My own experiences with letting rats out:

Rats should get at least an hour of "playtime" a day. That is, time outside their cage, able to run free in a room or on a couch. If this is something you may feel you don’t have the time for, than a rat may not be a good pet. But after owning a couple rats, you’ll find you’ll have them out of their cage the entire time you’re home.

The bedroom is my rat's favorite place. I’ve rat-proofed the room, so they can run around and do whatever they please. I’ve taken tubing that is used for aquariums, cut it open and put it around all electrical wires, then taped it up. That is the main worry about letting rats run around. You don’t want them biting into a live wire. I took all paper products that I didn’t want destroyed and moved them. About the only other problem is the peeing and pooing, which is no big deal to me. They climb all over my bike, the table next to my bed, my bed, on my golf bag (and Felix has fallen inside, man that was hilarious), on top of their cage, under the dresser, and behind the bed. As long as I close the door so they can’t get out, it’s great.

I’ll be lying on my bed watching TV and out of the side of my eye I’ll see a black flash zip by. That’s Felix, who seems to love the freedom of my room the most. Oscar always climbs on the bed to get pet. Luke seems to have taken to climbing like a monkey in the jungle. The little guy climbs over everything.

Sometimes I’ll take a nap and let the guys run around the room while I sleep. They want to play, so they’ll start licking my face to try and wake me up.

Luke loves to play with my hand. I’ll swing my hand on the floor in circles and he’ll try and catch it, just going round and round and round like a dog chasing his tale. It’s hilarious.

Oscar will chase any rope or string you drag along the floor. Just like a cat, he finally catch it, have it in his mouth, then not know what else to do with it. When the string moves, he tries to catch it again.

Felix loves to be pet the most. He’ll sit in one of his favorite spots, waiting for me to pet him. When I do and hit him right in the perfect spot behind his ear, he grinds his teeth and moves his jaw as if he was trying to talk. This means he’s in heaven.

They get to run around the house sometimes too, but usually not for too long. They start getting into stuff that I don't want them to. They generally get out of their cage the whole time I'm home, whether it's in the room, the hallway or the whole place.