Exploding Kittens: The Board Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Contents
• Setup
• Taking Your Turn
• Spaces on the Board
• Move Deck
• Flipping the Board
• Running Out of Cards/Discs
• Adding Danger Magnets
• Winning

Goal

Be the first player to land on the Ribbon Space.

Contents

• 1 Board
• 64 Action Cards
• 21 Move Discs
• 6 Characters
• 1 Field Guide

Setup

1. Put the board near the edge of the table and have all players sit around it. (Try to avoid sitting along the Back Edge of the board.)
2. Each player picks and assembles a Character, then puts it on the Litter Box.
3. Shuffle the Action Cards and deal 5 to each player. (You can look at your cards but keep them secret.)
4. Place the remaining Action Cards face down next to the board (this is called the Action Deck), and leave some room for an Action Discard Pile (see image above).
5. Remove all 10 Danger Magnets from the deck of Move Discs, and place them face up by the back corner of the board (see image above). We'll talk about these later.
6. Shuffle the remaining Move Discs and place them face down next to the board (this is called the Move Deck), and leave some room for a Move Discard Pile (see image above).
7. Pick a player to go first. (Example criteria: youngest player, loudest player, most alluring eyebrows, etc.)

Make sure the "Calm Mode" (blue side) of the board is showing.

Taking Your Turn

When it's your turn:

First: Play Action Cards. Play as many Action Cards from your hand as you'd like face up into the Action Discard Pile, OR play none at all. Read the text on an Action Card to learn what it does. If you have any questions about the cards, see the Field Guide.

Then: Draw a Move Disc (and move). Flip the top Move Disc and put it face up on the Move Discard Pile. Every Move Disc tells you how many spaces to move your Character (i.e. Move 2), and might have some have extra rules like "Flip the Board".

Your turn is over. Play continues clockwise around the table.

Spaces on the Board

When you move, you will land on one of three kinds of spaces:

1. Number Space. If the space has a number, immediately draw that many Action Cards from the Action Deck into your hand. This is always a good thing — there are no bad Action Cards!

2. Space with Another Character. If the space has another player's character on it (even if that space is an Exploding Kitten), move to the next available space ahead of that Character. Only 1 character can be on any space! (This means you might have to jump over multiple players if they're next to each other.)

3. Exploding Kitten Space. If the space is an Exploding Kitten, you explode (unless you play a Defuse from your hand).

When you explode, there are two things you must do:

1. Swap spaces with the player in last place (unless you are already in last place). If more than 1 player is in last place (because they are in the Litter Box), choose which player to swap spaces with.
2. Discard cards until you have only 3 Action Cards in your hand (if you have 3 or fewer Action Cards, skip this step). You choose which cards to discard.

NOTE: When players swap spaces, ignore everything on the new spaces both players land on. (i.e. don't draw cards and don't explode!)

Move Deck

There are several types of Move Discs in the Move Deck:

• Move 1, Move 2, Move 3, Move 4, Move 5 (red discs). Move your Character forward the number of spaces on the disc.
• Move 1, Move 3, Move 5 with "Flip the Board" (purple discs). Move your Character forward the number of spaces on the disc OR flip the board without moving your Character.
• Flip the Board, then Move 2 or Move 4 (teal discs). Immediately flip the board. THEN, move your Character forward the number of spaces on the disc.
• Cut the Line (green disc). Move your Character forward to the first available space in front of the next player ahead of you. If you're in first place, you don't move.
• Danger Magnet (black disc). Move your Character forward to the next Exploding Kitten space. If there's a player on that space, lucky you! You get to move past them to the next available space.
  • If you've passed the last Exploding Kitten, follow the "Loop Back Arrow", and move to the next Exploding Kitten.

Any player can try flipping the board at any time to quickly peek at the spaces on the other side, but make sure to flip it back.

Flipping the Board

Some Action Cards and Move Discs say "Flip the Board". When this happens, flip the board from "Calm Mode" (blue side) to "Chaos Mode" (red side) or vice versa. The board will stay in that mode until a Action Card or Move Disc says to flip it again.

Spaces DON'T trigger when the board is flipped (i.e., if you're suddenly on an Exploding Kitten space, you don't explode!). You can only draw cards or explode at the end of your turn, after you have finished moving your Character.

Running Out of Cards/Discs

If the Move Deck or Action Deck is ever empty, shuffle the appropriate Discard Pile to replenish it.

If you start your turn with no Action Cards in your hand, immediately draw 3 Action Cards, and then begin your turn.

Adding Danger Magnets

When you start the game there are no Danger Magnets in the Move Deck. If you play an "Add a Magnet NOW" Action Card, secretly insert 1 Danger Magnet face down into the Move Deck anywhere you'd like without looking at or rearranging the other discs.

Want to mess with the next player? Play this card right before they draw and put the Danger Magnet right on top of the Move Deck!

Winning

You must land on the Ribbon Space exactly — if you don't, follow the "Loop Back Arrow" to loop back around and continue moving.

• If your Character is here and you draw a Move 4, move 2 spaces onto the Ribbon Space, then follow the "Loop Back Arrow" and move 2 more spaces.
• If you land on the space before the Ribbon Space but it's occupied, you get to move to the Ribbon Space and win!