Exploding Kittens now comes in more boxes than most people expect. This guide covers seven complete games, all with an offer on Amazon when we checked, plus the expansions that need a copy of the game to work and the other boxes that turn up in search.
On a shelf the seven look like the same game in different colors, and in one way they are. All seven run on the same core: you take turns drawing from one deck, and drawing an Exploding Kitten without a Defuse to stop it blows you up.
What changes from box to box is who can sit down to play. How many people, how old they are, and what happens to the ones who explode first. So this guide does not rank the boxes. It sorts them by the table they suit.
As an Amazon Associate, BoardGame Journey earns from qualifying purchases.
The Short Answer
- Buying the first one for a family? The Original Edition.
- Six to ten people? The Party Pack.
- Adults only? The NSFW Edition, rated 17+ by the publisher.
- Tired of people sitting out after they explode? Zombie Kittens.
- Already a fan and want variety in one box? Recipes for Disaster.
- Watched the Netflix series? Good vs. Evil.
- Know the original by heart and want it meaner? Rage Mode, the newest of the seven.
What the Seven Have in Common
The Original Edition’s rule sheet sets the pattern the others follow. Each player starts with one Defuse card and seven other cards. The Exploding Kittens then go back into the deck, one fewer than the number of players, so a four player game has three. On your turn you play as many cards as you like, or none, and then you draw. Draw an Exploding Kitten with no Defuse to play and you are out, and the last player left wins. Zombie Kittens, below, changes that.
Everything else in the deck is about staying alive: cards that skip your draw, attack the next player with extra turns, or shuffle the deck. A Nope cancels almost any of them, but it cannot stop an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse.
The publisher lists all seven at about 15 minutes a game and ages 7 and up, with one exception: the NSFW Edition is 17+.
Two players is the case the boxes do not advertise. The Original’s rule sheet handles it with its own setup: before the Exploding Kittens go in, you take out about a third of the deck at random.
Quick Comparison
| Box | Players | Age | In the box | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Edition | 2 to 5 | 7+ | 56 cards | The base game |
| Party Pack | 2 to 10 | 7+ | 120 cards | Room for a big group |
| NSFW Edition | 2 to 5 | 17+ | 56 cards | Adult art, same game |
| Zombie Kittens | 2 to 5 | 7+ | 61 cards | Exploded players can come back |
| Recipes for Disaster | 2 to 5 | 7+ | 121 cards, 13 recipe cards | 13 ways to play |
| Good vs. Evil | 2 to 5 | 7+ | 53 cards, Godcat, Devilcat, playmat | A showdown card |
| Rage Mode | 2 to 5 | 7+ | 65 cards, Rage Cat figure | More stealing, more traps |
Players, ages and contents come from the publisher’s own product pages, read on October 2, 2026, not from retail listings. All seven boxes had an active offer on Amazon when we checked that day.
1. Original Edition
2 to 5 players | Ages 7+ | 56 cards
The box that started it all, and still the one the publisher builds everything else around. Each expansion page on the publisher’s store opens with the same warning in capitals: it is not a standalone game, and it requires a copy of Exploding Kittens to play.
Best if: this is the first box in the house, the youngest player is at least seven, and the group is five or fewer.
Worth knowing: five is a hard limit with this deck alone. The Imploding Kittens expansion raises it to six. If you regularly have more people than that, start with the Party Pack instead.
2. Party Pack
2 to 10 players | Ages 7+ | 120 cards
The same game with more than twice the cards. What makes it work across that range is a paw print in the corner of some cards. With two or three players, the rules have you use only the cards with the paw print. With four to seven, only the cards without it. With eight to ten, everything goes in.
Best if: your game nights regularly have six or more people, or you are buying for family gatherings where the head count is never certain.
Worth knowing: more players also means a longer wait for whoever explodes first, because they are out until a winner is left. With ten at the table, that wait is the trade-off of the bigger box. Zombie Kittens, below, is the version built around that problem.
