Rattus: Bonus Essen 2010

The Essen 2010 mini-expansion for Rattus introduces four new class cards: Joan of Arc, Merlin, Dracula, and Robin Hood. These cards are shuffled into the main class card deck along with the other class cards from the base game and any other expansions being used. Players will then draft or deal these cards as usual during the game setup, integrating their unique abilities into the existing gameplay.

The primary objective of Rattus: Bonus Essen 2010 remains consistent with the base game: players aim to have the most population cubes on the board at the end of the game, signifying their survival and prosperity amidst the plague. The new class cards provide additional strategic layers and tactical options for players to achieve this goal, often by manipulating the plague's spread or influencing other players' positions.

During a player's turn, after placing a population cube and potentially moving the Rattus token, they can activate the ability of their chosen class card. Joan of Arc allows players to draw a rat token from the supply and activate class cards (excluding their own) based on the drawn token's value: 1-2 (none), 3 (Islamic), 4 (Royalty/Bourgeoisie), 5 (Peasantry/Church), or 6 (Chivalry/Magic). Robin Hood enables moving the plague two spaces instead of one and, in the destination region, the player with the majority of cubes can replace one of an opponent's cubes with their own before the plague activates. Merlin allows a player to take a rat token from the board and place it on his card; on a future turn, he can look at that token and place it in any region. Dracula's ability is triggered if any cubes die on his turn; these cubes are placed on his card.

Scoring at the end of the game follows the base game rules, where players earn points for their remaining population cubes on the board. Additionally, Dracula introduces a unique end-game scoring condition: the player with the fewest cubes of their color on Dracula's card receives 4 points, and the player with the second fewest receives 2 points. This adds a layer of strategic consideration for players holding Dracula, encouraging them to manage the number of cubes on his card.

The game concludes when either the supply of plague tokens is exhausted, or when all players have lost all their population cubes from the board. Once the game ends, players proceed to the final scoring phase, where they count their remaining population cubes and apply any end-game scoring bonuses or penalties, including those from the Essen 2010 class cards, to determine the winner.