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Exploding Kittens
Draw an Exploding Kitten card and you're out instantly! This humorous Russian-roulette card game lets you cancel explosions with Defuse cards and push the danger onto your opponents. A variety of special cards, like the 'Nope' card that cancels another player's action, can flip the game in an instant.
Rules
Avoid drawing the Exploding Kittens hidden in the deck while using Defuse, Attack, and Nope cards to push the danger onto an opponent — a kitty-powered card game of Russian roulette. You can jump in by reading one card at a time.
Components — one 56-card deck
| Card | Count | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Exploding Kitten | 4 | Draw one and you are out immediately unless you play a Defuse |
| Defuse | 6 | Cancels an Exploding Kitten and lets you secretly reinsert it |
| Attack | 4 | Ends your turn without drawing; the next player takes 2 turns in a row |
| Skip | 4 | Ends your turn immediately without drawing |
| Favor | 4 | Force another player to give you 1 card of their choice |
| Shuffle | 4 | Shuffle the draw pile without looking at it |
| See the Future | 5 | Privately view the top 3 cards and leave them in the same order |
| Nope | 5 | Cancels any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse |
| Cat Cards | 5 kinds × 4 = 20 | Powerless alone; fuel for combos |
2–5 players is the base; two decks go higher
This guide covers the 56-card Original Edition for 2–5 players. The Party Pack line combines two decks for up to 9 players, but its exact card ratios are outside this guide's scope.
Setup
- 1Remove all 4 Exploding Kittens and all 6 Defuse cards from the deck.
- 2Shuffle the rest and deal 7 cards face down to each player.
- 3Give each player 1 Defuse card as well, bringing every hand to 8 cards (7 + 1 Defuse).
- 4Insert back into the deck a number of Exploding Kittens equal to one fewer than the player count. Remove any extras from the game.
- 5Return the remaining Defuse cards to the deck. With 2 or 3 players, insert only 2 of the leftover Defuse cards and remove the rest.
- 6Shuffle the deck, place it face down in the middle of the table, and leave room for a discard pile.
- 7Choose a starting player however you like.
The Kitten count decides the survivor count
The deck always holds exactly one fewer Exploding Kitten than there are players, so the draw pile never runs dry — someone keeps exploding until only one player remains.
Taking a turn — play freely, then draw to end it
- 1On your turn, play as many cards as you like, including none, from your hand.
- 2Playing a card means placing it face up on the discard pile and following its instructions exactly. After resolving it, you may play another card.
- 3Once you are done playing cards, draw 1 card from the top of the deck into your hand. This ends your turn.
- 4Drawing is what ends your turn — unlike most card games, your turn does not end by playing a card.
There is no hand-size limit
Your hand has no maximum or minimum. If it is empty, nothing special happens — you simply draw at least 1 card on your next turn.
Defense and disruption cards — Attack, Skip, Favor, Shuffle, See the Future, Nope
| Card | Count | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Attack | 4 | Ends your turn immediately without drawing, and forces the next player to take 2 turns in a row. |
| Skip | 4 | Ends your turn immediately without drawing. As a defense against an Attack, it cancels only 1 of the 2 turns. |
| Favor | 4 | Name another player, who must give you 1 card of their choosing. |
| Shuffle | 4 | Shuffle the draw pile without looking at it. |
| See the Future | 5 | Privately view the top 3 cards of the draw pile and return them in the same order, without showing anyone. |
| Nope | 5 | Cancels any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse, including special combos. It may be played at any time before an action resolves, even on another player's turn. |
A Nope on a Nope restores the action
Playing a second Nope on top of a first cancels the cancellation, so the original action happens after all. Every card stopped by a Nope stays discarded and cannot be recovered.
Attack stacking — replaying it raises the turn count
If a player owing turns from an Attack card plays another Attack card during one of those owed turns, their turn ends immediately, and the next player inherits 'the remaining turns owed, plus the number of attacks on the card just played.'
A Skip only cancels one turn
Against 2 owed turns from an Attack, a single Skip card cancels only 1 of them. Canceling both requires 2 Skip cards.
Exploding Kittens and Defuse — the reinsertion flow
- 1Drawing an Exploding Kitten from the top of the deck must be revealed immediately.
- 2Without a Defuse card, you are out: discard your remaining hand along with the Exploding Kitten just drawn.
- 3With a Defuse card, play it to the discard pile to avoid being eliminated.
- 4Then secretly reinsert the Exploding Kitten anywhere you like in the deck, without looking at or reordering the other cards.
The deck never runs out
Because setup inserts only player count minus one Exploding Kittens, there are exactly enough to eliminate everyone but one player. The draw pile is never emptied by this process.
