Exploding Kittens: The Rules

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How It Works

In the deck of cards are some Exploding Kittens. You play the game by putting the deck face down and taking turns drawing cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten. When that happens, that person explodes and they are out of the game.

All of the other cards will give you powerful tools to help you avoid exploding! This process continues until there's only 1 player left who wins the game.

Setup

1. To start, remove all the Exploding Kittens (3) from the deck and set them aside.
2. Remove all of the Defuses (5) from the deck and deal 1 to each player.
3. Insert the extra Defuse(s) back into the deck.

Defuse: Defuses are the most powerful cards in the game. These are the only cards that can save you from exploding. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, instead of dying, you can play a Defuse and reinsert the Kitten back into the Draw Pile anywhere you'd like in secret. Try to get as many Defuses as you can.

End your turn by drawing a card from the top of the Draw Pile into your hand and hoping it's not an Exploding Kitten.

Play continues clockwise around the table.

Remember: Play as many or as few cards as you'd like, then draw a card to end your turn.

[Important: Play-or-Pass, then draw.]

Ending the Game

Eventually, every player will explode except for one, who wins the game!

You won't ever run out of cards in the Draw Pile because you inserted enough Exploding Kittens to kill all but 1 player.

Three More Things

• A good strategy generally is to save your cards early in the game while your chance of exploding is low.
• You can always count the cards left in the Draw Pile to figure out the odds of exploding.
• There is no maximum or minimum hand size. If you run out of cards in your hand, there's no special action to take. Keep playing. You'll draw at least 1 more card on your next turn.

STOP READING! GO PLAY!

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SPECIFIC CARDS, FLIP THIS SHEET OVER

Exploding Kittens Field Guide

Exploding Kitten (3 Cards): You must show this card immediately. Unless you have a Defuse, you're dead. When you die, put the kitten that killed you face up in front of you so that everyone can see that you're dead, and put the rest of your cards face down in front of you.

Defuse (5 Cards): If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can play this card instead of dying. Place your Defuse in the Discard Pile. Then take the Exploding Kitten, and without reordering or viewing the other cards, secretly put it back in the Draw Pile anywhere you'd like. Want to hurt the player right after you? Put the kitten right on top of the deck. If you'd like, hold the deck under the table so that no one else can see where you put it. Your turn is over after playing this card.

Attack (2x) (3 Cards): End your turn without drawing a card, and immediately force the next player to take 2 turns in a row. If the victim of an Attack plays this card on any of their turns, the attacks "stack" and their turns are immediately transferred to the next player, who must take the Attacker's current and remaining untaken turn(s) PLUS 2 additional turns. For Example: If the victim of an Attack plays another Attack, the next player must take 4 turns. However, if the victim completes 1 turn, and THEN plays an Attack on their second turn, the next player must take only 3 turns.

Shuffle (4 Cards): Shuffle the Draw Pile until the next player tells you to stop. (Useful when you know there's an Exploding Kitten coming.)

Skip (3 Cards): Immediately end your turn without drawing a card. If you play a Skip as a defense to an Attack, it only ends 1 of the 2 turns. 2 Skips would end both turns.

See the Future (2x) (4 Cards): Privately view the top 2 cards from the Draw Pile and put them back in the same order. Don't show the cards to the other players.

Nope (4 Cards): Stop any action except for an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse. It's as if the card beneath a Nope never existed. You can play a Nope at any time before an action has begun, even if it's not your turn. Any cards that have been Noped are lost. Leave them in the Discard Pile. You can even play a Nope on a Special Combo.

Cat Cards (4 of Each): These cards are powerless on their own, but if you collect any 2 matching Cat Cards, you can play them as a pair to steal a random card from any player. They can also be used in Special Combos.

Special Combos (Read this after you've played your first game)

Two of a Kind: Playing matching pairs of Cat Cards (where you get to steal a random card from another player) no longer only applies to Cat Cards. It now applies to ANY pair of cards in the deck with the same title (a pair of Shuffles, a pair of Attacks, etc.) Ignore the instructions on the cards when you play them as a Special Combo.

Three of a Kind: Exactly the same as Two of a Kind, but you get to name the card you want from the other player. If they have it, you get to take it. If not, you get nothing. Ignore the instructions on the cards when you play them as a Special Combo.

I'd like your Defuse, please.

Example Turn

You suspect the top card in the Draw Pile is an "Exploding Kitten." So instead of passing and then drawing a card to end your turn, you decide to play a "See the Future," allowing you to privately peek at the top 2 cards in the Draw Pile.

While viewing the top 2 cards, you see that you were right, and the top card (the card you're about to draw) is an "Exploding Kitten."

You decide to play an "Attack" to end your turn and force the next player to take 2 turns.

But then another player plays a "Nope," which cancels your "Attack," so it's still your turn.

You don't want to draw that top card and explode, so you play a "Shuffle" and randomly shuffle the Draw Pile.

With the deck freshly shuffled, you draw the top card to end your turn and hope it's not an "Exploding Kitten."