Exploding Kittens is a quick, fun card game with rules that are easy to follow, which is why it is a favourite among households. If you’re looking for the Exploding Kittens rules then you’re in the right place! We’ll take you through step by step how to play this popular board game.
The game's main premise is to avoid the exploding kittens within the deck of cards. If you draw an exploding kitten you are out of the game! Continue playing until only one player remains, making them the winner.
Let’s go into more detail:
Set up the Exploding Kittens Game
Your deck of cards is all you need to start playing. To begin the game, remove all 4 Exploding Kittens from your deck and put them to one side. Next, remove the 6 Defuse cards and deal 1 to each player. If there are any Defuses left over, shuffle at most 2 of these back into the main deck.
Deal the cards
Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards face down to each player, taking the total for each player to 8. Each player is allowed to look at their hand, but make sure not to show them to any opponents!
With the remaining cards in the deck, insert enough Exploding Kittens back into the deck so that there is 1 less than the number of players. Remove any excess Exploding Kittens from the game. Place the deck face down in the middle of the table which will be your draw pile.
Take your turn
There is not a set rule who goes first so decide between yourselves. The first player creates the discard pile by placing down their first card. Read the instructions on the card to learn what it does. During your turn, you are able to play as many cards as you like. On the other hand, you can choose to pass and play no cards during a turn.
To end your turn, draw a card from the draw pile. If the card you pick up is not an Exploding Kitten, then play continues clockwise.
How to win Exploding Kittens
The game ends when every player explodes by drawing an Exploding Kitten and not having the cards to avoid it. There is no way for you to run out of cards in the draw pile because there are enough Exploding Kittens in the deck to kill all but one player.
What do the cards mean in Exploding Kittens?
You have the chance to draw lots of different types of cards. Below we break down each of the cards you could draw.
Exploding Kittens cards
If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you must show the card immediately and this could mean you’re out of the game. The only way to prevent this card from disqualifying you is if you have a defuse card to use. There are 4 Exploding Kittens in a pack.
Defuse cards
There are 6 Defuse cards within the deck and these are the most powerful card you can have. If you have a defuse card, you can use this after drawing an exploding kitten to stop you from dying. Once you’ve placed your defuse card onto the discard pile, you are allowed to place the exploding kitten anywhere you like in the draw pile. For all of you competitive players out there, you could tactically place the kitten so that a certain player draws it.
Nope cards
A Nope card is a great way of avoiding unwanted actions as it stops you from having to obey any card placed for your turn. The only time this cannot be used is after an Exploding Kitten or Defuse card.
A Nope card can be played at any time, even if it isn’t your turn. You can also ‘nope’ a ‘nope’ creating a double negative and allowing the cancelled action to happen again. With five Nope cards in the deck, this could end up being a long train of Nopes!
Attack cards
An attack card forces the next player to take two turns in a row; you can find 4 in a pack. Ways to combat an Attack card if you get hit with one are:
- Play a Nope card so you do not have to take two turns. The person who plays the Attack card will then draw a card as usual.
- Play a counter Attack card. This sends the attack to the next player who must take two turns instead.
Skip cards
Skip cards end your turn so you do not have to draw a card. If you play a skip card after an attack card is placed, you are allowed to skip one of the turns but you will still have to take one turn. Again, there are 4 of these cards in the pack.
Favour cards
This special card allows you to force another player to give you one of their cards. They get to choose which card they want to give you. There are 4 in total in your deck.
See the future
This fun card can be found 5 times in your deck. It lets you see the top 3 cards from the draw pile so you know what’s coming up. Peek at the cards without showing any other players and make sure to put them back in the same order.
Shuffle cards
Playing a shuffle card means the whole draw pile gets shuffled. It is useful to use this card if you’ve already used your ‘See the Future’ card and know an Exploding Kitten is coming your way. Rather than relying on a defuse card, the shuffle can help you avoid the kitten.
Cat cards
There are 4 of each type of the 5 cat cards. On their own, these cards are powerless, but if you collect two of these cards you can play them as a pair to steal a random card from any player.
Special combos
The creators of Exploding Kittens suggest only playing with special combos after you’ve become familiar with the instructions above. Special combos mean that you can play:
Two of a kind
Playing with these rules means that if you play two of any card then you can steal a random card from another player. If you play two cards this means the instructions on them cannot be used and you simply steal a card instead.
Three of a kind
If you have three of any card, you can play them all at once. This time, however, you can pick a player and request a particular card you want. If they have it, you get to take it. If they do not have it in their hand, you’ll receive nothing. As with two cards, you should ignore instructions on the cards when playing as a special combo.
Example turn
An example of how you could use your cards within a turn includes:
- You choose to ‘See the Future’ so you can peek at the next 3 cards. You notice that there is an exploding kitten that you are about to draw.
- To avoid the exploding kitten, you decide to Shuffle all of the cards.
- Wait! A player wants to prevent you from shuffling and has played a Nope card. It’s still your turn, so it’s time to come up with a strategy.
- You decide to Attack the next player so your turn ends and they have to take 2 turns.
Explore Exploding Kittens
If you’re a fan of Exploding Kittens, explore all games within the collection and check out different versions such as Exploding Minions or Exploding Kittens Recipes for Disaster.