It is Dr. Vik Taurenstein's sly pleasure to invite you to his modest laboratory, which was recently "relocated" to the Time Portal for a "highly scientific and absolutely not insane" experiment, as he described it. His invitation is only good until December 17 so don't miss it!
"I told you so!" he yelled to anyone who would – sadly for them – listen. Vik Taurenstein, the excentric scientist from the island nation of Brakmar, has been conducting rather dubious experiments ever since the Great Wave. Ignoring all the rules of ethics established by the Circle – the clan to which scientists in the World of Twelve belong – he was, unsurprisingly, kicked out of the community and shunned. For him, it seemed entirely logical that grafting two bow meows back-to-back would enable them to levitate. To his great dismay, you can imagine the results… And he's still yelling, "I told you I could do it!"
Whatever has he come up with this time?!
After dunking a rat in oil several times, and then in water – because: why not? – it was clear that the poor animal would never be the same. To everyone's surprise (especially the rat's), not only did the rodent's coat turn miraculously white, but its intelligence grew exponentially!
It's a rat's life – rejection, corruption and sneaky tricks!
You'll play as this Smart Rat, victim of an experiment conducted by your master of misfortune. Now that your intellectual abilities have become unmatched, you've been tossed aside, languishing in your former cage, surrounded by other rats. Rejected by them all because your coat is different from theirs.
"Let's see if this one survives!"
You'll have to be clever to turn them against each other! Your torment will only last 10 turns – 10 turns to attempt to convince the other rats to rally to your cause. What cause? It doesn't matter. You just need to survive, whatever it takes!
Sway your former brother rodents in exchange for… food? Recruit the rodents with foodstuffs represented by points; the weaker they are, the easier they'll be to convince! Then, encourage them to kill each other – each recruited or dead rat makes you stronger. Keep a sharp eye out, as additional rats can swarm out of holes spread about on the field.
As you go about your vile but delectable manipulations, you'll rack up new points; you can get them with every blow you deal the rats, and when they die. You don't have much room for maneuver, though, so you'll need to be cunning when dealing with the murine fellows who're after your hide – almost literally!
Between two rounds of negotiations (or bites), you'll spot a rat tha's not like the others – the Merchant Rat. Greedy, especially when it comes to food, he wants to take advantage of the dissent to do business with you… Use your hard-won crumbs to buy "treasures" from him that will give you temporary or permanent bonuses depending on their rarity. Be careful not to offend him, though… Who knows what he could do if he feels threatened?
Gratifying Souvenirs!
They say that life is a series of opportunities, but yours has been full of obstacles! As compensation for Dr. Vik Taurenstein's failed and "ratty" experiment, you could treat yourself to a few delights by getting a Platinum Pass. What do you think? There are a full 56 souvenirs of your rat's life to take with you, such as a Ratilton pet, Pointy Ears headgear, or even Wily Piper tracks, and more. If you swing by the in-game Shop now, you might be able to turn things around – instead of rats being bad omens, you* can be the bad omen!
* Well, you'll be disguised as a rat, that is. Does that count?