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In this guide
Exploding Kittens is a card game about not drawing the wrong card. Everyone draws from one deck hoping to miss the Exploding Kitten, and spends the rest of their hand peeking at the top, skipping turns, shuffling and steering the explosion toward someone else. The publisher gives two to five players, about fifteen minutes a game and ages seven and up, and its store sells the 10th Anniversary tin to Canada at C$29.00 CAD.
It is a game you bring out when people are already gathered, not one you collect. Whether it lands depends on whether your group enjoys luck, noise and each other's bad draws. For that crowd it is an easy C$29; for a table that wants a plan, it goes back in the cupboard after a couple of evenings.
Our verdict
At C$29 a reliable choice for casual game nights and gifts; a weak one for strategy-minded groups or households that mostly play in pairs.
- A good fit for
- A household or gift list after a short, silly game that teaches in minutes and works for a mixed group of two to five, kids included.
- We would skip it if
- You want deep strategy, you mostly play as a couple, or your group prefers long, quiet games to loud luck.
Reasons to consider it
- Teaches in minutes; the box gives about fifteen minutes a game
- Covers two to five players, non-gamers included
- The tin stores the deck and adds eight bonus cards
The compromises
- Luck outweighs planning, so replay value depends on the group
- Two-player games lose the targeting and bargaining that drive bigger tables
- Many editions and expansions make the right box easy to confuse
What we have not verified: Card stock, the durability of the tin and how two-player games pace out are not covered by the publisher's listing, which is the basis for this guide.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Original Edition · 10th Anniversary Tin
Rules that teach in minutes, a fifteen-minute game and a two-to-five player count make it simple to start with a mixed group.
Before you buy: Luck decides much of each game and two-player rounds lose most of the bluffing. Check that a listing is the tin, with its bonus cards, before paying more for it.
Price checked November 5, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Fit the game to the group you actually have
Two to five players, fifteen minutes, ages seven and up: that is the profile of a filler, the game between supper and dessert that a cousin can join halfway through the explanation. No board, no long-term plan, only draw a card and react. It works in the game's favour for exactly as long as the group wants something light.
Where it misfires is a table that likes to plan several turns ahead. For that group it plays like a coin toss with jokes, because a good share of it is. Turn it around, though, and a group that needs one game for a ten-year-old and a grandparent at the same time will find the same simplicity is exactly what it needs.
Better with five than with two
Two to five is the rules' range, but the game changes across it. The cards that attack or steal from another player matter most when there are several people to choose between, plead with and double-cross. With five it feels like a party; with two it is a short duel with most of that social side gone.
If most of your games are for two, count this as something for when friends are over rather than an everyday staple, and look for a game designed for two for the rest. The publisher sells plenty of other titles and expansions; none were compared for this guide.
Choose the box by what is inside it
Exploding Kittens comes in several boxes: the original deck, themed versions, expansions that only work with a base game, and this anniversary tin. The Canadian listing puts 56 cards, an instruction manual and eight bonus cards, reprinted for the first time in years, inside the tin.
What separates the tin from a plain base deck is the container and those eight cards, not the rules. If a metal tin that holds the deck and the extra cards is worth the money to you, it makes the better gift; if you only want to play, any base edition plays the same game. Read what a listing actually contains before paying a collector's premium for the same 56-card deck.
When C$29 belongs elsewhere
Pass on it for a group that hates being knocked out early or losing to a lucky draw, and especially for younger kids who take a bad card personally; the box says seven and up, but temperament matters more than age. A co-operative game suits that table better.
Skip the second copy, too: one tin covers five players, so another adds nothing until the first is worn out. Bought alone, the C$29 tin sits under the store's C$50 free-shipping threshold for Canada, and taxes and shipping are added at checkout, so the delivered price is higher than the sticker unless the order is topped up.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Exploding Kittens: Original Edition 10th Anniversary Tin, Canadian store (opens in a new tab)
- Exploding Kittens: shipping policy (opens in a new tab)
