The player on the dealer’s left begins the game and gameplay continues to the left around the group. A player may do one of two things during their turn. They may choose to draw the last card that had been discarded and use it to replace one of their cards. The card that has been replaced is discarded, faceup, into the discard pile. The other option is to draw a card from the draw pile and use it to replace one of their cards. Draw the top card from the discard pile. This card MUST be used to replace one of her cards. The card replaced is then discarded, face up, to the discard pile; OR Sidenote: Both the captions and the photo reply cards in this game can be used as homeschool writing prompts. At some point, I will write a post on how to use your favorite board and card games as writing prompts, but for now, this is an idea for you to try out! OBJECT OF RAT A TAT CAT: The object of Rat a Tat Cat is to be the player with the lowest score at the end of the game. NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 6 players MATERIALS: 28 Cat Cards, 17 Rat Cards, and 9 Power Cards TYPE OF GAME: Strategy Card Game AUDIENCE: 6+ Although the gameplay is in a circle one at a time, allow players to peek at 2 of their cards when the game begins, the ones at the ends of their line.

I absolutely do not have a photo of this one because every time we play, I’m too busy wiping my tears away from laughing so hard. Besides, a photo wouldn’t do this one justice. You need to see it in action. Kids are the best, you guys! At the end of his or her turn, the player may choose to end the round by saying "rat-a-tat-cat". All other players get one more turn, and then all players count up their points. Any revealed action cards at the end of the round are put into the discard pile and replaced with drawn number cards from the draw pile. Players can only do this one time and will need to remember what card they were without writing it down. If either of these cards is a power card, keep them in the line. These cards do lose the powers that they would otherwise have had, however. Power cards have special powers which help you in the game. Power cards only have their powers when you draw them from the draw pile. If a Power card is dealt to you at the beginning of the game, it cannot be used. BecauseThese are the games that are pulled out most frequently when friends are over the house. They are also the games I most frequently give to my children’s friends. I promise you that they are easy to learn, fun to play, and they have high replay value. Quite often the best way to introduce something educational is in the form of a card game. Teach your kids the Rat a Tat Cat rules to encourage their math development and also introduce them to card game skills from a young age. And that is everything you need! Simple, so kids as young as the intended age can set up without any supervision required. For each round, there is a judge. The judge plays a caption card. The caption card might say something like “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” or “I know I’m going to regret this” or “It seemed like a good idea at the time” or “That’s going to leave a mark” and each player selects her best photo for that round’s caption.

If you’ve ever played a game like Poker, or already know the Tripoley rules then you’re already some way there to know about a key part of Rat a Tat Cat. If not, then you should be an expert in no time by reading on. If either of the outer cards are Power cards, the player keeps them, but they do not have their powers (described below). Power cards only have their powers when they are drawn from the top of the draw pile. Now you will know what you have, or you can refresh your memory if you have forgotten what you have. Your turn is over and you discard the Peek card.Rat a Tat Cat is unique for a kid’s game as the play doesn’t continue until a set point, it only ends once a player believes that they have the lowest score.

Play to stay in the game and not reach 100 points. When a player reaches 100 points, he is out of the game. The last player in the game is the winner. Players may also choose to play to 200, or any other number of points. This isn't my answer yet, just some observations. I might take a stab at creating a computer simulation that can be easily customized with different numbers of players, different player strategies, and possibly different rule sets (children's variant where the outermost cards are public information, and perhaps a reverse of the normal rules where the outermost cards are only known to player whose hand they are in, but the innermost cards are known to every other player).The ideal game if you’re looking for something easy to learn and teach to others, although despite being an easy game to play it doesn’t diminish the fun at all. What determines a bulky item? This is an item the exceeds a certain size/weight. Normally these are large items that are difficult to post. Bonus: This is another game that is great for reluctant readers. When your kids are playing PicWits, they are working on those reading and reading comprehension skills. Get rid of the rats and go for the cats! In Rat-a-Tat Cat, less is always better, and you want to go out with the lowest score. Can you remember the numbers on other players' cards? Have all the cards face up so that they can work on numerical skills instead. Alternative games to Rat a Tat Cat