Combos — matching pairs, triples, and five different cards
A single Cat Card has no effect by itself. But playing two cards with the same name, three cards with the same name, or five cards that are all different names forms a combo — ignore each card's printed text and apply the combo rule instead. Any card in the deck can be used this way, not only Cat Cards.
| Combo | Cards needed | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Pair | 2 cards with the same name | Choose an opponent and steal a random card from their hand. |
| Triple | 3 cards with the same name | Choose an opponent and name a card. If they have it, they must give it to you; otherwise you get nothing. |
| Five different | 5 cards, all different names | Take any one card you want from the discard pile. |
A Nope can also be played on a combo. Cards blocked by a Nope all remain in the discard pile and the combo has no effect.
Ending and winning
The last player who has not exploded wins the game. Because setup seeds only player-count-minus-one Exploding Kittens, play continues until everyone but one player has exploded.
An eliminated player leaves the game immediately; the remaining players keep taking turns in the same clockwise order.
Strategy straight from the rulesheet
- Save your defensive cards (Defuse, See the Future, Nope) early, when the odds of exploding are low, and spend them as the deck thins out.
- Count the cards left in the draw pile to estimate your odds of exploding; the Kitten count is fixed at player count minus one from the start.
- If See the Future reveals an Exploding Kitten, use Skip or Shuffle to avoid that draw — Shuffle randomizes the order while Skip simply passes over it.
- Holding a Nope until an opponent's decisive move (Attack, Favor, or a combo) is usually more efficient than playing it early.
Variants and expansions
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| 2–3 player variant | Only 2 of the leftover Defuse cards are returned to the deck; the rest are removed (see Setup). |
| Party Pack line | A separate configuration combines two decks for up to 9 players. Its exact card ratios are outside this guide's scope. |
| Expansions | Imploding Kittens (2016), Streaking Kittens (2018), Barking Kittens (2020), and Zombie Kittens add extra cards. This guide does not cover their individual rules. |
The Netflix game and spin-offs are out of scope
The Exploding Kittens IP also includes a mobile app, an animated series, and spin-off card games (Poetry for Neanderthals, Throw Throw Burrito, and others), but this guide covers only the 56-card Original Edition card game.
Frequently confused rules
Q. Can I play a Nope even when it's not my turn?
Yes. A Nope can be played at any time before an action resolves, regardless of whose turn it is, even if it isn't yours.
Q. What happens if I play a Nope on top of another Nope?
The second Nope cancels the first, so the original action resolves normally after all. Any number of Nopes can be stacked this way.
Q. Can a Nope stop a Defuse or an Exploding Kitten itself?
No. A Nope cannot cancel drawing an Exploding Kitten or playing a Defuse card. It can cancel every other action, including combos.
Q. Does one Skip cancel both turns from an Attack?
No. A single Skip cancels only 1 of the 2 owed turns. Canceling both requires 2 Skip cards.
Q. If the victim of an Attack plays another Attack, how many turns does the next player owe?
The remaining owed turns plus the number of attacks on the card just played. For example, a player owing 2 turns who replays an Attack passes 4 turns onward; if that player replays again, the next passes 6.
Q. What happens if I draw an Exploding Kitten with no Defuse card?
You are eliminated immediately. Discard your remaining hand along with the Exploding Kitten you just drew, and leave the game.
Q. Do 2-player and 3-player games use a different number of Defuse cards?
Yes. After each player's starting Defuse, only 2 of the leftover Defuse cards are returned to the deck; the rest are removed from the game entirely.
History and editions
Designed by Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), Elan Lee, and Shane Small, the game launched in 2015. Its Kickstarter campaign that year passed its $10,000 goal in eight minutes and set the record for most backers within seven days at the time. It ultimately raised about $8.7 million from 219,382 backers, making it the fourth most-funded Kickstarter project ever.
Expansions followed, including Imploding Kittens (2016), Streaking Kittens (2018), and Barking Kittens (2020), alongside larger Party Pack configurations. Netflix released an animated series based on the property in 2024. The English rulesheet checked for this guide is the 2022 printing; the Korean rulesheet checked is the 2019 printing.
Korean-language editions have been distributed in Korea through retailers such as Korea Boardgames. As of 2026-10-10, no dedicated Namuwiki article for this game was confirmed.
Sources
Exploding Kittens — official English rules (Original Edition, 2022 printing)Exploding Kittens — official Korean rules (Original Edition, 2019 printing)BoardGameGeek 172225 — Exploding KittensWiki cross-check — Wikipedia: Exploding KittensWiki cross-check — Namuwiki search: no dedicated article confirmed (2026-10-10)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
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Last updated 2026-10-10
💡 Master tip
Count the odds of an Exploding Kitten remaining in the deck and save your cards accordingly, using what you learn from 'See the Future' to pass safely. In a crisis, it's also a good strategy to save a 'Nope' card to cancel an opponent's decisive move.
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