How to Play Pack Rat on Facebook

This is a fantastic online Facebook game for anyone who enjoys prowling yard sales and thrift stores in search of that perfect gem. This is also a game for anyone that loves collecting. It is addicting and fun, and you should definitely give it a try.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A Facebook account
• Rat Pack installed on your account(see resources.)
• Free time. Potentially LOTS of free time.

1. When you start playing online, you will be given a pack with different virtual cards in it. If you look at the bottom of each card, you will notice a symbol. Once you have 5 different cards with matching symbols in your collection, you can put it in your vault which then frees up space in your pack to collect more items. So, see which collection you have the most of. If you run your mouse over the symbol, it will tell you the name of the collection.

2. First, check the in-game markets. Can you buy your way to a vaulted collection? The markets are in different cities and you can access more of them as you accumulate points and rise in levels. You get points for vaulting collections, completing collections, stealing items, making cards and purchasing. See if there are items for sale from your collection.

3. After you have bought what you can, you may still be short from completing your five cards. You are given a set of NPC "friends"...you may also have some real Facebook friends that play. If you hit the "steal from friends" tab at the top of the screen, you will be able to go through their packs. You won't really be stealing, but trading cards of similar value from your pack for whichever card you want. If you need a high value card, say worth 2,000 and the highest card you have to trade is 250, you may either want to go back to the market or trade up your low card (see tips).

4. Once you vault a set, you will get a notice telling you that you have completed 5 out of 18 cards (or whatever the number is). The point of the game, as with any collection, is to complete your collections. Go to your vault and find the collection...they are helpfully color coded. The cards you don't have will show up as a silhouette so you know what to look for if it appears in the packs.

5. The next component of the game took me and my husband days of playing to figure out. Each truly rare card can be created by making them out of specific smaller cards. You click "Make a Card" then three cards, then "Make". (For a complete list of recipes, see resources.) There will still be plenty of rare cards to search for in the packs and markets, since the markets rotate the wares available, but it makes it a lot more fun. Like a scavenger hunt AND a puzzle.

Tips & Warnings

• Need a high value card and are short on cash? Don't despair, trade up! Buy a card worth 100. Trade it for one worth 500. (This will sometimes fail, but mostly work.) Trade your 500 for 1,000 and so on until you are in the ballpark of your item. I usually carry a high card, 1200 or over, a mid-card worth 500+ and a 100 or 200. You never know what is going to pop up (see warnings).
• Pay attention to your "Make a Card" tab on the top of your pack. Most of the time it is grayed out. If not, three cards currently in your pack can be combined to make a more valuable card. You just have to figure out which cards they are.
• Once you steal from a pack--or attempt to steal--that pack is safe for 10 minutes. The downside to trading up is that you will suddenly have a lot of packs that are safe so if your dream object comes up there is nothing you can do.
• Before you become married to a collection, check the "What's for Sale" bar above the markets or the Pack Rat Wiki entry where you can find recipes. If your collection is listed as expired then your pleasant hike through the hills just became scaling Mt. Everest. You will find nothing available in stores and only occasionally in the packs. The few items you have may sit for days and weeks in your pack, taking up valuable room. Not to say you can't do it, but you will have to be diligent and possibly resort to trading through the Pack Rat message boards to get what you need.
• The NPC rats will steal your items. It doesn't happen too often, maybe once every few days. But I would advise strongly to keep your most precious item(s) locked.

Resources

• Pack Rat Wiki
• Pack Rat Application Help
• Facebook

[amylaine]

on 10/17/2008 Wonderful Ideas

[MidniteWriter]

on 10/8/2008 That would be so fun, yet another app I had no idea about!

[GreenMomma]

on 9/9/2008 Thanks for the tips!

[TeryLynne]

on 9/7/2008 I am not on Facebook, but this sounds like fun. 5*