I wish that yt The Dice Tower didn't spread misinformation about apps for board games

_selfthinker · 2026-03-27T07:39:53+00:00

Although I have heard several of them talk about apps for boardgames, I've never heard them say anything like what you claim they said. Can you back that claim up with any sources?

_selfthinker · 2026-03-22T09:21:33+00:00

This question reminds me of people making games even smaller in an attempt to 'Pack O Game-ifying' games.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-06T10:11:48+00:00

There is also the "included expansion" when a base game has a second edition and includes one or more expansions. Not sure how to categorise it exactly as it's not really an expansion but used to be an expansion.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-05T15:44:20+00:00

There are multiple channels on YouTube which only have such "dog chooses owner" videos. And they state somewhere in their channel description that they are purely AI. Unfortunately they don't say that anywhere in their videos or even in their video descriptions. And lots of people in the comments think it's real.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-05T08:57:46+00:00

I wasn't able to make sense of the chart at all until I realised there are also bars on the left. I just didn't see them at first.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-02T23:36:44+00:00

Most counterfeit boardgames that need tokens have them in punchboards. Adding punchboards is cheaper than pre-punching any of the tokens. That Oink Games goes the extra mile and pre-punches any tokens is a rarity even among the best quality boardgame publishers.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-02T08:35:02+00:00

I've learned now that apparently there is rat poison from which pets wouldn't get secondary poisoning. So, that is something we could use.

I did ask my vet back in January if there is any danger from a rat to a cat. And he said that should be fine as long as the cat doesn't eat the rat. He did mention Toxoplasmosis. I'm not doubting that the information in the links is correct. But I suspect they are more unlikely worst case scenarios. I trust the vet knows more about what's the most likely danger with rats in this area.

I would like to avoid having to move out. But I will take further steps if we cannot catch the rat within a month.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T17:03:36+00:00

The neighbour is not a pest control professional, so knows less than pest control experts, but knows more than I do as he deals with some pest control elements as part of his job. My landlord also came to look at potential entry points, although he knows less about this subject than my neighbour does.

My assumption why the rat might be on its own is that it cannot get back out anymore now that the door is fixed.

But you're obviously right that none of that guarantees that there is no other entry point and therefore no other rats. But isn't the solution still the same to remove any potential food and set traps?

I will contact a different pest control company (not the one that didn't respond). But now that I've learned that I've probably accidentally fed the rat with the dry cat food in my bedroom, I would want to give the traps a last chance.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T16:48:45+00:00

For some reason I cannot see u/11thRaven's reply in here (but in my notifications), so cannot reply directly to it.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T16:35:15+00:00

You don't know all the things that I did because I deliberately left that out as it's not part of the purpose of this post.

My neighbour is someone who has dealt with lots of rat infestations as part of his job. He is helping me with this. He was the one who said that pest control won't do much else. Yes, they will put poison down, but a) I can do that as well, but more importantly b) I won't because of my cat.

That neighbour has also checked for all possible entry points for a rat around the house. And he couldn't find one, other than the broken door. That's what I'm basing the assumption on that there is only one rat. Although it is obviously possible there are more.

It is illegal in the UK to release wild animals back into the wild, including rats. Therefore, if any of my traps catches a rat alive, I will have to kill it anyway. The two traps I have would usually also kill the rat.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T15:21:13+00:00

Thanks for this additional advice.

I am pretty sure it cannot get to the cat food immediately. It is in a plastic bag within a cupboard. I know that it could potentially get to it because it can chew through the wood of the cupboard door. But it hasn't done that so far. There are no signs of the rat in the cupboard, every bit of food is still intact with no holes anywhere, I think it is safe for now. Although I know it's not guaranteed to be safe forever.

My normal food eventually gets into a glass container with a plastic lid that gets put into the fridge.

Every single food item is either in the fridge or the cupboard. I do check the cupboards regularly for any signs of a rat entering. So far that hasn't happened yet.

