Last modified May 13, 2025 by jarjar
Overview
Rats of Wistar is a board game co-created by Simone Luciani, (author of one of my favorite games, Barrage) and published by the French studio La Boîte de Jeu, known among others for titles such as " It's a Wonderful World". It's a game for 1 to 4 players where you play as rats recently escaped from the famous Wistar laboratory, seeking to prove their intelligence by building the most developed colony. Each player explores a farmhouse, divided into different rooms, where they collect resources, complete missions and discover human inventions. The house is a place rich in tactical interactions, where the choices of movement and action will strongly influence your progress. Between the management of your burrow, the optimization of a rather innovative action wheel and the encounter of special mice, the game offers an immersive experience mixing exploration, strategy and asymmetric development.
First impression
Rats of Wistar is, like many recent European games, a tight experience where the number of actions is very limited and you have to perform them as efficiently as possible to beat your opponents and score the most victory points at the end of the game. The game may not be the most innovative, but it offers a surprising number of strategies thanks to its wide selection of cards. The house exploration mechanic is really fun. It has an experience that reminds me of arnak.
The game introduces a wheel mechanic that modifies the actions available each turn and is enhanced based on the number of workers present.
One drawback is that you have to detach this wheel with a screwdriver, a magnet would have been better.
Radho, a well-known YouTuber in the gaming world, mentioned that he didn't like the "take that" cards in the game and the hidden bonuses. Personally, it didn't bother me: you don't choose the player to target for the attack, but you hit whichever player has the most elements in a specific aspect. It's a small catch-up mechanic, so it's quite okay. Regarding the random bonuses: all elements are useful, depending on the strategy you adopt, so there too, I don't see any fault.
SOLO MODE
In single-player mode, you face off against Ratobot, an automated opponent simulating a human player. Ratobot follows specific rules and uses automaton cards to determine its actions. It doesn't manage resources like wood or metal, but focuses on specific actions such as exploration, construction, and progressing along development tracks.
GAME FACTS
>> An extension is said to be in preparation.
>> The game's co-author, Danilo Sabia, who is less well-known than Luciani, brought a unique touch to the game, notably with the original idea of rats escaped from a laboratory organizing a competition to lead the colony.
>> The game includes 180 unique invention cards, each with various effects such as permanent powers, actions, or end-game bonuses.
TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 3
Best player configuration: 3
Price paid: CAD 110
Level: experienced player (BGG complexity: 3.38/5)
My best score: 86
MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I loved :
>> Its unique theme revolves around lab rats trying to escape.
>> Its mix of tableau building and tile placement mechanics.
>> The adventure with this exploration which is offered to us with small atmospheric texts and very nice illustrations.
>> The strategic depth that emerges over the course of the games.
>> The illustrations and design are still quite immersive.
>> Several interesting decisions to make in the game, certain chainings are very satisfying.
I liked less :
>> A fairly steep learning curve for beginners. Lots of symbols that aren't always easy to understand.
>> A bit too long for 4 players.
>> This wheel that has to be disassembled and reassembled between each part, there would clearly have been a way to do better than that in 2023.
Rats of Wistar stands out for its strategic richness and its strong sense of progression while offering us a beautiful adventure, quite rich with all these cards, and magnificently illustrated!
FUN FACTOR 🙂 🙂 🙂