Overview of the Game
Exploding Kittens is a card game that combines humor with simple mechanics. The objective is to avoid drawing an "Exploding Kitten" card, which eliminates you from the game unless you have a defuse card to counter it. Players take turns drawing cards from the deck, playing action cards to skip turns, attack other players, or peek at the deck [1:4]. The game relies heavily on juvenile humor and quirky illustrations by cartoonist Matthew Inman
[1:4].
Game Versions and Expansions
There are two primary versions of Exploding Kittens: the standard version and the NSFW (Not Safe For Work) version, which contains more adult-themed content [1:2]. Several expansions add new mechanics and cards to the game, such as Imploding Kittens, Streaking Kittens, and Barking Kittens
[4:2]. The Party Pack includes a collection of expansion cards
[4:2]. Additionally, there are themed base games like Zombie Kittens and Good vs Evil Kittens, each introducing unique card mechanics
[4:2].
Combining Base Games and Expansions
Players can combine different base games and expansions to create a larger deck and introduce varied gameplay mechanics [4:3]. However, it's important to consider the number of players and desired game length when combining decks, as larger decks can extend the duration of the game significantly
[4:3].
Solo Variant and Alternative Play
For those interested in solo play, GamerCatDad has created a variant that allows for single-player gameplay. This involves specific rules and adjustments to the standard game mechanics [2:1]. While not officially supported, this variant offers a different way to enjoy Exploding Kittens alone.
Recommendations for New Players
Exploding Kittens is generally considered suitable for all ages, though the NSFW version should be reserved for older players due to its mature content [1:8]. It's recommended to start with the basic version or one of the themed base games before exploring expansions, depending on your interest in the additional mechanics they offer
[4:2].
I hope this is the right place to ask this question.
My SIL is getting my son (15, m) this game for Christmas because her kids (15, 13 and 10) love it. But I've never played it.
Halp!
There are two versions. The red one is fine for kids. The black one is NSFW.
The game itself is super simple and a blast to play.
What about the expansion packs?
I know SIL's heart is in the right place..she and her family are really into tabletop gaming. We are not so much...like we have a ton of board games and card-type games that sit in the closet and just gather dust. Like, we got Jumanji last year and played it maybe a half dozen times. Every once in awhile we'll drag out Logo The Board Game. But we just..don't game. Well..OK. So THAT'S not true. If this were a console game (we're really into the Wii /Wii U games), we'd be all over it.
The expansions are completely fine for kids. One had a cone of shame (imploding kittens) that gets passed around. It is super silly. All three of my kids (10, 8, and 5) love it.
It's a card game that relies heavily on juvenile humor and the artist's talent as a cartoonist for its entertainment value rather than interesting game mechanics. It's harmless, not inappropriate for that age or anything.
Sounds like it's right up my son's alley then, since he is a teenage male with a perpetual love of toilet and other such juvenile humor. Because..men. They never get over that stuff, I swear. LOL
LOL he'll probably love it, then.
It’s great! It’s just a card game!
I played it once, it's pretty innocent. I think for those age ranges it's ok.
the website does a good job
we have it. I like the cartoonist, but don't think the game is that much fun. It's pretty tame except some of the illustrations are a little weird
Wow! That’s a totally different game. But seems intriguing.
Wow this is really cool
Thanks!
I am late the party when it comes to loving this game as I state in my intro on the video. But I just wanted to play it more and saw that there are no youtube videos on a solo variant so I figured what the hell - grabbed my phone and made one today. It is based on the only thing I could find - which is GamerCatDad's take on it, which I really enjoy. I'm currently at 50/50 win rate. I hope you find it usefully. Just skip the video and click the link in the description to get the written instructions from GamerCatDad's wordpress page. Thanks!
Hi everyone, it is me again with the attempts to produce videos about Kittens Game. I got the general sentiment the last time that watching a let's play is not too entertaining because there is nothing spectacular to look at but I just could not stop :)
Elevator pitch: Are you a beginner and just don't know yet how to survive your first winter without too many casualties? Maybe you are a seasoned player that wants to help a friend to get started? This video tutorial has all the answers to the very basic questions and a tiny bit more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhEcvK1MZ_E
It has two parts. The general explanation of what incremental games are and what is the point of them, and a hands-on practical example of getting started with a very first run of Kittens. I am sure that most people here don't need it anymore, but you may use it to get your friends play and enjoy it, which was my initial intention.
