by Gregory Johnson, 23 July 2026
Decision Games is the owner of the Intellectual Property rights to most of the SPI (Simulations Publications, Inc.) catalog of games. Recently, Decision Games has been polling their customers about what SPI games they would like to see reprinted. I voted in several of these questionnaires. To my surprise, one of my choices made it into a reprint, Year of the Rat. These reprints have been done as “Deluxe” versions of the original game. We are going to have a look at how the new Year of the Rat Deluxe edition compares to the original game.
For an introduction to YotR, check out Aaron Danis’ unboxing article here.
click images to enlarge
The Rules
The Deluxe Edition rule book is the original Year of the Rat rules folder with some additional and updates. The rule book is 30 pages with the first 20 pages covering the game rules. There are two pages of optional rules. The final eight pages cover setting up the game and numerous scenarios. The rules are now a more easily readable set of rules with some graphics and highlighted explanatory sections included throughout.
What is new:
- Revised orders of battle for both sides
- An extension to the game to bring it into the Summer of 1972.
- Expanding rules for airmobile operations.
- More scenario variants and optional units
- Modifications to the game map
- Errata and clarifications from the original game.
- Additional options to the original historical deployments.
The Counters
The original Year of the Rat counter sheet was made up of 200 two-toned counters with shades of Olive Drab as the US and Allies and Yellow and Black representing the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.
The deluxe edition has 342 multi-colored counters representing the original counters plus additional counter for the expanded rules and scenarios.
The Map
The most obvious difference between the two game editions of the map. The original map was a paper 22” x 34” map. The player’s aid charts were printed on the map.
The deluxe edition map is now a two-piece full-color mounted map board.
Player’s Aid Charts
New to the deluxe edition are separate player’s aid charts. The charts are printed on heavy card stock in full color. The charts include:
- Communist Turn Record & Reinforcement Track
- Allied Turn Record & Reinforcement Track
- Two single sided Combat Results Table sheets.
- Two double sided sheets. One side includes The Terrin Effects Chart and Allied Airmobile and Air Assault Summary. The other side has the Bombardment Results Table, Bombardment Results Explanations, Victory Points table for bases and towns, and a Locations list.
In Summary
Decision Games has done a fantastic job of reprinting this old 1972 SPI classic game. The presentation is high quality and the components are top-notch. For those of you that would like to experience a classic game from SPI, the Year of the Rat Deluxe Edition would be a great choice to pick up.
You can chat about this game in the Modern World section of our discussion forums
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