If you’ve been following my tabletop coverage over the past year, the creative minds at Ravensridge Emporium won’t be unfamiliar to you. I’ve previously featured their work, including spotlighting their atmospheric solo TTRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Game) Caught in the Rain in our 2025 Christmas Gift Guide.

More recently, I caught up with the Ravensridge Emporium team on the show floor at PAX Aus 2026, where they let me in on what they’ve been cooking up behind the scenes. Needless to say, I was immediately keen on the concept. Now, their ambitious new project is officially ready to see the light of day. One Thousand Rats Devour a City is heading to Kickstarter, blending light board game management with freeform collaborative roleplay to tell a story of rodent rebellion against a sprawling Victorian Gothic city.

Here is everything you need to know about the project, when it launches, and how you can back it.

What is One Thousand Rats Devour a City?

At its core, One Thousand Rats Devour a City is a GMless (Game Master-less) board game and tabletop RPG hybrid designed for one to four players. Games like this are really popular these days, as it’s often hard to either find a good game master, or find one that’s available when you need them.

In this GMless tabletop game, rather than controlling traditional fantasy adventurers, you and your group take command of a burgeoning rat colony—and the distinct leaders guiding it—as you rise up to reclaim your murine birthright from the oppressive human metropolis of Ravensridge.

The gameplay splits its focus across two distinct, complementary styles:

• Resource and colony management: Each round, the city pushes back against the vermin uprising. You’ll need to allocate resources, manage your colony’s population, scavenge food and supplies, and carefully expand your territory across the map.
• Missions and freeform roleplay: Players step directly into the paws of rat leaders, venturing out on dangerous, high-stakes missions across Victorian districts. You’ll consume targets, outmanoeuvre local factions, and enact calculated vengeance to break the grip of humanity.

Because it functions without the need for a dedicated GM, the game easily scales from a deep, narrative solo run to a chaotic four-player cooperative campaign. Plus it’s kinda fun to think about taking over the city as a colony of rats. As co-creator Jessie Lee put it when discussing the project’s inspiration: “Look, it’s 2026, the world is basically exploding. Let us rejoice in the small joy of pretending to be a rat taking over a city”.

Key features and art style

Ravensridge Emporium has aimed to make each run distinct through dynamic modular storytelling:

• High replayability: Every campaign sets up unique goals, different faction threats, shifting urban routes, and random city events. No two revolts play out the same way.
• 100% human-made visuals: In a tabletop climate increasingly crowded with AI-generative tech, Ravensridge Emporium has committed to 32+ fully illustrated city locations featuring human-made art, grounding the Victorian Gothic grit and quirky rodent attitude across high-quality physical components.
• Tone versatility: As co-designer Nicholas Robinia notes, the mechanics flex easily depending on your table’s vibe. Whether you want a gritty, bloodthirsty insurrection or a stylish caper led by fashionable sewer royalty.

When does it go live?

The crowdfunding campaign officially kicks off on Tuesday, 3 November at 4:00am AEST (that’s 5:00am for all those in Australia that follow daylight saving). Early backers will be able to jump in right away to secure launch pledges, limited reward tiers, and backer-exclusive physical components.

What you can get and how to support

Backers will have access to multiple pledge levels depending on whether you want a lean digital package or the complete boxed tabletop experience:

• Digital rulebook with print-and-play assets: For tables keen to run the game digitally or print components locally.
• Physical core box set: Includes high-quality printed boards, full-colour city location cards, rat leader sheets, tracking components, and modular tokens.
• Deluxe and Collector tiers: Upgraded component materials, physical add-ons, and Kickstarter-exclusive extras unlocked via stretch goals throughout the campaign.

To follow the project ahead of launch or back the campaign once it’s live, head straight to the One Thousand Rats Devour a City Kickstarter Page. If you are keen on something different in today’s world of AI-generated content, then this is for you. It’ll make a great addition to any board game collector’s library, and also is perfect for gifting too.

You can also keep tabs on the developers’ future releases and updates via The Ravensridge Emporium or across their social channels on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok, Youtube, or Facebook, and even chat to them on Discord. Plus, their online store has some incredible games and fantasy pieces that any collector will love.