So, a more serious reply now. First, it is really hard to make an incremental game interesting to watch, and I appreciate your attempt to do so. I also appreciate that you're fairly good at the game. Nearly every 'tuber I've seen play incremental games and make videos for YouTube are painfully incompetent at the game. You're good at both playing and making the videos, and gratz, you're the first such 'tuber I've seen! (This would include me; I tried to do unique stuff, and at the time, no one had made a Swarm Simulator video, so I did so. Is that why YouTube banned me? I have no idea. But I had a house fan cooling a laptop with a dead fan, a dollar store microphone and Audacity doing the noise filtering, so it was one of my worst videos from a technical standpoint. Also one of my worst performers in the metrics.)
Factorio vids are a dime a dozen, and it is interesting to watch. So if there's a niche modpack or strange way of playing that interests you, that could be a way to get some people coming to the channel to check out the Kittens stuff. Sorry, I'm not going to watch much of it because not only do I bore of watching Kittens, I tend to bore of playing Kittens eventually, usually take several months off, the inevitable purring craving returns, and I blow the old game flat because something new like policies has appeared, and I want to have a fresh experience. Now, if you do the burner thing, split down to yellow belts with the individual machines, or this happens. I've noticed even vanilla speed runners using red belts have a tendency to split down to yellow for the machines and inserters because it's cheaper. Ah, the simplicity of Kittens...
Thank you very much for your appreciation and recognition! It is especially nice to hear from somebody who knows firsthand the difficulties of making such videos.
I started the channel so that I could produce Kittens videos, and not the other way around. I guess, that is one of the reasons there is a certain level of quality.
Now I am trying to play some other games as well. As you noted, it could be easier to bring more people to the channel with something more widely known. I am making Volcanoids videos for now, but Factorio could work out as well. And when I play Factorio I tend to use yellow belts everywhere I can. Not sure why... Saving the environment, I guess :)
Cool. I'd love one about resetting strats, as I always forget what's best, then put it off, then stop playing for a while
This guide from the wiki is really helpful. Do you have any questions that we could help with?
There is a section about half way down named "OK, so I'm resetting now. What exactly should I do, and in what order?"
thanks, it helped me a lot :)
i was doing deep runs of several weeks (up to space beacons and antimatter and stuff)
Thanks for the idea. However, I probably will need to research this one before I can say anything about it. I have only reset the game once. So far I am only good at starting the game :)
I've played quite the variety of incremental games, "idle" games, exponential games... I still don't know what "the point" of them is, haha. Entertainment I suppose :)
It is a very good question, indeed! If I am being honest, I usually start playing a new incremental game out of interest, and then simply cannot stop :) Similar to games like Factorio, etc.
And this is precisely why I hate the ending of Outer Wilds (not in the genre of incremental games.)
Me no understand "penny pinching" ...those things are expensive. The runs I've seen (at least the recent WRs) beacon the silo so hard that it can build the rocket faster than it can launch it and they hand inject all the parts. Where I see the most red belt is actually in the steel back end: They size it to fill a yellow conveyor with stone furnaces, and then once they have the steel/refractory furnace, replace all those furnaces with the double-speed variety, double the number of iron EMMs, and replace most of the yellow belt with red belt. Also, in 100% almost all of the red belt is used to bring together the iron and copper for the 48 green circuit front ends for the most ridiculous achievement I've ever seen in a video game. And it's in a video game that has an achievement for getting run over by your own train. (The funniest train accident I've ever seen was this guy who blew up a biter nest and had this medium biter following him for nearly a minute until it got splattered by a train. The player had no idea this was happening until I tagged him with the timestamp in a comment days after the gameplay.)
I like the thumbnail! The editing could be a little tighter and switching back and forth between your current game and a new one is a bit confusing, but overall it's well structured.
Hi,
I would need help with learning about exploding kittens universe. I have base game(nsfv) and I wanted to see which expansions are available and in what order should the be purchased. On one hand many guides list party pack, imploding kittens, striking kittens and barking kittens as only expansions(with tip that party pack is collection). But then I see zombie kittens, good vs evil kittens and I don't know what are they?
