Exploding Kittens

Players take turns drawing from a deck that hides one or more explosive cards; drawing an explosive card eliminates that player unless they play a defusal. The deck also contains action cards that let players peek at upcoming cards, skip or force extra draws, shuffle the deck, or otherwise manipulate the draw order. Play cycles quickly as the deck shrinks and the risk of drawing an explosive card increases, encouraging tactical use of action cards, hand management, and targeted interactions with other players to survive. The game ends when only one player remains un-exploded.

Players: 2–5 best 4
Playing time: 15 min
Age: 7+
Complexity: 1.1 / 5

6.2 on Ludoya from $19.99Card GameAnimalsSet CollectionHand ManagementTake That

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On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya

1,667
Plays logged: 1,171
Players: 16m 59s
Average play: 532
In collections: 10
On wishlists: 1
Pre-ordered

6.2/10

from 176 Ludoya reviews

Fun7.5
Interaction7.5
Replayability7.3
Uniqueness6.9
Looks7.0
Accessibility8.4

Garfield6.0
#18 Nice little filler, but not more. [c] Theme: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar:  Gameplay: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar:  Interaction: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  Artwork: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar:  Luck: :star::star::star::star::star:  Strategy: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar:  Components: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  Play duration: :star::star::star::star::star:  Easy to teach: :star::star::star::star::star:  Rules quality: :star::star::star::star::star:  Setup time: :star::star::star::star::star:  No downtime: :star::star::star::star::nostar:  Replay value: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar:  [/c]
Poteet6.0
It's not good, but it has provided some laughs with the right groups and circumstances.
Jan Solo5.0
Sencillo juego de cartas, de arte bastante feo. Realmente no entiendo su éxito.

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Do I have to draw a card to end my turn, or can I just pass?

You must end your turn by drawing a card from the top of the Draw Pile; playing cards is optional but your turn doesn’t end until you draw (page 1).

If I draw an Exploding Kitten but I have a Defuse, what do I do?

Show the Exploding Kitten immediately; if you have a Defuse you play it instead of dying, discard the Defuse, then secretly put the Exploding Kitten back into the Draw Pile anywhere without viewing or reordering the other cards — your turn is over after playing it (page 2).

Can someone Nope an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse?

Nope stops any action except for an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse — you cannot Nope those two (page 2).

How do Attack and Skip interact — can Skip completely block an Attack?

An Attack ends your turn(s) without drawing and forces the next player to take two turns; a single Skip cancels only one of those turns, so you need two Skips to avoid both turns (page 2).

How many Exploding Kittens and Defuse cards go into the deck during setup?

Remove all 4 Exploding Kittens and 6 Defuse cards to deal hands, give each player one Defuse, return the extra Defuses to the deck (two-player variant returns only 2 extras), then insert Exploding Kittens so there is one fewer than the number of players (e.g., 4 players ⇒ 3 Kittens) (page 1).

If a card gets Noped, what happens to it — is it still discarded?

Any cards that have been Noped are lost and remain in the Discard Pile; you can play a Nope at any time before an action begins and you can Nope a Nope (page 2).