Is Exploding Kittens good for kids? Age and difficulty

You take turns playing cards and then drawing one, hoping not to draw an Exploding Kitten. Cards let you peek, skip, attack, steal or cancel with a Nope. Draw a kitten without a Defuse and you are out. Last player left wins.

What age is Exploding Kittens for?

Box says 7+

We suggest 7+ with an adult helping, 9+ on their own.

Cards have their own text, and Nope and Attack can stack in ways that take a while to follow. A 7 year old can play with an adult reading cards; 9 and up can handle it alone, though being knocked out early can sting.

  • Medium to learn
  • 2 to 5 players
  • 15 minutes
  • About 3 minutes to set up (our estimate)
  • Competitive

Players can hurt each other's plans directly. Players can steal from each other. Players can be knocked out before the end. Content: Cartoon kittens explode, and the rules say a player who draws one dies and is out. The tone is jokey, with a few mild crude jokes in the card text.

Rated from the rulebook, checked 2026-10-09

How we rate games

Rules as of the Exploding Kittens Original Edition English instructions.

Also good for 8, 9 and 10 year olds.

How do you set up Exploding Kittens?

Checked against the Exploding Kittens original edition English instructions (copyright 2025). The sheet has the rules on one side and a field guide to the cards on the other. Page numbers are PDF pages: the sheet has two, with no printed page numbers and no cover. The rules side is page 1 and the field guide is page 2. I read the sheet only, not the card faces.

Exploding Kittens in five steps

This is a walkthrough of one round at a table of three: you, Ana and Ben. Scroll down and tap things to try them. The board follows along. This is a walkthrough, not a game, so nothing is dealt or shuffled. These cards are our own made-up pictures. The real cards look different. What each card does comes from the rules sheet and its field guide. The names Ana and Ben and the five Cat Card names are ours too. Page numbers are PDF pages: the sheet has two sides, with no printed page numbers and no cover. The rules side is page 1 and the field guide is page 2.

Step 1 of 5: Set the table
1

Set the table

The box has 56 cards for 2 to 5 players (page 1). Take the 4 Exploding Kittens and the 6 Defuse cards out of the deck (page 1). Deal 1 Defuse to each player. Shuffle the deck, deal 7 cards to each player, and everyone has 8 with the Defuse (page 1). Then put enough Kittens back in so there is 1 fewer than the number of players (page 1). Pick a number of players, then tap how many Kittens go in.

How many Kittens go in?

The counts shown are for the standard game. The sheet also has a faster game for 2 and 3 players: before adding the Kittens, take out about one third of the deck at random (page 1). We don't show that here, and the walkthrough uses 3 players.
The sheet gives Kitten examples only for 3 and 4 players (page 1). The numbers for 2 and 5 players come from its rule, 1 fewer than the number of players. The Draw Pile count is worked out from the card counts, because the sheet doesn't state it.
2

Play, then draw

On your turn you either play cards or pass, and then you end by drawing the top card (page 1). Play as many cards as you like, or none. Play-or-Pass, then Draw (page 1). Your hand of 8 is below. Tap Play a card, then a card in your hand. Try a few, then tap Draw a card.

Ask Ana and Ask Ben are for the Favor card only. Skip ends your turn at once without drawing, so Draw a card is then refused (page 2). A hand has no maximum or minimum size, and nothing refills it (page 1).
Our hand, the order of the Draw Pile, the top three cards you peek at, the second order after a Shuffle, the card each player gives you and the card you draw are all fixed and made up. They are a teaching set, not a real deal. We can't shuffle for you, so a Shuffle switches the board to a second fixed order and labels it a demo.
Cat Cards are powerless on their own. Any 2 matching Cat Cards can be played as a pair (page 2). We don't practise pairs: the sheet says to read about Special Combos after your first game (page 2). The sheet shows five Cat Card pictures and says 4 of each (page 2). The names Pear Cat, Sock Cat, Lamp Cat, Button Cat and Cloud Cat and their faces are ours.
3

Nope

You played an Attack. It ends your turn without drawing and makes the next player take 2 turns in a row (page 2). Then Ben played a Nope. A Nope stops any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse, as if the card beneath it never existed. You can play a Nope on another Nope, and you can play one any time before an action has begun, even when it is not your turn (page 2). Tap a Nope in your hand.

Which cards can't be Noped?

The sheet doesn't count a stack of Nopes out for you. Following "as if the card beneath a Nope never existed", each new Nope undoes the one before: an odd number stops the action, an even number lets it happen. That is our reading. The sheet only ends with "and so on" (page 2).
The sheet doesn't say who may Nope first when several players want to at once. In this walkthrough we fixed the order: Ben, then you, then Ana. Noped cards stay in the Discard Pile (page 2), and a Noped Attack leaves it still being your turn (page 2).
4

Draw an Exploding Kitten

If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you must show it immediately. Unless you can play a Defuse, you are dead (page 2). A Defuse goes on the Discard Pile, and you secretly put the Kitten back in the Draw Pile anywhere you like, without reordering or looking at the other cards. Your turn is over after playing the Defuse (page 2). Pick a scene, tap Draw a card, then tap a card in your hand.

Where does the Kitten go back?

