Exploding Kittens: A Card Game About Kittens and Explosions and Sometimes Goats - ENGLISH VERSION

At the time of writing this there are mountains of reviews (rightly) praising Exploding Kittens for its accessibility, production values, presentation and general excellence. There aren't really any reviews explaining what exactly a 'Russian Roulette' card game actually entails, so as endlessly charming as the game is (and it really is), I thought I'd explain how the game works and why it is an excellent game in its own right.The mechanics are pretty simple. Each turn you will (generally) have a number of cards in your hand that allow you to do a number of different things (more on those in a second). You END your turn by drawing a card. If you draw an Exploding Kitten card, you are out of the game and the card is removed from the deck. Hence the 'Russian Roulette' element. In every game there will be one less Exploding Kitten card in the deck than there are players, so in the end one person will win when everyone else has drawn an Exploding Kitten card.The game is spiced up by all of the other cards in the deck. It is worth mentioning to begin with that everyone starts with one Defuse card, and others can be drawn from the deck during the game. Defuse cards are the only cards that can save you from an Exploding Kitten. If you draw an Exploding Kitten and have a Defuse card, you can play it and place the Exploding Kitten card back in the deck wherever you want, in sight of the other players or not (in case it's not obvious, that element adds a really devious strategical element to the game).All of the other cards can be played prior to you drawing your card and ending your turn, and generally in some way reduce your chances of drawing a card. For example, the See The Future card allows you to look at the top three cards of the deck before you draw a card, the Skip card skips your turn entirely, and the Shuffle card does what it says on the turn and allows you to shuffle the deck before drawing a card. There are also cards with art on them that have no actions, and you can collect these and play them in sets to allow you to take cards from other players.The action cards are perfectly balanced and designed to add strategical and (to some degree) bluff elements to what is essentially a game of luck. There is no getting away from the fact that luck plays a heavy part in this game, but actually the playing of the actions cards and subtle attempts at deceiving the other players make this game feel far more strategic than it actually is, which is a good thing. Ultimately every game will include some element of trying to mislead other players and trap them into drawing an Exploding Kitten card, and that is part of what gives the game its high replay value.Games are quick, normally taking no more than 15 to 20 minutes, and much like other casual card games like UNO, there is normally a strong desire to 'to just play one more time' before finishing or moving on to something else. I was an initial Kickstarter backer for the game, and have played it as part of game nights as well as with various combinations with my family in more casual settings, and everyone has taken to the game well and wanted to play a few games in a sitting rather than one.When I was younger I remember playing UNO and various traditional card based games with my family either on family holidays, after meals, or at family gatherings and such. For me Exploding Kittens is that sort of game for a new generation, a game that is most certainly casual and can be won by anyone due to the luck element, but that contains enough charm, strategy, and that all important 'just one more game' factor to make it a stable for any family or group. As such I would heartily recommend it; in my view this game is a genuine classic that deserves to be as highly owned as the likes of UNO.On one final point as to whether this is suitable for children or not, given that the game inherently involves explosions and kittens there are some morbid elements that parents may think are unsuitable for very young children, but actually the game is presented in a very comedic way, and I would have thought that the game would be suitable for any children that are old enough to understand the rules. The box says it's suitable for 7 and up, which feels about right to me. I do reiterate that this is a review of the standard deck though; the NSFW (Not Safe For Work) deck contains explicit cards with very mature themes, and is most certainly not suitable for children. If you take my recommendation and buy one of these to play in a family, make sure you buy the right one if you're playing with children!

Love love love this. I am a fan of the originals and love the minions. The cards are funny and it was easy to learn especially after knowing the rules of the original.

Great addition to a fantastic card game

Overall a great game! Fun and easy (once understood how to play). However, personally (obviously won’t apply to everyone), found the game hard to understand/get the jist of. That’s more of a personal issue though! Many might have a better grasp than myself, hence the 4/5 opposed to 5/5 from me.Great value for money, great play (once I got the idea lol), compact and not many pieces. I’d say suitable to take travelling for entertainment!

I loooove this game, and you can always expand the world with other set of cards!I also think it’s great value for money and had a fantastic time with friends playing this.

A game we come back to time and time again. It’s a game that both kids and adults enjoy.

This is a great family game! I was searching for a card game that was small and compact yet contained all the fun, engaging elements a classic party activity should have. I came across Exploding Kittens on Amazon and I have to say, I didn’t hear about the hype but I understand it now.This game is for mixed ages and doesn’t draw away from the classic competitive, strategic entity yet delivers a round of laughs and jokes. The game really gets you thinking in order to plan your moves ahead, and is full of laughter and surprises.The visuals of the game are stunning. The party pack came in a beautiful box (which I don’t want to explain to much as it will spoil the amazing contents) and was delivered with care. The animations and graphics on the game cards really stand out from there opponents, as I haven’t see anything like this.The game is tricky to understand at first. Undertaking not only the rules and what cards to use but how each card works and playing methodically. Exploding Kittens definitely emphasises the 'more the merrier’ prophecy.It takes a roughly two rounds to get a grasp of how the game works, but do watch the YouTube videos by Matthew Inman (I believe) who describes it all effortlessly.Definitely try this out but do avoid getting exploded!

If you enjoyed Exploding Kittens you'll enjoy this one too. The game is a fun way to spend 15 minutes or so but didn't hold my 8 & 10 year olds attention for much longer. The box is huge (about the size of a very thick A5 book) compared to the cards inside which are normal playing card sized. Would be useful if it came with a bag for the cards to make it easier to travel with