Exploding Kittens: Party Pack Rulebook

Table of Contents

How It Works
- Basically
Setup
Taking Your Turn
Ending the Game
- Three More Things
Example Turn
Exploding Kittens Field Guide
Special Combos

How It Works

In the deck of cards are some Exploding Kittens. You play the game by putting the deck face down and taking turns drawing cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten.

When that happens, that person explodes. They are now dead and out of the game.

This process continues until there's only 1 player left, who wins the game.

The more cards you draw, the greater your chances of drawing an Exploding Kitten.

Basically

If you explode, you lose. And you are full of incendiary loser sadsauce.

If you don't explode, YOU WIN. And you are full of greatness. Good job, buddy.

And all of the other cards will lessen your chances of getting exploded by Exploding Kittens.

For example: You could use a See the Future Card to peek at the top few cards in the Draw Pile. If that reveals an Exploding Kitten, you could then use a Skip Card to end your turn and avoid drawing it.

Setup

To start, remove all the Exploding Kittens (9) from the deck and set them aside.
Now, look through the remaining deck and based on the number of players, use the following cards:
- 2-3 players: Use only the cards WITH a paw print in the corner.
- 4-7 players: Use only the cards WITHOUT a paw print in the corner.
- 8-10 players: Use all of the cards.
Remove all of the Defuse Cards from the deck and deal 1 to each player. Insert any extra Defuse Cards back in the deck (if there are any).

Defuse Cards: Each player starts with a Defuse Card; the most powerful card in the game. These are the only cards that can save you from Exploding Kittens. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, instead of dying, you can play the Defuse Card and reinsert the Kitten back into the Draw Pile anywhere you'd like in secret.

Try to get as many Defuse Cards as possible.
Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards face down to each player. Everyone now has a hand of 8 cards total (including the Defuse Card).
Insert enough Exploding Kittens back into the deck so that there is 1 fewer than the number of people playing. Remove any extra Exploding Kittens from the game.

For example: For a 4 player game, insert 3 Kittens. For a 3 player game, insert 2 Kittens. This ensures that everyone eventually explodes except for 1 person.

Note: For a 2-3 player game, the Exploding Kittens you insert will be the only cards that do not have paw prints.
Shuffle the deck, and put it face down in the middle of the table. This is your Draw Pile. (Be sure to leave some space for a Discard Pile as well.)
Pick a player to go first. (Some sample criteria: most impressive beard, most intimidating odor, shortest spleen, etc.)

Taking Your Turn

Gather all 8 of your cards into your hand and look at them. Do one of the following:

PASS — Play no cards.

or

PLAY — Play a card by placing it FACE UP on top of the Discard Pile and following the instructions on the card.

What do I do? Read the text on a card to learn what it does.

After you follow the instructions on the card, you can play another card. You can play as many cards as you'd like.
End your turn by drawing a card from the top of the Draw Pile into your hand and hoping it's not an Exploding Kitten. (This is different from most games in that you END YOUR TURN by drawing a card.)

Play continues clockwise around the table.

Remember: Play as many or as few cards as you'd like, then draw a card to end your turn. Pass-or-Play then Draw. Pass-or-Play then Draw.

Ending the Game

The last player who hasn't exploded wins the game.

You won't ever run out of cards in the Draw Pile because you inserted enough Exploding Kittens to kill all but 1 player.

Three More Things

A good strategy is to save your cards early in the game while your chance of exploding is low.
You can always count the cards left in the Draw Pile to figure out the odds of exploding.
There is no maximum or minimum hand size. If you run out of cards in your hand, there's no special action to take. Keep playing. You'll draw at least 1 more card on your next turn.

Stop reading! Go play! If you have questions about specific cards, see the Field Guide below.

Example Turn

You suspect the top card in the draw pile is an Exploding Kitten, so instead of passing and then drawing a card to end your turn, you decide to play a SEE THE FUTURE card allowing you to privately peek at the top 3 cards in the draw pile.

While viewing the 3 top cards you see that you were right, and the top card (the card you're about to draw) is an Exploding Kitten.

