Learn to Play Exploding Kittens (without telling your friends you don't know how...)

• Posted on 5 November 2019
• By Eric Bennion
• Posted in Card Game, Exploding Kittens, Tabletop Games
• 0

Want a quick tutorial on how to play one of our favorite, silliest card games? We've got you covered!

So you've made it this far without anyone figuring out that you don't know how to play Exploding Kittens, eh? Don't worry.....we have your back.  This quick tutorial will have you all set and ready to play this great casual game like a pro.

Part 1: Setup the Game

Let's start with the setup. 

1 - Open the box and take out the cards.  Remove all of the Exploding Kitten cards and all of the Defuse cards. Once you have them removed, shuffle up the rest of the cards. 

2 - Deal each player 4 cards then give them each a Defuse card.  Everyone should now have 5 cards. 

3 - Count the number of players and subtract 1 from that count.  Take that many Exploding Kitten cards along with any remaining defuse cards and shuffle them into the deck. (As an example... if there are 4 players, then you would shuffle 3 Exploding Kitten cards into the deck.)

4 - Place the deck in the center of the table. You are ready to play. 

Part 2: Playing the Game

The goal of Exploding Kittens is to not draw an Exploding Kitten card and......die.

On your turn you have an option to play one or more cards from your hand. You play cards from your hand by placing them into the discard pile and performing the action that is described on the card. Each player's turn ends by drawing a card from the top of the deck. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you die and are out of the game UNLESS you are able to use a Defuse card to prevent the explosion. By playing a Defuse card after drawing an Exploding Kitten card, you are able to survive for at least another round. After successfully playing a Defuse card, place the Exploding Kitten card back into the draw deck in a location of your choice.

After you draw a card, your turn is over and play passes to the next person.

Special Cards (because every game deserves special cards)

• Nope Cards - Nope cards counter the actions of cards played by other players and can be played at any time. (It is always a great feeling to have a handful of Nope cards). Nope cards can be used to prevent other player's Nope cards, which is really awesome or really awful depending on your point of view. Nope cards can stop the action of any card(s) except for Defuse cards and Exploding Kittens.
• Bizarre Cat Cards - The exploding cats aren't the only cats we get to play with. You'll get to meet a variety of bizarre cats, like Tacocat or Hairy Potato Cat. You'll need to collect sets of some of these cards to use them though. When you have a pair, you may play the bizarre cats as an action card, laying them down in the discard pile and then taking the action listed on the cards. 

Part 3: All of the Winning

Winning Exploding Kittens is easy... just don't explode! The last player alive wins the game. 

We love Exploding Kittens and would love to hear about your favorite Exploding Kittens moments.  Leave us a comment!