Ratropolis

Rats might be the least loved rodent in the animal kingdom, but Ratropolis proves that rats can take centre stage in gaming, and not just the role of infesting dungeons and sewers. Ratropolis blends multiple different genres together, namely city builders, rogue-likes and even deck builders. This unique combination of gameplay is also tied together with an equally unique premise and art style, that leaves Ratropolis as one of the most standout games in Steam’s library.

The Rat Race

Fans of roguelikes such as The Binding of Isaac, Hades and Enter the Gungeon will all appreciate Ratropolis’ focus on repeating runs in a bid to unlock more and more of the game’s content. But Ratropolis doesn’t stop there, it also includes a tower/town defence mechanic that has wave after wave of enemies attack the player’s home base across a 2D map.

And the complexity doesn’t end there either. On top of these systems is a deck building system that allows players to switch up their assigned leaders, buffs and other game changes to better manage their rat base. These cards are drawn and played during gameplay, adding an ever faster pace to the game’s speedy core gameplay.

Variety Is The Spice of Life

One of the game’s biggest strengths is the variety that it provides from session to session. Because of the nature of the game’s cards, there’s potentially an unlimited selection of outcomes that can occur during the 30 waves that players have to try to withstand.

Cards can quickly change the tide of battle, and since each card requires a cost to use, players can expect to make a lot of calculations on whether they can spend their finite resources or save them for later. Further to this, card order is also significant as some specific cards are affected by what other cards are in play and what cards still remain in the player’s hand. Players can quickly start chaining card combinations for maximum rewards, which gives a great feeling of satisfaction when the player executes a particularly clever card play.

That all said, the general gameplay of Ratropolis is very repetitive. This will be a positive to some, but the massive grind required to make any headway will surely put some people off.

Oh, Rats!

If all of the above wasn’t enough to think about, players also need to manage the populations of their ratropolis, which the game labels ‘ratizens’. If players wish to man their military forces or do pretty much anything in the game, then they need plenty of rats to offer the man power (or should that be rat power?).

PROS:

• Art style is cute and endearing
• Unique mixture of roguelikes, card games and tower defence games
• Every gameplay session feels different to the last

CONS:

• Very repetitive, grindy gameplay
• Difficulty is fairly hard, even on the easiest difficulty setting
• Not recommended for casual players that can’t commit a lot of time