You decide to play an ATTACK card to end your turn and force the next player to take 2 turns.

But then another player plays a NOPE card which cancels your attack, so it's still your turn.

You don't want to draw that top card and Explode, so you play a SHUFFLE card and randomly shuffle the Draw Pile.

With the deck freshly shuffled, you draw the top card to end your turn and hope it's not an EXPLODING KITTEN.

Exploding Kittens Field Guide

You only need this if you have questions about specific cards. Card counts are given as the number of copies WITH a paw print and the number WITHOUT a paw print.

Exploding Kitten — 9 cards

You must show this card immediately. Unless you have a Defuse Card, you're dead. Discard all of your cards, including the Exploding Kitten.

Defuse — 3 with paw print / 7 without

If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can play this card instead of dying. Place your Defuse Card in the Discard Pile.

Then take the Exploding Kitten, and without reordering or viewing the other cards, secretly put it back in the Draw Pile anywhere you'd like.

Want to hurt the player right after you? Put the Kitten right on top of the deck. If you'd like, hold the deck under the table so that no one else can see where you put it.

Your turn is over after playing this card.

Attack (2x) — 4 with paw print / 7 without

Immediately end your turn(s) without drawing and force the next player to take 2 turns in a row. The victim of this card takes a turn as normal (play-or-pass then draw). Then, when their first turn is over, it's their turn again.

If the victim of an Attack Card plays an Attack Card, their turns are immediately over, and the next player must take any remaining turns plus 2 more; e.g. 4 turns, then 6, and so on.

Skip — 4 with paw print / 6 without

Immediately end your turn without drawing a card.

If you play a Skip Card as a defense to an Attack Card, it only ends 1 of the 2 turns. 2 Skip Cards would end both turns.

See the Future (3x) — 3 with paw print / 3 without

Privately view the top 3 cards from the Draw Pile and put them back in the same order. Don't show the cards to the other players.

Alter the Future (3x) — 2 with paw print / 4 without

Privately view the top 3 cards from the Draw Pile and rearrange them in any order you'd like. Return them to the top of the Draw Pile face down, then continue with your turn.

Shuffle — 2 with paw print / 4 without

Shuffle the Draw Pile thoroughly. (Useful when you know there's an Exploding Kitten coming.)

Draw From the Bottom — 3 with paw print / 4 without

End your turn by drawing the bottom card from the Draw Pile.

Favor — 2 with paw print / 4 without

Force any other player to give you 1 card from their hand. They choose which card to give you.

Nope — 4 with paw print / 6 without

Stop any action except for an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse Card. Imagine that any card beneath a Nope Card never existed.

You can also play a Nope on another Nope to negate it and create a Yup, and so on.

You can play a Nope Card at any time before an action has begun, even if it's not your turn. Any cards that have been noped are lost. Leave them in the Discard Pile.

You can even play a Nope on a Special Combo (below).

Feral Cat — 2 with paw print / 4 without

Use as any Cat Card (any card that is powerless on its own). This card cannot be used as a non-Cat Card (Shuffle, Attack, etc).

Cat Cards — 3 of each with paw print / 4 of each without

These cards are powerless on their own, but if you collect any 2 matching Cat Cards, you can play them as a Pair to steal a random card from any player. They can also be used in Special Combos.

Special Combos

(Read this after you've played your first game.)

Two of a Kind

Playing matching Pairs of Cat Cards (where you get to steal a random card from another player) no longer only applies to pairs of Cat Cards. It now applies to ANY pair of cards with the same title (a pair of Shuffle Cards, a pair of Skip Cards, etc).

Three of a Kind

Exactly the same as Two of a Kind, but you get to name the card you want from the other player. If they have it, you get to take it. If not, you get nothing.

5 Different Cards

If you play 5 different cards (any 5 cards with different titles), go through the Discard Pile to take any single card you'd like.

(Grab the Pile quickly to choose your card so that you don't get "Noped!")

When you play special combos, ignore the instructions on the cards.