3. NSFW Edition
2 to 5 players | Ages 17+ | 56 cards
The publisher describes it as the same game “with art much too horrible/incredible to include in a kid-friendly version.” It plays the same way as the Original, with a deck of the same size. The box carries an explicit content warning, and the publisher’s own store lists it as ages 17 and up only.
Best if: the table is adults only, and everyone at it will find the humor funny rather than awkward.
Worth knowing: this is the one box here that does not belong on a family shelf. If your game nights sometimes include kids, make the Original the house copy and keep this one for later in the evening.
4. Zombie Kittens
2 to 5 players | Ages 7+ | 61 cards
This is the box that changes what exploding means. In the Original, once you explode, you are done. Here, in the publisher’s words, dead players now “get to keep the cards in their hands when they explode,” can play certain cards “to torment the living players,” and “can even come back from the Dead to win the game.” Only a living player can win.
Best if: you play with younger kids who hate sitting out, or with a bigger group where an early explosion means a long wait.
Worth knowing: the publisher says Zombie Kittens “can be played by itself or combined with any other version of Exploding Kittens,” so it also works as the second box for a family that already owns one.
5. Recipes for Disaster
2 to 5 players | Ages 7+ | 121 cards, 13 recipe cards
The rule book describes it as a collection of the best cards from Exploding Kittens and its three expansions: Imploding, Streaking and Barking Kittens. Each of the 13 recipe cards lists which cards to put together for a different way to play, and one deck comes already assembled, so the first game needs no sorting. Five blank recipe cards are there for making your own.
It also comes with a Cone of Shame. The first player who forgets whose turn is next, or which way play is going, wears it for the rest of the game.
Best if: the person you are buying for already likes Exploding Kittens and would rather have variety than another copy of the same game.
Worth knowing: before buying the Original plus all three expansions separately, look at this box, which already collects cards from all four. It still stops at five players, though.
6. Good vs. Evil
2 to 5 players | Ages 7+ | 53 cards, plus Godcat, Devilcat and a playmat
Art and characters from the Exploding Kittens Netflix series, with two new cards at the center. Godcat is what the publisher calls “the most powerful card we’ve ever created,” a wild card the rules say can be almost anything you want it to be. Devilcat makes a player explode on the spot unless they can Defuse. An Armageddon card pulls you and another player into a showdown: Godcat and Devilcat are shuffled and placed face down, one in front of each of you, and your opponent chooses whether to swap. Whoever ends up with Devilcat has to Defuse or explode.
Best if: someone in the house watched the show, or you want a complete box with one new twist rather than a pile of them.
Worth knowing: the publisher says you can play it on its own or “combine this deck with any expansion of Exploding Kittens.”
7. Rage Mode
2 to 5 players | Ages 7+ | 65 cards, plus the Rage Cat figure
The newest of the seven, and the publisher bills it as “the most aggressive and unforgiving version of Exploding Kittens yet.” The Rage Cat is a figure that sits in front of one player. If it is in front of you, at any point during your turn you can move it to any other player and steal a random card from them. If you die holding it, it passes to the next living player on your left.
The new cards push in the same direction. A Reverse Attack ends your turn without drawing, reverses the order of play, and makes the next player take two turns. A Booby Trap Kitten hides in a player’s hand, and whoever steals it explodes unless they can play a Defuse. That one changes how stealing works, because every theft now carries a risk.
Best if: your group knows the Original by heart and enjoys the betrayal more than the luck.
Worth knowing: because it is new, it had only a few dozen ratings on Amazon when we checked on October 2, 2026, against tens of thousands for the Original. For a first box, the Original remains the safer gift.
Already Own One? The Expansions
The three expansions add cards to a deck you already have. The publisher’s product page for each one says so in capitals: it requires a copy of Exploding Kittens to play.
