Rats & Relics
Rats & Relics Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Objective
In the ruins of a fallen order, rat clans rise once more, armed with ancient artifacts.
The game revolves around pairing rats with relics to build your strength. Some relics can win the game — but only when their conditions are met.
Setup
- Shuffle the rat deck.
- Shuffle the relics deck.
- Deal each player 3 rats and 3 relics cards face down.
- Place the decks in the center of the table.
Rules
Players take turns (the player reading the rules goes first).
On their turn, a player must either:
- Play a rat with a relic
OR
- Draw one card from each deck (you must always have an equal number of rats and relics in hand/decks/discard)
When playing cards, place them on your side of the board in rat and relic pairs.
The card anatomy is shown on the rulebook's card example, a Priest with a Crown rat card:
- Play condition — printed at the top of the rat card (here: "Sacrifice 1 Ally").
- Card effect — printed at the bottom of the rat card (here: "When opponent draws [rat and relic card icon]" and "WIN if you control 7 rats").
- Relic type — shown in the corner of the relic card (here: a TRINKET).
Some rats have play conditions indicated at the top of the card. You must fulfill this condition to play the rat.
Relics belong to three types: TRINKET, WEAPON and ARCANE, and have various effects, some of which are WIN conditions.
When rats are discarded or die, they go into separate discard piles (for rats and relics).
Discard piles are shared and open to all players.
If the deck runs out and a player needs to draw, shuffle the discard piles and turn them into new decks.
Hand limit: 10 cards (5 rats, 5 relics).
Now you're ready to begin your first game!
Consult the general and card-specific clarifications in case of any uncertainty.
Effect Resolution Order
- If an event causes effects for multiple players, effects are resolved for the active player first, then the opponent, and so on (e.g., Rogue, Trapper, and Priest of the opponent only resolve if they survive).
- If an effect triggers another effect for the same player, that player resolves all of their effects before passing priority to an opponent.
- An event can trigger itself (Witch with a Scroll).
- If a single event causes multiple effects for one player, that player chooses the order of resolution.
- Active conditions (like discard or sacrifice) resolve at the same time the rat enters play.
The rulebook's "2 Players Game Example" is an illustrated board diagram (Relics deck, Rat deck, Discard piles, Rats in play, Opponent's hand, Your hand) with no rules text beyond the card faces; it is not transcribed.
Additional Rules
- If multiple rats die at once, discard them in their in-play pairs. The player who caused their death chooses the order.
- If the WIN event resolves successfully, then the game ends immediately.
- If an effect mandates an action, the player must perform it (exceptions: cards with "you may").
- If an effect cannot be fully resolved, perform as much as possible. If it cannot be resolved at all, it is ignored.
- In very rare cases, a player may have a hand of five rats that cannot be played. In this case, that player reveals their hand and the game ends in a draw.
Rat Card Clarifications
- Rogue — Triggers from both allied and enemy Rogues entering play.
- King — The second effect resolves even if the King dies from the first effect.
- Priest / Merchant / Jester / Witch — A card cannot fulfill its own play condition — you must already control a different rat in play.
Relic Card Clarifications
- Crown / Scythe — Check the number of rats after the effect resolves. Example: If you have 7 rats including Hermit with a Crown and an opponent kills it, you're down to 6 — you do not win.
- Lute — Swapped creatures do not enter play; Huntress and Merchant effects will not trigger.
- Bone / Bell — Creatures enter play under the control of the relic's owner; Huntress and Merchant effects do trigger. Rats entering ignore play conditions.
- Axe / Sword — A rat holding a weapon can be killed by the weapon's effect.
Syntax
- Key — The effect only allows playing cards from hand, not drawing from the deck. With a Key you can play cards during your opponent's turn.
- Amulet — It places either an enemy or an ally with their relics on top of the decks, face down.
- Sacrifice — Kill your own rat in play.
- Discard — Discard cards from your hand.
- Enemy — A rat with a relic under your opponent's control.
- Ally — A rat with a relic under your control.
- (icon: rat card and relic card) — Rat card and relic card.
Game Components
- 30 Rat cards
- 30 Relic cards
- 5 Extra cards for Three-Player Mode
- Rulebook
Three-Player Game
- Replace Axe and Crown cards with Dagger and Scepter cards.
- Players act and resolve effects in clockwise order.
- If a player loses, the game continues for the remaining players. The losing player discards all cards from hand and board; they choose the order. This discard does not trigger Trapper.
- If a player wins, the game ends immediately.