In an era where board games often chase the following significant mechanism or flashiest components, there’s something refreshingly elegant about Rattus Big Box. This medieval survival game set during the Black Death pandemic delivers a compelling experience that has stood the test of time while offering impressive depth through its numerous expansions and modules, which are contained in the box if you didn’t know.
We’ve had the pleasure of bringing Rattus Big Box to our table dozens of times over the past few months, playing with various player counts and combinations of expansions. We’ve found a game that masterfully balances accessibility with strategic depth, creating an experience that works equally well as a family board game or a gamer’s board game, depending on how you configure it.
Components and Production
The Big Box edition comes packed with high-quality components. The board depicting Europe and Northern Africa is clear and functional, with territory boundaries that are easy to distinguish. The population markers are shaped like medieval citizen busts rather than simple cubes, adding a nice thematic touch. The rat tokens are thick and sturdy, and the various cards have good cardstock quality.
The Pied Piper module adds a mystical twist to the game with its own set of unique components. It includes the Pied Piper class card, allowing players to manipulate both their citizens and the movement of rat tokens across the board. This expansion also comes with new class cards, featuring additional medieval characters such as the Queen, Emperor, Bishop, and Nun, each bringing their own strategy.
Additionally, the module includes 30 Potion tokens, used by the Wizard class to protect citizens from the plague, and various upgrade tiles to enhance existing abilities.
The Africanus Cards module introduces 68 beautifully illustrated region cards, each depicting a named territory and either two different class symbols or special bonuses. This expansion also includes 4 Islamic class cards that add variety to the base game’s class selection.
The Academicus and Upgrades module comes with 27 upgrade tiles (corresponding to each class card except the Alchemist), 30 victory point/university tokens, and 2 University pieces (one green and one white).
The Guilds and Inns module adds 2 additional game boards to complement the main board, along with specialized components like 3 Wall pieces for the Emperor class card, 2 Bishop pieces, 3 Nun pieces, 30 Potion tokens for the Wizard card, 15 Diplomat podiums for the Sultan card, and 1 Caravan piece for the Caravanner card. The module also includes 30 Event cards, consisting of 7 University founded cards, 14 Class Bonus cards (two for each class), 3 Discard cards, and 6 No Event cards.
Published by Z-Man Games, the artwork by Denis Martynets is good, we’ve heard a lot of harsh comments on the artwork, some saying that it is too basic and plain, but that depends on the person you are, we enjoy both simplicity and ultimate artistry. It captures the grim yet somehow whimsical nature of the theme.
Core Gameplay
Rattus is an area-majority game with a clever push-your-luck element. Players compete to maintain the most considerable population across the map while dealing with the ever-present threat of the plague.
The basic turn structure is simple: place population, optionally take a class card, place population markers, and move the plague marker.
The genius of the design lies in the class card system. These cards grant potent abilities and make you more vulnerable to the plague’s effects. It creates a constant tension, will you grab more powers and risk more significant losses, or play it safe with fewer abilities but more security? This risk-reward mechanism drives much of the strategic decision-making.
Safe Haven Mechanics
A unique feature of Rattus is the Safe Haven area on the board, which offers a strategic sanctuary for your citizens. When particular class abilities allow it, you can move your population to this protected zone where they’re immune to the plague’s effects. However, this safety comes with opportunity costs, like citizens in the Safe Haven can’t help you control territories or benefit from most class card abilities. We’ve had games where careful use of the Safe Haven made the difference between victory and defeat.
Expansions and Modules
The Big Box shows its interconnected modules that can be mixed and matched:
Base Game Foundation
The core experience centers around population management and the class card system. Even with the base game, you can access six fundamental classes that create engaging interactions.
Pied Piper Module
The Pied Piper module introduces a unique movement mechanism that forces strategic decision-making. This expansion allows players to shift one of their citizens from one region to a neighboring region while compelling the movement of as many rat tokens as possible from the original region to the new one. Each class card has a unique ability which will be activated with unique components.
Africanus Module
The region cards from this expansion add a clever defensive layer. For example, in one game, a player used a region card showing the Church symbol to protect their Monk card just as a devastating plague was about to hit their largest population center. These cards can also score bonus points at the game end, adding another strategic consideration.
Academicus Integration
The Universities and Upgrades system allows players to enhance their class cards through multiple levels. We’ve seen fascinating combinations where a Level III Merchant card combined with the region card protection from Africanus created powerful synergies.
