 3 Chiefs, the Action Phase and the current Rounds end. If there are still Guest Mouse tiles in the Round stack on the space of the Board, start a new round; otherwise, the game is over.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends at the end of the 5th round (the Round stack on the board is empty). Update the turn order according to the position of your Chiefs on the Alchemist’s Hut, as described in the New Round Phase. Then, calculate your final score by adding the following VP to the Victory Points scored during the game:

• VP indicated in the Ability spaces on your Player Board from which you have removed a Cube;
• VP indicated on the highest-value space on your Player board from which you have removed a Bed tile;
• VP indicated in the highest-value Room on your Player board from which you have removed an Underground tile. You score the VP regardless of whether or not the Rooms are occupied by Bed and/or Guest Mouse tiles;
• VP indicated on the Guest Mouse tiles on your Player board, including any Cheese tile;
• VP indicated on Invention cards in your play area;
• VP from Invention cards in your play area with an End Game effect;
• 2VP if you have the Advanced Electricity token;
• 1VP for every 5 items between Wood, Metal, and Movement tokens in your play area and Invention cards still in your hand, in any combination;
• 1VP for every 2 Joker tokens in your play area.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player rst in turn order wins.