Do you think kittens are always sweet, cute and fluffy? I would agree, most of the time. In Exploding Kittens – they are funny, weird, and explosive. They chunk grenades, dynamite, and other explosive stuff. Where do they keep getting it from?
Exploding Kittens card game – meet all sorts of cats. And hope to avoid the exploding kittens. This is a card drafting game, where players each turn play cards from their hand and draw cards from the main deck. Only a matter of time until players will draw explosive kittens, eliminating players who draw them, until 1 player remains. Incredibly funny & surprisingly good game. The jokes & stuff written on cards is just ridiculous!
Game overview
Starting from the gameplay itself, it is pretty interesting. All players are trying to avoid drawing cards. Because you do not want to draw explosive kittens and be eliminated. You want to win. So you do all sorts of things to avoid that.
There are different types of action cards that allow you to skip your turn, force the next players to take 2 turns in a row, look at the top of the deck, and shuffle deck if you really have to draw, or steal some of the other player cards.
You also collect all sorts of cats:
Collecting these cuties does not really do you much, except when you collect multiple ones – discard two identical cat cards, and you can steal 1 card from another player by discarding them. Finally, defuse those exploding kittens. Drawing an exploding kitten can be safe if you have a defuse card in your hand. There are very few of them.
That was shortly about the game.
Review details
The review will be covered in the following structure:
- Fun
- Replay value
- Art & parts
- Game price
Feel free to read the review details, or just scroll down to the review summary.
Fun
Exploding Kittens card game is essentially a very simple & quick game. Rules are no brainer, teach new players under a few minutes and start playing. It is pretty fun actually. Mainly, due to its intensity. You got to draw those cards. The deck keeps shrinking, and with each card, you just feel the impact of the increasing likelihood of BOOM.
What is also fun, is reading through the cards, especially once you see them the first time. They are just so ironic, parody-like fun. Really creative ideas. This makes your first experience considerably better.
Generally, the game also feels pretty routine. You play cards, you draw cards, shuffle the deck, and steal some cards. This slightly feels too routine. Usually, you would play it a few times as a filler game and get down to more serious board games.
Replay value
I got to mention that this game’s initial impressions are very, very strong. This kind of results in lower replay value. Once you study the art, all the phrases on cards, it just becomes an ordinary card game, which is, of course, fun to play, but you would typically find some other alternatives. Personally, I get to play the game pretty rare, because people typically need some break from it.
I think that this game fits great as an introductory party game. Especially with different party groups. I certainly see this game as a gateway that every group must play it at least once. The experience is incredibly worth it. But long term value – it is ok, some cards are that epic that you keep giggling about them still after years of gameplay. But the contrast from the first gameplay is certainly noticeably.
But still, many casual gamers prefer this game to replay on a routine basis. Particularly including families & children. It is so simple, funny & cute that is had become incredibly popular.
Art & parts
I really love the kitten pictures. They are all cute & troll. I just love it. Every card has some sort of description. You are eager to study each of them. Honestly, art is the part of the game that excels. The art is the reason why this game is so popular. For occasional gamer parties, teenagers, students, families, and children – this is an incredibly fun experience.
The quality of the cards is good. No sleeves are required. Sleeved cards would be inconvenient to swap constantly. The game is colorblind-friendly, but also language dependent. Good thing that it has been released in tens of different languages.
The game is also colorblind friendly. All cards have names & effects written on them. So it is a great choice for players with color deficiency.
Exploding Kittens card game colorblindness rating: A (Very good)
A new gamebox edition also includes a funny song that plays once you open the game box.
Price
The pricing of the game is okay. It is still a budget game, but a little more expensive that the most small card games. I wish it would be a little bit cheaper, but that is certainly not a problem. After all, this is not a simple card game. Well, the gameplay – yes, but the looks of it – no. And I guess the looks are the reason for a higher production cost & price.