Can someone list me all expansions available for exploding kittens and tell me if some are not considered expansion then what are they?
I like this game and would want to learn more
Thank you
Everything you asked is on their website. The expansions are imploding, streaking and barking. Recipes for disaster and party pack are like mega packs with some(all?) expansion cards.
The rest - nsfw, good vs evil, minions, zombies- are base games, sometimes with a new card mechanic or two.
But them in whatever order you like.
Don’t stop til you have them all.
To piggyback on this post, I have a question. Can any of the base games (OG, zombies, etc) be combined? For example could you combine OG and zombies to have a game with both exploding kittens and zombie kitten cards/mechanics active? I can't seem to find a definitive answer on this. Thanks.
You really just have to take into account how many people are playing and how long you want to play. If you combine every base game and play with 6 people, its going to take forever for one game. I usually use the newest base game, all the unique mechanic cards from the other base games, and all the expansions, for a normal 6 person game and it still take a while but not enough to be dragging on. Of course the game is so fun, maybe a longer game is what your play group is after.
Thank you on your answer. I initially looked at their site but it is little confusing with zombies, minions etc. You did explain everyuthing I have asked so thank you :D
Hey everyone!
I'm working on a 2.5D survivors-like with sprite art, horror monsters, and a bit of chaos.
At night: you’re a fragile little cat trying to survive waves of monsters like ifrits, mummies, and man-eaters.
At daybreak: you level up fast and go full destruction mode.
The loop flips the usual formula — weak and limited visiblity at night, overpowered by day.
Curious what you'd want to see added — weapons? power-ups? ther are currently about 60 weapons and skills.
If you are interested you can wishlist on steam and metaquest (it's also for VR):
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2955630/Catjinni_Survivors/
https://www.meta.com/de-de/experiences/catjinni/9319040004779451/
Thought this might help some people out there. I love to play this game with my friends and family when I get the chance to. As I feel like most who’ve never played this game, or not often, there are always questions of how cards work or best way to win. I decided to make a “Master Guide” to Exploding Kittens with all of the expansions that I am aware of. You would be able to send these photos to your friends and family instead of digging to find the right rulebook for a specific card in question. It’s not pretty by any sense but I sure hope it helps! Let me know what you think!
UPDATE: With the all shares, comments, and recommendations so far, I will update the “Master Guide” hopefully in about couple weeks. I will make it more uniformed and easier to look at. I made this guide to help myself, but then thought about sharing it here so thats kinda why it does not look great. I will add the cards and rules I missed with the “Good vs Evil” game. I won’t be adding the Kickstarter exclusive cards due to not everyone having them (myself included). I wish I joined the Kickstarter back then, if I was aware of it, but I was only just starting my first job and barely on any social media. I will continue to read everyone’s comments and try my best to reply!
hows the progress?
Biggest recommendation. Make everything vertical. Having to turn the rule book just seems not as inviting. Maybe including the OG rules for all expansions as optional would be cool too but it's ok if you don't. I just prefer the OG rules. Optionally you could include the Kickstarter exclusive cards, the slap card from party pack as well if you wanted, and the one from the nope plush. Might as well include every official card. Heck even the coin card from the tiny edition. You could include if you wanted
Where is the Good vs. Evil stuff?
Also, isn't there a combo for if you use 5 different cards, you can take a card from the discard pile?
To be honest, i completely forgot about that when i made this. I have it but I haven’t mixed it in with all of my other cards yet
It doesn't matter. The 5 card combo no longer shows up in the rules later editions of the game.
You can make a house rules guide and add it there.
Thanks for this. I have Zombie Kittens and just put together a deck with the main 3 expansions today. Was dreading having to read through 4 different instruction booklets.
Its not perfect, but I believe it gets the idea through
Noice!
It's a great game. I personally dislike the theme, but boardgaming friends love it.
It's good as a "warm-up" game or just something to play whilst having a conversation; after the first few games it's not too taxing. There's not much going on. But that does make it perfect as a game to talk to friends over!
I have it!
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: being a fan of the physical game, it’s pretty much the same thing. You have the option of buying expansions, but it’s not really necessary. I say that because it allows you to try the expansions on occasional rounds, and wait times to find a match can take forever.... so it doesn’t seem like many players have them.
