Rats of Wistar

Overview

Rats of Wistar is a 1-4 player worker placement strategy game published by Cranio Creations in 2023. Players control rat families that have escaped from the Wistar Institute laboratory. Over 5 rounds (representing 5 days), each family competes to prove they are the most worthy to guide the entire colony by rescuing other rodents, stealing technology and resources, building a colony, and completing missions.

Components

1 Gameboard with action wheel
4 Player boards
6 Wheel sectors (forming the rotating action wheel)
180 Invention cards
13 Objective cards
10 Mission cards
5 Hero cards
25 Guest Mouse tiles
2 Cheese tiles
20 Movement tokens
Various resource tokens (wood, metal, food, etc.)
36 Worker pawns (9 per player)
12 Chief pawns (3 per player)
Score track markers
Beds and room tiles

Setup

Assemble the gameboard and attach the 6 wheel sectors to form the action wheel.
Each player takes a player board, 3 Chief pawns, and their starting Worker pawns.
Shuffle and deal Objective cards (1 secret objective per player).
Prepare the Invention card market.
Place resource tokens, Guest Mouse tiles, and Mission cards in their designated areas.
Set the round marker to Round 1.
Determine the starting player.

Turn Structure

Each round consists of:

Wheel Rotation: At the start of each round (except the first), rotate the action wheel, changing available bonuses.
Placement Phase: In turn order, each player places one Chief pawn on an available action sector of the wheel.
Action Resolution: Players resolve actions in order. The strength of your action equals the number of your Workers in the area adjacent to the sector where you placed your Chief.
End of Round: Resolve end-of-round effects, advance the round marker.

Actions

There are 6 main actions, one per wheel sector:

Gather Wood: Collect wood resources based on action strength.
Gather Metal: Collect metal resources based on action strength.
Build Beds: Construct beds in your colony to house more rats, using resources.
Dig Rooms: Excavate new rooms in your colony, expanding capacity.
Get Invention Cards: Acquire cards from the market to gain new abilities or score points.
Explore the Farm: Send rats to explore the nearby farm for food and discoveries.

Additional actions include:

Play Invention Cards: Use collected cards for their abilities.
Complete Missions: Fulfill mission requirements for rewards and points.
Rescue Guest Mice: Bring rescued mice into your colony for bonuses.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Points are scored throughout the game and at game end:

During the game: Completing missions, certain invention card effects, colony building milestones.
End of game: Secret objective cards, colony size and development, remaining resources, hero cards, guest mice bonuses.
After 5 rounds, the player with the most victory points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Action Wheel Rotation: The wheel rotates each round, changing which bonuses are available with each action. Planning ahead for future rotations is critical.
Worker Placement: The strength of an action depends on how many of your Workers are in the adjacent area, not just placing a Chief.
Colony Building: Beds must be built before new Workers can be recruited; rooms must be dug before beds can be placed in them.
Solo Mode: A dedicated solo mode is included with its own rulebook.
Hero Cards: Special hero rats provide unique one-time abilities when activated.
Guest Mice: Rescued mice provide immediate or end-game bonuses but require available beds.

Player Reference

Action	Resources Used	Effect
Gather Wood	None	Gain wood
Gather Metal	None	Gain metal
Build Beds	Wood + Metal	House more rats
Dig Rooms	Wood	Expand colony
Get Invention Cards	Varies	Gain card abilities
Explore Farm	None	Gain food/discoveries

Action Strength = Number of your Workers in the adjacent area

Game Length: 5 rounds, then final scoring