How to play Exploding Kittens

An Exploding Kittens deck. The original edition plays two to five; larger editions and the Party Pack go higher. Games take about 15 minutes.

Be the last player left in the game. You are out as soon as you draw an Exploding Kitten and cannot defuse it.

1. 1Take out all the Exploding Kittens and all the Defuse cards.
2. 2Shuffle the rest of the deck and deal seven cards to each player, then give everyone one Defuse card as well.
3. 3Put spare Defuse cards back into the deck. Your edition’s rulebook says how many to keep with fewer players.
4. 4Shuffle in Exploding Kittens equal to one fewer than the number of players, and return any extras to the box. Place the deck face down in the middle.

1. 1On your turn, play as many cards from your hand as you like, one at a time, or none at all. Each card goes face up on the discard pile and does what it says.
2. 2End your turn by drawing one card from the deck. Your turn is over—play passes to the left.
3. 3Attack ends your turn without drawing and forces the next player to take two turns in a row. Skip ends your turn without drawing (against an Attack, it only cancels one of the two turns).
4. 4See the Future lets you secretly look at the top three cards. Shuffle mixes the deck. Favor makes another player give you a card of their choice.
5. 5Nope cancels any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse, and can be played at any time—even on someone else’s turn. A Nope can itself be Noped.
6. 6Cat cards do nothing alone. Play a matching pair to steal a random card from another player.
7. 7If you draw an Exploding Kitten, play a Defuse, then secretly slip the Kitten back into the deck anywhere you like. Without a Defuse, you are out.

• Exploded players leave the game, and their hands are discarded.
• The game ends when only one player is left; that player wins.

• Three of a kind: play three matching cards, name a card, and take it from another player if they have it.
• Five different cards: discard five cards with different titles to take any card from the discard pile.
• Expansions such as Imploding Kittens and Streaking Kittens add new card types and more players.

• Hold your Defuse until you need it—you cannot play it any other time.
• After defusing, hide the Kitten right on top of the deck if the next player looks weak, or near the bottom to buy yourself time.
• Save Attack and Skip for when See the Future shows a Kitten coming.
• Keep a Nope in hand late in the game; a well-timed Nope can turn an Attack back into a death sentence for someone else.