Songs of Rats

About

Songs of Rats is a single player role playing game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by TESSERACT GAMES and was released on March 10, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Songs of Rats is a dark roguelike RPG where you play as a rat exploring an ever-changing labyrinth filled with the ruins of lost civilizations. Craft your hero, gather companions, and navigate a shifting maze teeming with strange enemies and hidden secrets. Survival depends on your choices, gear, and uncovering the truth behind this mysterious world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 36 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

The game features a unique and engaging art style that enhances the dark sci-fi atmosphere.
It offers a variety of branching paths and choices, allowing for different playstyles and outcomes in each run.
Despite some bugs, the game provides a fun and addictive experience with a good balance of challenge and randomness.

The gameplay can feel repetitive and overly simplistic, with runs often being short and lacking depth.
There are several bugs and technical issues, such as disappearing companions and inconsistent action point assignments.
The balance of difficulty is inconsistent, with early runs being punishing while later runs can become trivial once players understand the mechanics.

story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
66%
17%
The game's story is engaging and offers a variety of outcomes based on character choices and backstories, with a clear goal in some storylines, such as retrieving an orb to save a community. While the narrative is linear and character emotions are predetermined, it features two modes with multiple endings and unique events, enhancing replayability. Overall, the story is well-received for its immersive world and post-apocalyptic sci-fi themes, making it a compelling experience for fans of the genre.
- “The story of the game is good, and had me wanting more from this world; the art is great, and leads back into me wanting more from this world. The exploration requires more planning than I was originally expecting, and the decisions have tangible consequences.”
- “I can also see the love for post-apocalyptic sci-fi poured into the game's story.”
- “I recommend playing Songs of Rats because it offers a break from traditional video games, and the story is a good read if you're into sci-fi fantasy.”
- “The end goal for each storyline isn't always clear.”
- “The story is very linear, and your character’s emotions are assigned to you at the start, which breaks the roleplay a little.”
- “Simple graphics, simple soundtrack, simple gameplay, simple story.”
music
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The music in "Songs of Rats" is praised for its atmospheric quality, effectively complementing the game's horror sci-fi theme. While some players find the soundtrack somewhat repetitive and generic, it successfully sets the tone and enhances the overall experience. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that contributes to the game's unique ambiance.
- “The music is also a standout, and feels right at home with something you'd hear in a horror sci-fi adventure.”
- “However, the art and (granted) sparse music set the tone wonderfully.”
- “Plus, the art is spot-on, the text is short and to the point, and the soundtrack is atmospheric.”
- “The music feels like it's from a horror sci-fi adventure, so it can feel kind of generic or uninspired to some.”
- “Music and sound get a little repetitive, but nice on the whole.”
- “Simple graphics, simple soundtrack, simple gameplay, simple story.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The game's graphics are praised for their unique art style and atmospheric aesthetic, effectively complementing its cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic themes. While many users appreciate the minimalist and gritty visuals, some feel that the game could benefit from additional polish. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the immersive experience, enhancing the narrative and gameplay.
- “The game's minimalist style and unique gritty art style match the sci-fi post-apocalyptic setting perfectly, along with the roguelike nature of the game, where each run presents its own unique challenges.”
- “The atmosphere and graphics are superb; I love the atmosphere and the art style.”
- “I love the art style and the cyberpunk narrative is pretty good.”
- “The game has a simple yet pleasing-to-the-eye art style.”
- “Simple graphics, simple soundtrack, simple gameplay, simple story.”
- “I think the game could use more polish and an update to the gameplay loop.”
gameplay
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity, featuring a straightforward RPG-like loop and easy-to-pick-up mechanics, making it accessible for players. However, the experience is quite light and repetitive, with limited content and few innovative mechanics, leading to a quick completion time of around three hours. Players seeking depth or complexity may find the gameplay lacking.
- “Nice RPG-ish gameplay loop.”
- “The game is interesting, with a good graphic atmosphere and gameplay that's easy to pick up because it's so simple.”
- “However, beware if you're looking for a complex experience: the content is fairly light (I finished the game 100% in 3 hours, even if the achievements bugs don't give me credit), there are actually very few game mechanics, and it's very (very) repetitive.”
- “The game isn't difficult to complete once you understand how to exploit its mechanics.”
- “Simple graphics, simple soundtrack, simple gameplay, simple story.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its exceptional visual and musical elements, creating a captivating experience. Reviewers highlight the impressive graphics, art style, and atmospheric soundtrack, contributing to a deeply immersive dark sci-fi ambiance. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature that enhances the gameplay.
- “Artists really nailed the atmosphere (both visually and musically).”
- “Plus, the art is spot-on, the text is short and to the point, and the soundtrack is atmospheric.”
- “The atmosphere and graphics are superb; love the atmosphere and love the art style.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
"Songs of Rats" effectively captures the essence of classic choose-your-own-adventure books, enhanced by RPG elements that significantly boost its replayability. Players consistently highlight the game's high replay value, making it an engaging experience with each playthrough.
- “Songs of Rats really nails the spirit of the old choose-your-own-adventure books while throwing in a bit of RPG randomness that makes it highly replayable.”
- “This game has such replay value!”