Exploding Kittens card game: rules and tips
Exploding Kittens rules explained: draw cards and hope you avoid the exploding kitten, use defuse, skip and attack cards to survive. Short strategy tips.
- Type
- Card game
- Players
- 2–5
- Age
- Ages 7+
- Play time
- 15 min
- First released
- 2015
- Designed by
- Elan Lee, Matthew Inman, Shane Small
Exploding Kittens is a short card game of luck and bluffing in which players draw from a shared deck that hides several exploding kitten cards. If you draw one and cannot stop it, you are out. The last player remaining wins. Along the way, action cards let you peek at the top of the deck, skip your draw, force another player to draw twice or steal a card. The game was created by Elan Lee, Matthew Inman and Shane Small, and it became famous through a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign in 2015. Its silly humour and very short rounds make it popular with children, teenagers and casual groups who want a quick laugh.
Our verdict
Exploding Kittens is light, fast and full of tension. Each draw feels risky, and putting a defused kitten back exactly where your friend will find it is a funny moment. Rounds take about fifteen minutes, so it fits between longer games or before dinner. The rules are simple enough for children who can read short card texts. It is not a deep strategy game, but it teaches basic probability in a natural way: as the deck shrinks, the danger grows.
What works
- Very fast rounds
- Simple and funny
- Easy to teach to children
What does not
- Player elimination means some people wait
- Outcome depends heavily on luck
How to play Exploding Kittens
Remove the exploding kittens and defuse cards from the deck. Give each player one defuse card and deal several other cards to each. Shuffle back one fewer exploding kitten than the number of players, plus some spare defuse cards, and place the deck in the middle. On your turn, you may play as many cards from your hand as you like, or none, and then you must draw the top card of the deck, which ends your turn. If you draw an exploding kitten, you must play a defuse card and then secretly put the kitten back anywhere in the deck. Without a defuse, you are out. Useful cards include See the Future, which lets you look at the top cards, Skip, which ends your turn without drawing, Attack, which ends your turn and makes the next player take two turns, Shuffle, and Nope, which cancels another action. Pairs of matching cat cards let you steal from another player.
Tips for new players
- Keep your defuse card for as long as possible; do not trade it away.
- Save Skip and Attack cards for the late game when the deck is small.
- Use See the Future before deciding whether to draw or to skip.
- Remember where other players hid defused kittens if you saw them place one.
Good for
Exploding Kittens: common questions
How many players can play Exploding Kittens?
The original edition is for two to five players.
How long does a game of Exploding Kittens take?
A round usually takes around 15 minutes.
What happens if you draw an exploding kitten without a defuse card?
You are out of the game, and play continues until only one player remains.
Exploding Kittens belongs to its owners. Playdonya is not connected to them and does not sell this game; the cover is our own illustration.