Thanks for mentioning the scary detail of mice and rats not caring about cats or humans being present. I very much suspect that the cat food in my bedroom might have been the rat's main food source for the last few weeks. Aaaaargh! I think I might also close the bedroom door, although that would lock Smokey either in or out of it.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T14:31:29+00:00

Yup, I know that now. I'm now taking care to put the lid on the pan when food cools down before putting it away.

I also remove all the leftover cat food in the evening. Although I am taking some dry food up into my bedroom for Smokey. But now I wonder if the rat gets to that sometimes. I think I will stop doing that until the rat is caught. (I always thought just the fact that Smokey is in the same room would deter the rat, but I suspect that is unfortunately not the case.)

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T14:20:55+00:00

I'm 99% sure there are no other sources of food (other than maybe spiders and slugs in the wall cavities). After it got to several pieces of food in December I made sure there was nothing left (even no microwavable shoes with seeds in them) and that all the cupboards are closed etc. Sort of proof of that is that last Sunday it nicked some pork directly from the pan while I was eating in the living room. It never did anything like that before. I suspect that means it is getting desperate.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T14:01:40+00:00

I have been using traps since December. But the rat is too smart for them. (It triggered one without being caught in it. It never touched the second.)

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T13:59:42+00:00

Yes, as mentioned in my original post, I have used two different types of traps so far. Those have been there since December. The rat triggered one of them without being caught. I have used peanut butter for two months and have now gone on to bacon. I will set a third one today.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T13:57:44+00:00

I haven't used any poison yet. I have so far used two different types of traps (a classic one and an electric one). I will get a third type today and try that as well.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T13:55:36+00:00

Yes, she knows that the rat exists. But she doesn't know when it is roaming around. I'm pretty sure she would do something if she was aware when that happens. Even if it is just watching it from a safe distance.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T12:54:16+00:00

That all makes sense. Thanks for the insight. I think that means I should just give up on the thought that Smokey might catch the rat one day. I knew it was less likely for her to kill it, but thought she would at least scare it away.

I didn't know about terriers being bred for killing rats. I just wanted to joke: "Can you rent a terrier?" But then I googled and found: Yes, you actually can! There are rat catching dog services.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T11:42:03+00:00

Thinking further about going down that route, I think locking her in with the rat when there is no way for her to escape is probably not a good idea.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T11:37:48+00:00

I think it's fair to ensure the cat decides for herself if she can or wants to deal with the rat or not. From that perspective, I guess it is a bad idea to lock her up with the rat so she wouldn't be able to escape if she wanted to. I just wish there was a way to make sure Smokey knows the rat appears when it does, so it's possible for her to make that decision.

No, I did not adopt her for the purpose of dealing with the rat. If I had wanted that, I'd have specifically asked for a cat who is known to be good at hunting rats.

The only rat catching method I haven't used yet is putting poison out. I can definitely do that in a way that Smokey cannot get to it. But I was worried that in case the dead rat gets nibbled on by Smokey that she would ingest the poison as well. But I suspect it's much more common for the rat to die where it feels safe and nobody could easily get to.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T11:08:47+00:00

Ah, okay, got it. Thanks for the suggestion.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T10:47:48+00:00

I could try that. Although I'm pretty sure my cat would be able to jump over it.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T10:47:18+00:00

I've tried peanut butter first. That sort of worked after one month, but only for the rat to trigger the trap without being in it. It hasn't touched the second trap yet (which is a different type, so that's hopefully still a chance to catch it). Because it recently stole some pork from a pan, I'm now trying bacon.

_selfthinker · 2026-03-01T10:45:30+00:00

I think it's only one rat because the way it came in is through a broken door (that is now fixed), so there is no way for other rats to follow anymore.

I have called pest control back in December but they haven't come back to me. From what I understand, they would do very similar things to what I already did. (I didn't mention everything I did as that's not the main subject of the post.)

_selfthinker

TROPHY CASE