Exploding Kittens Review: Is It Fun For Adults?

A unique set of cards. Actions that change up the game every time. And a weird obsession with cats, tacos and body functions. What’s not to like about the hugely popular Exploding Kittens card game?

Back in 2015, it took the world of Kickstarter by storm; raising a whopping $8,782,571. With that, Exploding Kittens officially became the most-backed Kickstarter project of all time and the third-most-funded project in Kickstarter history.

Nearly a decade later, Exploding Kittens still has a loyal fan base and now my husband and I have joined the fray!

Despite only getting the game a week ago, we’ve already played it over 20 times. And now we’re here to share our Exploding Kittens review with you to tell (and show) you what we like and don’t like about the game.

FYI: Our review is aimed at adults. We hope you find it helpful.

Exploding Kittens Review For Adults: The TLDR Version

Exploding Kittens is a weird mix of Russian Roulette and Uno – but with cats, fun illustrations, a quirky sense of humour and more action cards than Uno. It’s quick and easy to learn, requires minimal setup and each game usually lasts for under 15 minutes.

If you’ve never heard of Exploding Kittens before then, in a nutshell, your goal is to avoid getting “blown up” by the “Exploding Kitten” card. You can avoid this by blowing everyone else up first or using a “Defuse” card to stop the explosion. Along the way, you have action cards you can use to attack other players, save yourself and completely alter the game.

We also love that Exploding Kittens has a good balance of luck and strategy. While you can be strategic about which action cards to play and when, you won’t always know where the deadly “Exploding Kitten” card is, what action cards you’ll pick up and when, or what cards anyone has in their hands.

Let’s Talk Price…

At just under £20/$20 at the time of writing, some people might think Exploding Kittens is a tad expensive – especially as it’s just a card game. A fun card game, sure. But it’s still just a card game.

However, we think three key things can back up the price they’re charging.

First: You can usually grab the game when it’s heavily discounted or on offer. If I remember correctly, we bought our copy for 50% off! It’s well worth shopping around or waiting for a Black Friday sale. You can also currently get 10% off your first order when you subscribe to the Exploding Kittens email newsletter.

Secondly: The designers and manufacturer could have cheapened out by using the same designs across the deck of cards. But they didn’t. Even cards within the same category such as “Attack”, “See the Future” and “Nope” cards have different illustrations and sayings on them. Given Scott and I have a weird sense of humour, we really appreciate this touch.

Finally: The cards and packaging are of good quality and seem like they’ll last for many years. Of course, we’ll update this review to confirm that once we’ve had our game for that long.

New Action Cards & Expansion Packs

To cut a long story short, my husband and I ended up buying Exploding Kittens for each other for Christmas. He bought me the Original version and I bought him the Party Pack version. Naturally, we played both to see what the difference was.

We immediately noticed that the Party Pack had four additional action cards, which helped to change up the game quite significantly.

My favourite is “Alter the Future”, which is a level up from “See the Future”. Not only can you use the “Alter the Future” card to see the top three cards in the Draw pile, but you can also change up their order. Hopefully, you can stitch up the other players with this!

Unfortunately, the Original Exploding Kittens game doesn’t have these new cards in it. You have to buy Expansion Packs to get the new cards. At the time of writing, there are three Expansion Packs to choose from. Again, some of them are a little on the pricey side in my opinion, but we’ll be using our discount code to reduce the cost.

That said, we think the new cards are worth it for how much they can change up the game, so we’ll still be buying some.

If you’d rather have the new cards straight away, then you might prefer to buy the Party Pack version of Exploding Kittens rather than an Expansion Pack. Check out our follow-up review to decide whether it’s worth it for you.

RELATED: Exploding Kittens Party Pack (Detailed Review For Adults)

Two Player Games

Although my husband and I often host (or attend) game nights with our friends, we also play a lot of games with just the two of us. Therefore, we always like our reviews to comment on whether they’re good for two players or not.

Exploding Kittens was originally designed for 2-5 players while the Party Pack version is designed for 2-10 players. Either way, two players can certainly enjoy the game – especially thanks to the new action cards and Expansion Packs we’ve already talked about.

That said, you’ll probably enjoy the game more if there’s more of you playing as it’ll be harder to determine what cards people have. You’ll also probably get “Noped” more often, which can really affect your strategy. All in the name of fun, of course!

FAQs About Exploding Kittens

If you’re still unsure whether Exploding Kittens is worth it, then read on for some frequently asked questions about the game plus some tips on how to make the game even more exciting.

Is Exploding Kittens easy to learn?

Exploding Kittens is easy to learn – once you get over the initial shock of how many different action cards there are. Once you’ve played the game a couple of times, you should be used to what each of the cards does and you’ll probably want to start using the “Special Combos” mentioned in the rulebook. If all else fails, the cards are pretty much idiot-proof as they have their actions printed on them.