If you like the physical version then the app will be worth it. You can play online so you can play whenever you want against real people.
Yes!
I have the physical card game. Played it one evening and I dont feel a need for more.
Plus, not all kittens explode, so it's a bit of false advertising... just saying.
Hello there!
u/MarmaladeGamesStudio and u/Game_of_Kittens are excited to announce that the official video game sequel is on the way to bring you more fun and chaos than ever before!
https://reddit.com/link/1do92bb/video/2drwubd3nq8d1/player
Nope, we’re not kitten around. Follow us on social media for all the explosive updates! 💣
💥 Instagram
💥 X
💥 Facebook
💥 Tik Tok
💥 Discord
And let us know in the comments: what are you most excited to see in the game? 👇😺
I've said it before. I want the original game with all the extra cards from the Netflix version with the ability to pick cards you're stealing and putting EK back into the deck ANYWHERE you want.
With more cards etc
Looks interesting for the fact it looks crossplay-able.
I see steam support in there, that is huge. If this has crossplay, it might actually get a decent player base instead of being a little app on the app store.
I'm hoping for the other expansion packs in this one and possibly even a custom pack editor that's be really cool (oh wait that's just recipe for disaster)
Cool 😎 love exploding kittens (I made a little list I hope you add)
Other than the original, that would be free
Earn XP to customize avatars and play customized games
15 second timer for each turn, and time attack mode (3 second timer first each turn)
Hope you guys like these suggestions 😄 🐱💣....💥
The timer for players is a must. Too many jerks out there can troll and lock up a game by just not playing.
The First game already has a timer (the official game, not the Netflix version).
Another must have for an online game is a reputation mechanism. People that keep leaving at the beginning of a game or just after a few draws should lose rep. During matchmaking players with higher rep should be prioritized
easier game sharing with a direct link to the game would be nice. So that others don't have to type the code any more.
Yesterday I played with my gf for the first time and I decided that I must get this game, I looked at the expansions and I want all of them (I really want the hat and the cone lol)
What should I buy and which expansions?
*I would probably play a lot with my gf or my friend (we’ll probably be three people) or my family (we’re 5)
Thanks for the help!
Get all the expansions!
Wouldn’t it be too much cards for 2-4 people? (I would still might do it for the hats ��)
Yes it would, in my opinion.
We usually remove these cards: I’ll take that, Mark, Personal Attack, See the future, Potluck, Draw from the bottom. In the past 3 months we also decided to remove: all the cats, barking kittens, tower of power.
We also play with bonus card and custom made ones, but that’s a different topic (and a different deck set up). Search in this sub if you want to know more.
NSFW is exactly the same as Original, except for all the NSFW wordings and pictures.
Oh thanks, and should I buy all the expansions or just some?
Thanks all!
Definitely buy them all 3 expansions, they all make the game interesting in all sorts of different ways. It also all started just with me and my gf playing exploding kittens vanilla, then we moved on to buying the expansions one by one. It's definitely still our favourite game out there! :D
Ripped out their hearts and filled the hole with stuff that goes boom.
Old and improperly stored dynamite can sweat nitroglycerin. It crystallizes and becomes very reactive. Even the smallest vibration could make it go.
If that was the case a fuse wouldn’t light. The dynamite would just explode without warning.
Yeah I mentioned that. Its probably just for the game mechanic
You got some Arzt on you.
I wasn't expecting a LOST reference here.
I understand that reference
He was going to be the next Charles Darwin
It’s really a miracle they were never tripped in the centuries they sat there.
They go boom
Have fun trying to get past them on crushing. One of the hardest parts of the game.
I still remember how hard that shit was
Exploding Kittens gameplay explained
Exploding Kittens Gameplay Overview
Objective: The goal of the game is to avoid drawing an Exploding Kitten card. If you draw one, you explode and are out of the game unless you have a Defuse card.
Setup:
Game Rounds:
Card Types:
Winning the Game: The last player remaining who has not exploded wins the game.
Key Takeaways:
Recommendation: If you enjoy light-hearted, strategic card games with a bit of luck, Exploding Kittens is a fun choice. It's easy to learn and can accommodate various player counts, making it versatile for different gaming situations.
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