Two Rex Plays #5 - Exploding Kittens
In this blog we’re discussing the card game Exploding Kittens, a 2015 Kickstarter mega-hit that raised almost $9m and has gone on to sell over 10 million copies. The base game has since inspired a number of expansions and special editions, a mobile game and even a Netflix animated series which is on the way next year. Essentially this is every independent board game designer’s fever dream of success, so we thought it was worthwhile reaching back a few years to see what made this one work so well.
The aim of the game is to avoid drawing one of the instadeath ‘exploding kitten’ cards whilst defending your ‘defuse’ cards which are the only way of counteracting these knockout blows. The exploding kitten cards end up increasingly concentrated toward the end of the deck, so the game often ends in a satisfying quick-fire series of knockouts until the last player standing wins.
According to the official website there have only been 45,000 reviews of this game, so we thought that the world could use one more! Here are the design features we liked:
Endgame jeopardy – The endgame is where Exploding Kittens really shines – with most players making it through to an edge-of-your-seat crescendo as the remaining exploding kitten and defuse cards are played out in short succession.
Great card art – Whilst the endgame is where you have fun, the card art is likely what made you buy Exploding Kittens in the first place. In researching this blog, I discovered that one of the co-creators (Matthew Inman) is a cartoonist who has a background in offbeat animal-based art at The Oatmeal website. That website’s style and sense of humour is reflected in the cards, minus the swearing. Multiple images for the same action help keep your hand feeling fresh and interesting.
Simple to pickup & fun for all ages – We played this with a 9-year-old who learned the ropes in a few minutes, fully participated in the game & thoroughly enjoyed himself. The box suggests 7-years and over, and that sounds about right to me. If the title gives you second thoughts about appropriateness for younger kids, rest assured that the design leans toward humour rather than anything scandalous – the most offensive* you’ll get are some flatulence jokes (again, perfect for our 9-year-old). Having said that, you’ll need to make peace with the concept that players are taken out by various kitten mishaps.
* Just to be clear, we’re talking about the original edition. If you like swearing and more adult themes, they’ve got you covered with this version.
We dug this one out of the cupboard for a rare in-person play as part of Grandfather Rex’s 70th birthday celebrations. Also on the agenda was a round of the virtual board game Mario Party (the Superstars edition on the Nintendo Switch if you’re a connoisseur of the series) which has a similar endgame feeling, albeit generated by an entirely different mechanism. In that case the gods of Mario Party bestow semi-random bonus stars that can turn the result on its head, undoing your best strategic efforts during the main game stage. A common critique here is that the luck/strategy balance is weighted too far towards luck, but when you’ve got a room full of casual players, it can create a unique party atmosphere when someone who’s had a nightmare game ends up as the winner.
Interested in Exploding Kittens? Find out more here:
Exploding Kittens Official Website
https://www.explodingkittens.com/
TTS workshop
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=606016479