Is Exploding Kittens skill-based?

There’s an element of skill needed to win Exploding Kittens. For instance, certain action cards are best played at certain times to be most effective. But there’s also plenty of luck involved with the game.

Is Exploding Kittens strategy or luck-based?

We think Exploding Kittens has a good balance of luck and strategy. You need to be strategic about which action cards to play and when. But you don’t always know where the deadly “Exploding Kitten” card is or what action cards you’re going to pick up and when. You also don’t know what the other players have in their hands. This makes the game exciting and unpredictable!

Is Exploding Kittens good for 2 people?

Exploding Kittens was originally designed for 2-5 players, so there’s plenty of fun to be had for two people. That said, the game is infinitely more fun with more people playing and you’ll likely find the game is more fast-paced than when it’s just two of you playing.

Is Exploding Kittens fun for adults?

We think Exploding Kittens is a great game for adults – and very fun! It’s easy to set up and learn and quick to play, so it’s perfect for playing during your lunch break, while the dinner’s cooking or as a filler game during long game night sessions. We also think adults will appreciate the humorous cards and illustrations – especially if you have a slightly weird or wacky sense of humour.

Is Exploding Kittens a good party game?

Exploding Kittens is an excellent party game! While the Original Exploding Kittens game was designed for 2-5 players, you can buy Expansion Packs to allow 6 people to play. Better still, you can grab the Exploding Kittens Party Pack and play with up to a whopping 10 people!

RELATED: Exploding Kittens Original vs Party Pack – What’s The Difference?

Is Exploding Kittens inappropriate?

Exploding Kittens is for players aged 7 and up, but some people say it’s inappropriate. You probably have to have a certain sense of humour to appreciate the silliness of the cards and their designs.

For example, one card might say “A plague of bat farts descends from the sky”, while another says “Deploy the thousand-year back hair.” Gross, huh?

Because of that, some parents might not want their children playing it. Likewise, you might not want to play this game with your Grandma. (Except maybe cool Grandmas!) In that case, you might prefer Uno, which is similar and more family-friendly.

How To Make Exploding Kittens Even More Fun & Exciting

Listed below are a few things you can try to make Exploding Kittens even more fun and exciting. Only try these once you’re comfortable with the official rules, of course.

1. Don’t play with all the Defuse cards.

In the Original game, two-player games use six “Defuse” cards. Far too easy. They corrected this in the Party Pack version where two players use just three “Defuse” cards. This certainly makes the game more challenging and exciting, so we’ve decided to play the Original version like this from now on.

2. Remember to use the Special Combos.

In the Original version, you can use two “Special Combos”, which are:

• Two Of A Kind: Playing a pair of cards with the same title allows you to steal a random card from another player.
• Three Of A Kind: Playing a set of three cards with the same title allows you to steal a specific card from someone if they have it. Very handy for grabbing an extra “Defuse” card!

In the Party Pack edition, they introduced an additional “Special Combo”, which you can also use with the original deck of cards. It’s called the “5 Card Special Combo” and it allows you to put down any five cards of different titles and pick up any card you like from the Discard pile. So grab that extra “Defuse” card while you can!

3. Play with extra Exploding Kitten cards.

If all else fails, just add in an extra “Exploding Kitten” card or two and then you’ll both be really unsure of what’s going to happen next!

RELATED:

• Our Exploding Kittens Recipes (Brace Yourselves For Carnage!)
• 5 Classic Card Games You Can Play With Exploding Kittens Cards

Is Exploding Kittens Worth It? Our Final Verdict

Given that my husband and I have played Exploding Kittens over 20 times in one week, I think it’s safe to say that we like it.

It’s quick, fun and requires very little setup, so it’s a great filler game in between longer board game sessions or when we’ve got a few minutes spare on our lunch break or when cooking dinner.

The silly and downright random artwork makes the cards fun to gift (and own!) and the whole game – even down to the packaging – is of good quality.

Yes, the cards are a tad expensive. But if you can grab them while they’re on offer or with a discount code, then we think Exploding Kittens is worth it. And it’s even more worth it if you’re going to play with a group of friends.

We’d also recommend getting your hands on some of the new action cards as these really help to change up the game.

You can buy an Expansion Pack (the Imploding Kittens and Streaking Kittens Expansion Packs are especially popular). Or you can buy the Party Pack, which has four new cards in it compared to the Original version. You can read more about that here if you like.

READ NEXT: Exploding Kittens Original vs Party Pack – What’s The Difference?

I hope this Exploding Kittens review has helped you. If you have any questions we’ve not covered, please feel free to leave us a comment below and we’ll reply ASAP!