Guilds & Inns Innovation
This new module adds parallel boards that interact with the main game. The Guild spaces provide bonus actions, while the Inns offer population placement advantages. In one memorable game, control of the Inns board allowed a trailing player to stage a remarkable comeback by maximizing their population placement efficiency.
Module Interactions in Action
In our recent six-player game, we witnessed the full potential of combining modules. Tome controlled the Universities, upgrading his Knight card to Level III for enhanced movement. Angelina used region cards to protect her key class cards while establishing a strong presence in the Guilds. The turning point came when Alexander, who had been quietly building a presence in multiple Inns, combined his Inn placement bonus with an upgraded Merchant card to rapidly expand his population across three regions in a single turn. The interplay between these systems created fascinating decision points throughout the game.
Strategic Depth
Despite its straightforward rules, Rattus offers numerous paths to victory. We’ve seen successful strategies ranging from aggressive expansion with multiple class cards to more conservative approaches focusing on positioning and plague avoidance. The tactical considerations of when to move the plague marker and how to use class abilities create engaging decisions throughout.
The timing of when to take or give up class cards proves crucial. In one game, a player dominated the early game with four class cards but became highly vulnerable to plague outbreaks in the late game, ultimately finishing last. Learning when to shed powerful abilities for safety is key to mastering the game.
Player Count Considerations
We’ve discovered how Rattus adapts to various player counts through testing across different group sizes. While functional with two players, the experience feels more like a tactical duel with limited interaction opportunities. The sweet spot emerges with 4-5 players, where the plague mechanics create maximum tension and territory control becomes increasingly critical. At six players, the game transforms into a chaotic but entertaining struggle for survival, though players should expect more extended playtime due to increased plague evaluations and more complex territory disputes.
Different player counts also affect module selection. For instance, the Guilds & Inns boards shine with 4+ players, creating compelling competition for bonus actions. Meanwhile, the Universities module works surprisingly well even at lower player counts, offering meaningful upgrade paths regardless of player number. Region cards from Africanus become increasingly tactical with more players, as protection against the plague becomes more valuable in crowded territories.
Learning Curve and Teaching
One of Rattus’s strengths is its accessibility. The base game can be taught in 5 minutes, with players usually grasping the core concepts by the end of their first game. The modular nature of the expansions means you can gradually introduce more complexity as players become comfortable with the basics.
Production Quibbles
While the production is generally excellent, we do have some minor complaints. The rat tokens can sometimes be complex to distinguish when face-down, and the territory boundaries in some regions could be more precise. The rulebook, while comprehensive, could benefit from more examples of card interactions. Also to mention again that it has some simple illustrations on it, so if you’re a very artistically complicated board game player maybe this isn’t for you.
Replayability
With over 30 class cards and multiple expansion modules, Rattus Big Box offers tremendous replayability. Each combination of class cards creates a different strategy, and the various modules can dramatically change how the game feels. We’ve played dozens of times and still haven’t explored all possible combinations.
Conclusion
Look, Rattus is a board game which has been around for some time, and we of course had some good expectations for the big box, and not like it didn’t amaze us, but we were expecting bit more for a 2023 board game. To be fair, this is a family board game and of course we can’t talk about the stuff that it doesn’t have, by this we mean that it is a simple board game and doesn’t need too much of everything. Again, the base game still keeps its mechanics with no changes, and that’s the point of it.
When talking about the expansions, not that the expansions aren’t good, just way to simple and they don’t change the gameplay much. We would proudly recommend this Rattus big box for new board gamers, the base gameplay is easy, then you can progress thru the expansions little by little.
While not perfect – some may find the theme a bit dark, and the plague mechanism can occasionally feel punishing – these are minor quibbles in an excellent package.
That said, this isn’t a game for everyone. If you dislike having carefully laid plans disrupted by plague outbreaks, or prefer perfect information games, Rattus might frustrate you. However, we’d argue that this uncertainty creates the game’s most memorable moments. The game truly excels at 4-5 players, where the political dynamics of class cards create delicious tensions.
Pros:
- Module Integration – Seamless combination of expansions
- Strategy- Multiple viable paths to victory
- Accessibility – Easy to learn, hard to master
- Tactical Options – Rich decision space
- Component Quality – Particularly the new citizen markers
Cons:
- Rules Clarity – Some module interactions need a better explanation
- Player Count Balance – Sweet spot limits group size options
- Random Element Impact – Can occasionally override strategy
