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Lab Rats
2019
Rules assistance for Lab Rats
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–5 players
- 20–40 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.3/5
Rules assistant for Lab Rats
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Lab Rats is a board game released in 2019 for 3–5 players, 20–40 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Lucas Charra and its main mechanics are Take That and Push Your Luck.
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About the game
Lab Rats is a push your luck party game where the player take the role of a lab rat and must escape from a collapsing laboratory. The goal of the game is to collect four cheese tokens. At the start of every round the players receive door cards(to create the laboratory) and potion cards (to pass obstacles). In each round the player must open doors and face what lies behind them. The doors are represented by face down cards played by all the players in the middle of the table. Each of these cards contains an obstacle or event that must be resolved by the active player when the card is tapped. Most of the obstacles are resolved by playing the potion card that matches the obstacle. When a player flip an obstacle card that he can't resolve, the rat takes a wound. On a second wound the rat will die and by out of the round. After resolving any door the player can end his turn and collect the rewards. He collect 1 yellow chit for each door card face up and 1 green chit for each door card face down. The yellow chit can be traded for cheese tokens and the green chit represent the rats being poisoned by the lab and will die if they take too much!
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- RunDOS Studio
Questions and answers
Lab Rats supports 3–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Lab Rats is 20–40 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Lab Rats for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Lab Rats has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Lab Rats belongs to these categories: Card Game and Party Game. Its main mechanics are Take That and Push Your Luck. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Lab Rats are: Lucas Charra. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Lab Rats as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.