Imploding Kittens
The first expansion: 20 cards that also raise the player count to six. Its signature card is the Imploding Kitten, which sits face up in the deck so everyone can see it coming, and which no Defuse can stop. It also comes with a human-sized Cone of Shame to mark whose turn it is.
Barking Kittens
The third expansion: 20 cards built around a pair of Barking Kitten cards that, in the publisher’s words, “work like a game of chicken.” If you hold one and think someone else holds the other, play it fast. It also includes a wearable Cat Crown for hiding a secret stash of cards on your head.
Streaking Kittens
The second expansion: 15 cards, led by the Streaking Kitten, which lets a player secretly hold an Exploding Kitten in their hand without exploding. When we checked on October 2, 2026, the US version was sold out on the publisher’s own store, and the Amazon listing was sold by a third-party seller with twelve left. Recipes for Disaster, whose rule book says it collects the best cards from all three expansions, is the in-stock alternative.
Other Boxes You Will See
Search for Exploding Kittens and a few more boxes turn up. Two of them were hard to buy when we checked. The other three are built on the Original: a travel version, a board game and a collector’s tin.
- 2-Player Edition. A 32-card version made for two players only. On October 2, 2026, it was sold out on the publisher’s store in every language, and we found no offer on Amazon. The Original plays with two using the setup described above.
- Curse You! A new version where players cast good and bad spells at each other, with seven envelopes of cards that open over several games. On October 2, 2026, the publisher’s own store had it, but we found no offer on Amazon.
- Grab & Game Edition. A 42-card travel version of the Original for two to four players.
- Exploding Kittens: The Board Game. A different game, played on a pop-up board that can flip over mid-game, for two to six players.
- 10th Anniversary Tin. The Original’s 56 cards plus eight bonus cards, in a collector’s tin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Exploding Kittens should I buy first?
The Original Edition, unless your group is regularly bigger than five, in which case buy the Party Pack, or adults only, in which case the NSFW Edition. The other boxes are variations for groups that already know what they like.
How many people can play Exploding Kittens?
Two to five with most boxes. The Party Pack goes up to ten, and the Imploding Kittens expansion takes the Original to six.
Can you play Exploding Kittens with two players?
Yes. The Original’s rule sheet has a two-player setup that removes about a third of the deck before the Exploding Kittens go in. The dedicated 2-Player Edition was sold out on the publisher’s store when we checked on October 2, 2026.
Do the expansions work on their own?
No. The publisher’s page for each expansion says it requires a copy of Exploding Kittens to play.
Can you mix different Exploding Kittens decks?
Some of them, by the publisher’s own account. It says Zombie Kittens can be combined with any other version, and Good vs. Evil with any expansion. It also warns that non-English versions are not compatible with English ones, so check the language on the box before mixing.
What age is Exploding Kittens for?
The publisher rates the seven boxes compared in this guide 7 and up, except the NSFW Edition, which is 17 and up.
What is the newest Exploding Kittens game?
Of the Exploding Kittens editions on the publisher’s store, Rage Mode and Curse You! are the two marked as new. Of the two, only Rage Mode had an offer on Amazon when we checked on October 2, 2026.
Where This Leaves You
If it is the first box in the house and the group is five or fewer, buy the Original Edition.
If you regularly have more than five people, buy the Party Pack.
If the table is adults only, buy the NSFW Edition.
If someone always explodes first and then sulks, buy Zombie Kittens.
If they already love it, buy Recipes for Disaster, or Rage Mode if they want it meaner.
If the Netflix series is the reason, buy Good vs. Evil.
If your usual game night is two people, a game designed for two may suit you better than any of these: see our quick board games for couples. For a party game built on music instead of cards, see which Hitster edition to buy. And for gifts beyond this one game, our Christmas board game gift guide covers other ages and tables.
As an Amazon Associate, BoardGame Journey earns from qualifying purchases. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support more in-depth board game reviews and guides.
