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Poker and cooperative games don’t usually sit at the same table. One’s all about bluffing and reading your opponents, while the other leans into teamwork and helping each other out of tight spots. So what happens when you smash the two together, throw in a couple of overconfident opponents, and add some clever twists?
You get River Rats, a co-op card game where you and your friends try to outplay two sneaky, deep-pocketed River Rats in a series of tense poker-style showdowns. But here’s the catch: you can’t just talk your way to victory, and winning hands isn’t the only thing that matters. What you’re really trying to do is push the River Rats into so much debt that they basically sink.
The game is hitting Kickstarter on May 12, so if this sounds like your kind of teamwork puzzle, it’s worth keeping an eye out.
👥 1-4 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 20-30 minutes
📝 Designers: Mathijs Jansen & Robin Stokkel
🎨 Artwork: Rixt Heerschop
🏢 Publisher: Foursuit Studio
How It Works
In River Rats, you’re all characters on the same side, each tied to one of the four suits in the deck. Your ace card sets your identity and gives you a special ability, which definitely comes in handy when things start going sideways. Together, you’re trying to beat two River Rats before your team racks up five points of debt. If that happens, well, it’s game over. Time to swim home.
At the start, you’ll randomly choose two River Rat kings, one active and one waiting to jump in later. Everyone gets dealt two cards, a shared market of three face-up cards is created, and the jokers are set aside along with a prediction card that hints at a bonus for the round. It might sound like a lot at first, but it clicks quickly once it’s in front of you.
Each round, the River Rat builds a seven-card hand made up of five face-up cards and two hidden ones, plus the active River Rat card itself. Meanwhile, your team takes turns adding cards to a shared five-card hand, one card at a time. You can draw from the market or the deck, but once your hand’s full, you’ve got to play something. If the card you play matches your suit, you can either use it for its basic suit action or trigger your character’s special power instead.
Suit actions are useful. They let you do things like swap cards around, add cards from your hand to the market, discard from the market, or make other small but meaningful adjustments. Character abilities, though, are where things get really interesting. You might flip one of the River Rat’s hidden cards, discard multiple cards at once, or even manipulate the collective hand and the market. Timing these powers well is crucial, especially when you can’t fully explain your reasoning and just have to hope your team understands what you’re going for.
Which brings us to the real twist: communication is limited. You can discuss general plans and talk strategy, but you’re not allowed to say what’s in your hand or even drop hints. No winks, no code words, and definitely no “hypothetical” guesses. It sounds strict, but it forces you to read your teammates and trust their decisions, even when they’re clearly wrong and you want to scream. In a good way.
Once five cards are in play, but before hands are compared, you check the joker prediction. If your collective hand matches it, you flip a joker face-up and it becomes available for use. These jokers are flexible wild cards, and unlocking one can easily save a round, so it’s usually worth chasing the prediction. Then, both hands are revealed and compared. If your team wins, the River Rat takes on more debt. If not, your team does.
Beat a River Rat, and they stay in play as part of the next Rat’s hand, but their nasty ability is switched off. You also get a little bonus to help even the odds, and then it’s onto the next Rat. Win against both, and you’ve pulled off a tough, satisfying victory. But if your team hits five debt first, it’s all over and the Rats walk off smugly into the sunset.
Things Get Trickier (If You Want Them To)
If you enjoy a challenge, the game includes advanced and expert modes. These add extra card restrictions, tougher abilities, and a bit more pressure. It’s perfect for groups who want to crank up the difficulty once they’ve got the basics down. And if your group thrives under pressure, there’s a lot more to chew on once things get tougher.
What We Think
We’ve had a lot of fun with River Rats, and there’s something really refreshing about a co-op game that builds tension without needing a secret enemy or nonstop chaos. It’s all about reading the room, trusting your team, and making solid plays without overexplaining everything. Honestly, it feels a bit like The Crew or Hanabi, but with more grit and a stronger sense of character.
It works well at different player counts, but it’s definitely at its best with three or four. That’s the sweet spot for keeping things dynamic without slowing down too much. Two-player games still work and can get very strategic, but with more players, you get that satisfying group rhythm, or total chaos, depending on how in sync you are.
There’s also a nice mix of complexity and accessibility here. The rules are clear, and once you’ve played a round or two, everything clicks. That said, it’s smart to start with the basic mode the first time you play. Let everyone get used to how the suits and character powers interact before introducing the trickier Rat abilities or the advanced rules.
As for strategy, a big part of the game is learning not just your own power, but what your teammates can do. Since you can’t directly communicate, predicting how someone might play based on their suit or past choices is a huge part of making the right call. And don’t sleep on the jokers, they can swing a round in your favor, especially when your draws aren’t cooperating.
One small thing to watch out for: if your team falls behind early, it can be tough to recover. Sometimes a single bad round creates a momentum shift that’s hard to reverse, especially if the River Rats start stacking debt faster than you can push it back onto them. But even in those rough moments, River Rats keeps you engaged. You’re always looking for the next clever play, the perfect timing for a joker, or a way to squeeze a winning hand out of a messy draw. And when it works, turning the tide with a single round feels incredibly satisfying.
Also, don’t overthink it. Some of the most memorable moments come when someone makes the wrong play for the right reason, and everyone just stares at the table in stunned silence. It’s frustrating, hilarious, and exactly the kind of chaos we love.
Final Thoughts
River Rats is a clever and rewarding co-op experience with just enough theme to set the mood, even though the gameplay could easily work with a regular deck of cards. It’s got tension, thoughtful mechanics, and those “I can’t believe that worked” moments that make co-op games memorable. It rewards planning, trust, and knowing when to take a risk.
We received a prototype copy of the game from Four Suit Studio, and we’re really curious to see how the final version comes together. It’s got a lot of potential, and we’ll definitely be playing more of it.
The game’s heading to Kickstarter on May 12, so if poker-meets-co-op sounds like your kind of thing, it’s worth checking out. Just be ready to argue over a bad card play or two. All part of the fun.
