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: * Math * Memory * 2 to 6 players * Playing time: about 20 minutes

Children's card game that helps develop timing and basic mathematical concepts

Teaches strategy, memory building, and addition

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Best Toy Award; Mensa 1996 Best New Mind Game Award

Includes 54 rat, cat, and power cards

For 2 to 6 players

Average Customer Review: ( 83 customer reviews )
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Rat-a-tat Cat is a fast paced card game where the object is hold the minimum number of points. It has much in common with certain types of poker games and children's card games such as "go-fish". The fast paced nature of the game both decreases boredom (especially for parents) while giving children the maximum opportunity to try out their addition skills. My guess is that children between the ages of 5-7 will learn the most from this game, but it can be enjoyed by all ages.

Finally, Rat-a-Tat Cat is easily portable. It can be played anywhere you can play cards. This makes it great for airplanes, car backseats, or the kitchen table.

48 of 48 found the following review helpful:

A momNov 29, 1999

This is a favorite game in our family. Parents as well as a 13 yr. old boy and 9 yr. old girl love it and play it often. It's a game that anyone can win. I don't have to "let" the kids win, they usually beat me! We sometimes turn it around and try to be the one with the highest score. That adds more addition challenge. It's small and compact so it's great for traveling. Highly recommended!

43 of 43 found the following review helpful:

Really fun family game - great for travellingOct 05, 1999

Talk about good things coming in small packages - this is a really cool game. The rules are simple to grasp, and each round of play only takes about 3-4 minutes so you never have time to get bored. The cards themselves are lovely with quirky humorous pictures, and while you have to be quite focussed to remember what your own cards are, and how other people are reacting to their cards, there is enough of an element of chance that anyone, regardless of age, can win. Also the game has quite a "positive" emphasis - you are more focussed on how good your own hand is, rather than how badly everyone else is doing. My kids (13 and 6) used to rush home from school to play this, and we've taken it away on holiday with us, as it's small and light, and doesn't require lots of space to play. Love this game.

30 of 30 found the following review helpful:

best card game for a familyApr 11, 2007
By DD67 "babyonahill"
This is so far our favorite gamewright game for our family. It took a little while for our 5 year old to learn the game, but he can now play on his own and has been known to win, Really annoys our 13 year old. This is some strategy involved in this game. you can easily play two people or 6 people. We have 5 in our family. It is nice to have a game that we can all play at one time and it isn't as time consuming as monopoly.

Each player is dealt 4 cards face down.

You line up the cards in front of you face down.

you are allowed to look at the two cards on the end, but not the cards in the middle.

you take turns drawing a card from the pile in the middle(which is face down) or picking the card on the top of the discard pile(which is face up. You try to exchange your higher numbered cards for lower numbers. You try to get all four cards as low as possible (0 to 9) and then you shout out Rat a 'tat CAt. Everyone gets one more chance and then you add up the points. A score keeper records adds up the points for each player.

The object of the game is to get the lowest number of points by adding up all 4 cards at the end of the round. We ussually play to 50 or 100 points, as people get to 50 points they would be out of the game. Each time there is a round the dealer shuffles the entire deck and passes out 4 more cards per player. Each person gets a turn to deal.

There are peek cards, allowing you to peek at a card that you may not now.

There are draw 2 cards, giving you two chances to get a low number card, If you don't want the card you draw you just place it face up on the discard pile.

There are swap cards, allowing you to swap a card with another player, so paying attention is important.

All 4 cards are always kept face down. You can only look at the two end cards before play begins, and you can look at the card you draw just that one time. After that no peeking allowed, so you have to try to remember what is infront of you and sometimes you have to take a chance on the two middle cards, since you don't now what those cards are unless you get a peek card or you just risk it and discard the card.

It isn't as complicated as it sounds, but it did take a while for our 5 year old to beable to play without a partner.

Our kids beg to play this game with us.

Cards could be made better, they aren't very well laminated.

22 of 22 found the following review helpful:

Fun for Kids of all agesJan 22, 2006
By Father of 3
We were snowbound this winter break and only had tv and this game. To my surprise, despite 250 channels, the TV stayed off and this game won most of the time for six kids aged 14, 13, 12, 10, 7 and 5. Really a lot of fun. The nice thing is that there is no reading required, so the 5 year old could play, but the skill level and memory aspects made it fun for everyone.

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