Life is a journey isn’t it? Parties in your 20s and round the world cruises in your 50s. Maybe you’ll win the lottery, or have your identity stolen as you try and Escape The Rat Race…
Introduction
This really hits the spot as a simple card game that works well for all it’s suggested player counts where it feels like the theme really comes through nicely. Escape The Rat Race is about having those quintessential experiences as you grow up and looking for some of those life-defining moments as memories to look back on from your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Those experience cards really play into those (partly stereotypical) ideals both in the title of the cards and their artwork.
Life is a journey isn’t it? Parties in your 20s and round the world cruises in your 50s. Maybe you’ll win the lottery, or have your identity stolen as you try and Escape The Rat Race…
Introduction
This really hits the spot as a simple card game that works well for all it’s suggested player counts where it feels like the theme really comes through nicely. Escape The Rat Race is about having those quintessential experiences as you grow up and looking for some of those life-defining moments as memories to look back on from your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Those experience cards really play into those (partly stereotypical) ideals both in the title of the cards and their artwork.
Of course nothing is ever straightforward in life, and there are action cards lurking throughout the deck, potentially giving you a leg up or maybe allowing you to pull the ladder up behind you as you get through life’s maze.
Setup
This is a very easy game to get to the table as you simply need to shuffle the Playing Cards (not actually playing cards – the main deck you’ll draw from which I’ll call Rat Race cards for ease) and the Salary Cards. Randomly give each player a role – either Professional or Entrepreneur – and deal everyone a starting hand of five Rat Race cards. Quick and simple which I think is a big benefit in being able to teach a game or just be able to start playing quickly.
On your marks…
Turns are equally as straightforward, though you’ll need an element of planning and/or strategy to help you out.
Firstly, you draw a salary card, setting it with your occupation to the top which will give you some money to play with. These are really clever as it makes the card dual purpose (which we’ll talk a little more about below) and it introduces a subtle but satisfying element of the theme into the game straight from your very first action.
If you were destined to be a Professional then congratulations – your income is relatively stable and you’re guaranteed money every turn. If you’ve followed your entrepreneurial spirit, then the bad news is – much like real life – your income is going to vary wildly. Sometimes you’ll be flush with more money than you can spend, but in other instances you’ll be penniless for a round. I think that’s such a simple but clever way to differentiate between the two roles. For those of a certain age, it also is a little reminiscent of the early career path in The Game Of Life too!
Next up, you draw a Rat Race card, and then you can choose to play as many cards as you want to, or can afford to. The kicker here is that you don’t get change, so if you desperately want to splash out on a new kitchen for £6,000 but you “only” have £10,000 then you’re waving goodbye to the rest. Some experiences also come with a penalty, such as discarding an extra salary card on top of what you’ve spent (your £0 income can be useful here…), showing your hand to another player or not being allowed to draw back up to five cards at the end of your turn this round.
Now might be a good time to explain how you win…
Escaping the rat race…
The aim of the game is relatively simple – play three experiences from each of the four decades in front of you before anyone else and you win. Most of the experience cards are tied to either your 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s and they’re colour-coded (as well as being labelled for accessibility), though some are “wild” and can be played onto any decade. These offer a degree of flexibility which is helpful, but they can only be moved in certain circumstances so playing these with care is advised.
But (there’s always a ‘but’ right?) there’s a solitary spanner floating around that might get into the works. The “Pension Age Increase” action card means you can’t win if you’re holding it, even if you’ve completed your experiences. And you can’t discard it by conventional methods. Instead, another action that allows you to swap hands or something similar is the only escape. It’s another good example of some simple, tongue-in-cheek humour that works really well.
In fact, let’s talk action cards now…
Lights, camera, ACTION (cards)
The first thing to say here is the rule sheet is really helpful here as one entire side of it is dedicated to explaining each of the action cards in the game. Action cards are visually distinct from any experiences so they’re easy to see in your hand too.
Some give you flexibility in how you play your own game, allowing you to maybe look back through the last 10 cards in the discard pile and add one to your hand, or scoop a lottery win by drawing three salary cards.
Others let you block some of the more devious moves your opponents might pull – your “Out Of Office” card lets you refuse an action that someone might play on you (again I love the theme here).
Some cards let you disrupt the best laid plans (of rats and men?) others might have. The “too soon?” card called Pandemic means that whoever you play this card onto can’t add any experience this turn, whilst Amnesia means they have to discard an entire complete decade! Brutal move that can come in handy near the end of the game.
Finally there are cards that let you steal stuff from others round the table. The Pickpocket card allows you to take a card from someone without looking (but watch out for the Pension Age Increase!) Playing the Heist card lets you steal all the unspent money a player has in front of them, while Identity Theft lets you nab an incomplete decade from someone else!
Final thoughts
We were fortunate that Treesap Games sent us a review copy of this before their Kickstarter launched in 2024, and we’ve played our own copy a lot since that project fulfilled in June 2025.
I think there’s a lot to enjoy in relatively small box. The game itself is simple to understand – draw a money card, drawn a playing card and then spend/play what you can and draw backup to five (unless a penalty effect stops you that round).
Thematically it’s a lot of fun. Experiences in your 20s are focused on house parties, oversleeping or driving an old banger as your first car, whilst those in your 50s are getting a new kitchen or going on a sailing trip. The cost is reflected in the cards too – those formative experiences are cheap compared to those you have as you get older, but there’s always overlap between neighboouring decades. It’s another subtle example of how that theme of saving up for a more expensive experience is part and parcel of life, but those that ma straddle a decade aren’t instantly more expensive either.
It’s quick to play so would definitely hold the attention of younger players, and it’s rating of 7 years plus is on the money.
We backed the Kickstarter because my daughter loved it and it’s definitely hit the table a lot at her insistence.
Ultimately, I think it’s a very good example of what it is – a quick, family-friendly card game with a theme that has some really broad appeal!
