Exploding Kittens is the highest grossing project in KIKSTARTER history ever. The development of this game was financed by more than 219,000 supporters, which collected almost 9 million dollars. The creator of the game, Mathew Innman, is a popular cartoonist, since 2009 making funny comics.

Success and risk

Exploding Kittens is a game of trying your luck and pulling a lion by the whisker. Well, more precisely, kittens. The only goal you care about is not getting blown up. Everything else doesn’t matter. After all, you need to save at least your own skin. The absurdity and style of the card designs is the main key that helps to reveal the idea of ​​the game.

Cats are like bullets in this game. And there will always be one cat less than there are players. For example, in a five-player game, 4 exploding kittens cards will be shuffled into the deck. So, when you play, it feels like the deck is like a weapon aimed at you. Because every time you draw a card from the top of the deck, you risk causing an explosion and being out of the game.

Game rules

A simple outline of the rules for Exploding Kittens would look like this:

1. I draw a card
2. I try not to explode

It says on the game box that you will learn the rules in 2 minutes. However, understanding the strategic nuances may take several games. This is because, most of the time, when playing for the first time, players look more at the card designs. More concerned with the fun theme of the game. And only after that, they start thinking about what better sequence of actions they could compose from the cards in their hands.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself from an explosive end. The laser card (Defuse Card) diverts the kitten and thus you avoid the explosion. After using the laser, you never know where the exploding cat card will end up. Because the player secretly shuffles it into the deck. This is where the strategic nuances of the game begin. The card can be placed directly on top of the deck, tucked under the bottom of the deck, or just shuffled anywhere. And the purpose of these actions is to place the explosion on the other player. You just decide what looks better to you. Various action cards, such as the All-seeing Goat, also help to get out of the situation. This card allows you to see three cards from the top of the deck, so it gives an idea of ​​whether the bomb is close and if I need to play additional action cards to avoid the explosion. Or maybe it’s somewhere deeper and I can confidently draw a card.

All in all, Exploding Kittens is one of those games that lets you not think too much about the rules and just enjoy an easy game with your friends. This is because the game evolves based on what cards are played by all the players. So, every game will be different and it will feel like you don’t always have control over how the game will play out. But you will always try to discover which cards to react to various situations.