The guide's own tip: to hurt the player right after you, put the Kitten right on top of the deck, and if you like, hold the deck under the table so no one else can see where you put it (page 2). Show where it went is for the walkthrough only.
Our hands in both scenes and the six cards of the Draw Pile are fixed and made up. With no Defuse, the Kitten goes face up in front of you and your other cards go face down (page 2).
5

Last one standing

The game goes on until 1 player is left, and that player wins (page 1). Only enough Kittens were put in for all but one player, so the Draw Pile never runs out (page 1). Tap what happens to Ana and Ben.

House rule With younger kids, leave out the Special Combos (pairs and three of a kind) for the first game, and let a grown-up read each card aloud the first time it is played. The sheet has no beginner variant. Its one official variant is the faster game for 2 and 3 players (page 1).

That is a whole round. Setup, a quick teaching script, a refresher and a pocket card are below. The mood is jokey, and the rules sheet has a few mild crude jokes. We read only the rules sheet, not the card faces, so read the cards first before you play with younger kids.

How do you teach Exploding Kittens to kids?

The box says 7 and up. We suggest 7 and up with an adult helping, and 9 and up on their own. The mood is jokey. A player who draws a kitten explodes and is out of the game, and the rules sheet has a few mild crude jokes. I read only the rules sheet, not the card faces, so read the cards before you play with younger kids.

Say this

  1. The deck has some Exploding Kittens in it. We take turns drawing cards, and if you draw one, you explode and you are out.
  2. You start with 7 cards and a Defuse. On your turn, play as many cards as you like, or none.
  3. Then draw one card from the pile to end your turn. Hope it is not a kitten.
  4. A Defuse saves you. Play it and secretly put the kitten back into the pile wherever you like.
  5. Other cards help you dodge. You can peek at the top cards, shuffle the pile, skip your draw, make someone take two turns, ask for a card, or say Nope to stop an action.
  6. The last player left wins.

The sheet has one official variant, a faster game for 2 and 3 players (page 1). It has no beginner variant, so the other simplifications below are house rules.

First-game simplifications

  • Official variant For 2 or 3 players, use the faster game: remove about one third of the deck at random before adding the kittens (page 1).
  • House rule Leave out the Special Combos (pairs and three of a kind) for the first game and play only the single cards. The sheet puts these in a "read this after your first game" box (page 2).
  • House rule Let a grown-up read each card aloud the first time it is played, so everyone knows what it does.

Watch-outs for kids ages 7 to 9

  • You must draw a card to end your turn, unless a card tells you to end it without drawing, such as Skip or Attack (pages 1 and 2).
  • Show an Exploding Kitten as soon as you draw it. You are out unless you can play a Defuse. Your turn is over after you play the Defuse (page 2).
  • After a Defuse, put the kitten back anywhere in the pile, in secret. You can put it right on top if you want (page 2).
  • Nope can stop any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse. It can be played even when it is not your turn, before the action has begun, and it can be Noped back (page 2).
  • An Attack makes the next player take 2 turns. A Skip played against an Attack ends only 1 of the 2 turns (page 2).
  • There is no hand limit, and no special action if you run out of cards. You just draw on your next turn (page 1).

Back for another game?

  • Setup: deal each player 1 Defuse, then 7 more cards. Put enough Exploding Kittens in the deck to make one fewer than the number of players: 1 for 2 players, 2 for 3, 3 for 4, 4 for 5. Shuffle 2 spare Defuse cards back (1 with 5 players) and remove the rest (page 1).
  • Your turn: play as many cards as you like, or none. Then draw 1 card to end your turn (page 1).
  • Exploding Kitten: show it at once. You are out unless you play a Defuse and secretly put the kitten back anywhere in the Draw Pile (pages 1 and 2).
  • Nope: stops any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse. Play it before the action begins, even on someone else's turn (page 2).
  • Attack: end your turn without drawing, and the next player takes 2 turns in a row. Skip: end your turn without drawing. Skip ends only 1 of 2 turns after an Attack (page 2).
  • Favor: another player gives you a card of their choice. Shuffle: shuffle the Draw Pile. See the Future: privately look at the top 3 cards and put them back in the same order (page 2).
  • Pairs: 2 cards with the same title steal a random card from a player. Three of a kind: name a card and take it if they have it (page 2).
  • Winning: the last player who has not exploded wins (page 1).

Every turn, four things

The sheet describes a turn as Play-or-Pass, then Draw (page 1). The last two are for when they come up (pages 1 and 2).

  1. Play or passPlay as many cards as you like, face up on the Discard Pile, or play none.
  2. DrawTake the top card of the Draw Pile to end your turn. Skip and Attack end it without drawing.
  3. Kitten? Defuse itShow an Exploding Kitten at once. Play a Defuse and put the Kitten back in secret, or you are out.
  4. Say NopeStop any action except an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse, even on someone else's turn.

Your pocket card

For the table. The front is your turn, the back is Kittens by player count and the start of the game.

Exploding Kittens, the short version

Do not draw the kitten
  • Play or pass: as many cards as you like, or none.
  • Draw: take 1 card to end your turn.
  • Kitten: you are out, unless you play a Defuse and secretly put it back in the pile.
  • Nope: stops any action except a Kitten or a Defuse.

Last player left wins.

Kittens in the deck

2 players1
3 players2
4 players3
5 players4

Start of the game

Cards each7 plus 1 Defuse
Spare Defuse cards back in2 (1 with 5 players)

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