How to play in 5 minutes: don't draw the bomb, or Defuse it. Last player still in wins.
Exploding Kittens is a 2–5 player card game you can learn in about 5 minutes. Don't draw an Exploding Kitten — or play a Defuse to survive. The last player who hasn't exploded wins.
This unofficial guide covers every rule in plain language: setup for 2–5 players, all 56 cards and how many of each are in the box, what happens on a turn, the special combos most people miss, and a printable one-page cheat sheet. If you want to try before you read, jump to the interactive sample turn.
Pick your player count to see exact setup:
| Players | Exploding Kittens in deck | Extra Defuses returned |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | 4 | 1 |
Tap or click any card to reveal a pro tip.
Draw this and you explode and are out of the game — unless you have a Defuse card. You must reveal it immediately.
Saves your life! Play this when you draw an Exploding Kitten, then secretly place the kitten back anywhere in the deck.
Cancel any action card played by anyone. Can be played anytime, even on someone else's turn! Can't stop Exploding Kittens or Defuses.
End your turn without drawing. The next player must now take 2 turns in a row (drawing each time).
End your turn without drawing a card. If you owe multiple turns (from Attack), this only ends one of them.
Privately peek at the top 3 cards of the deck. Don't show anyone! Put them back in the same order.
Randomly shuffle the entire draw pile. Great when you know an Exploding Kitten is lurking near the top.
Pick any player — they must give you 1 card from their hand. They choose which card to give.
Useless alone! Only good in combos: 2 matching = steal a random card, 3 matching = name and take a specific card.
Each turn has only 2 phases — super simple:
Play as many action cards from your hand as you want. Or play nothing at all. Each card goes face-up on the discard pile and its effect happens immediately.
Draw the top card from the deck. If it's safe, add it to your hand — your turn is over. Play passes clockwise.
Have a Defuse? Play it! Secretly put the Kitten back anywhere in the deck. You survive!
No Defuse? You explode. Discard all your cards. You're out of the game.
It's your turn. Play cards from your hand (or don't), then draw to end your turn. There's an Exploding Kitten somewhere in this deck…
Combos work with any matching cards — cats, Skips, Shuffles, anything with the same name. When you play a combo, ignore the cards' normal actions.
No. There is no maximum or minimum. If you run out of cards, keep playing — you'll draw one next turn.
Never. There are enough Exploding Kittens to eliminate everyone but the winner first.
Yes. The discard pile is public — anyone can look through it at any time.
Attacks stack. If you're attacked and play Attack, the next player takes 4 turns.
Only partly. If you owe 2 turns, one Skip ends only one of them. Two Skips end both.
Show it immediately, discard your whole hand, and you are out of the game.