Play Rats! Online

Rats! came out for the Game Boy Color in 2000, developed by Game Titan and published by Ubisoft. It was part of that wave of late-era Game Boy Color titles that tried to squeeze a bit more out of the hardware before the Advance arrived. You control a little exterminator named Sam, tasked with clearing out a massive, multi-story hotel that has been completely overrun by rodents. The setting is straightforward, a familiar kind of premise for a portable game from that time.

You guide Sam from room to room, floor by floor, in a side-scrolling view. Your main tool is a plunger, which you use to whack the rats that come scurrying from every corner. The goal is simply to eliminate all the rats on each screen before you can proceed. Some rats are bigger and take more hits; others move in tricky patterns that force you to time your swings. You also collect cheese for points and can find power-ups, like a temporary vacuum cleaner that makes clearing a room much faster. The game moves at a brisk pace, and the difficulty comes from the sheer number of enemies and the limited space you have to maneuver. It feels like a frantic, continuous scramble to stay on top of the infestation before you get completely surrounded.