Another Rainbow Game Night winner! 2-6 players are each dealt four cards, which they place face-down in a row without looking at them. At the beginning of the round, players look at only the two outside cards in their row. The remaining deck makes up a draw pile, with the top card flipped over to start a discard pile. The cards are numbered 0-9 with 0-5 depicting cats and 6-9 depicting rats. Several "Power Cards" Peek, Swap and Draw 2 add a few twists to the game play. Players compete to have the lowest score in their hand, and keep drawing cards, replacing any of their cards they wish, and discarding until they think they have the lowest score at the table. Then they knock on the table and shout "rat-a-tat cat!" While great for practicing simple addition skills for younger player, the challenge of not always knowing what you have in your hand or what anyone else has - keeps this fast-playing game exciting for all ages! Jess
A game of suspense, strategy, and anticipation. Get rid of the high cards (rats) and go for the low cards (cats). Sneak a peek, draw two, or swap cards for an added twist. Low score wins the game. (A poker face helps!)
As children play Rat-a-tat Cat, they develop a sense of timing and an understanding of basic, but essential, mathematical concepts. They learn ways to remember their cards and strategies to figure out what cards other players might have. They also begin to develop an intuitive sense of probability. Rat-a-tat Cat requires skill, strategy, and awareness, challenging both young children and adults.
enhances the following skills
fun for my kids
My daughter who home-schooled my grandson (now 16 years old and thriving) recommended this game for me to use in home-schooling math with the daughter of a friend. I remember having lots of fun…
This game is great fun for young children and is a good arithmetic teaching game.
We LOVED this game as kids! Can’t wait to share!