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In this guide
Exploding Kittens is a card game of avoidance: players draw cards hoping not to meet the exploding kitten, and use the rest of the deck to peek, skip, shuffle fate, and push the explosion toward someone else. The publisher lists two to five players, about fifteen minutes a round, ages seven and up, and a £19.00 price for the 10th Anniversary tin in its UK store.
This is a table game rather than a collection game. It succeeds or fails on whether your particular group enjoys luck, noise and each other's misfortune. For the right table it is one of the better twenty-pound boxes in the hobby. Bought as a strategy game it gets traded away inside a month.
Our verdict
A £19.00 crowd-pleaser that earns its shelf space for casual game nights and gift-giving; a poor pick for strategists or frequent two-player sessions.
- A good fit for
- A household or gift list wanting a short, funny game that teaches in minutes and plays with a mixed group of two to five.
- We would skip it if
- You want deep strategy, you mostly play in pairs, or your table prefers long, quiet sessions over loud luck.
Reasons to consider it
- Rules teach in minutes and rounds run about fifteen
- Scales across two to five players including non-gamers
- The tin edition is self-storing and giftable
The compromises
- Luck dominates, so replay value rests on the group, not the strategy
- Two-player games lose the negotiation that makes larger tables fun
- Multiple editions and expansions make buying the right box confusing
What we have not verified: The game was not played here and the card stock was not assessed; this rests on the publisher's own description.
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
Short rules, a fifteen-minute round, and broad player counts make it an easy game to teach and give.
Before you buy: Luck-driven play and weaker two-player rounds limit who it suits. Match the edition to the contents you want, not the box art.
Price checked 17 October 2026. Retailer prices can change.Match the game to the table you actually have
The listed profile — two to five players, fifteen minutes, ages seven and up — describes a filler game: the round between dinner and pudding, the game cousins can join mid-explanation. The mechanics are draw-a-card-and-react, with no board and no long-term plan. That profile is a strength exactly as long as the table wants it.
The honest mismatch is the strategy table. If your group debates opening theory, this game will feel like a coin flip with jokes, because much of it is. Conversely, if your group wants something light that includes a ten-year-old and a grandparent in the same round, the same simplicity becomes the recommendation.
It is best loud, and weakest in pairs
The publisher's two-to-five range is accurate as a rules matter, but the experience shifts with count: the take-that interactions shine when several players can be targeted, coaxed, and betrayed. At five players it is a party; at two it is a quick duel with most of the social machinery switched off.
If most of your sessions are pairs, treat this as an occasional-group purchase rather than a house staple, and look at dedicated two-player games for regular use. The publisher's own site lists many alternatives and expansions; they were not compared here.
Buy the box by its contents, not its cover
Exploding Kittens exists in several boxes: the original deck, themed variants, expansions that require the base game, and this 10th Anniversary tin, which the publisher lists as 56 cards, an instruction manual, and eight rare bonus cards, all in a collectible tin.
The practical differences are packaging and the bonus cards, not a different game. If the tin's storage and the bonus cards are worth the price to you, it is the better gift box; if you just want the game, any base edition plays identically. Confirm which box a listing actually contains before paying collector prices for what is, mechanically, the same fifty-six cards.
When twenty pounds is better spent elsewhere
Skip it for tables that dislike elimination and luck swings, particularly with younger children who take losing a drawn card personally; the age rating says seven and up, but temperament matters more than age. A cooperative game suits that table better than a Russian-roulette one.
Also skip the impulse stack: one copy plays up to five people, so a second box adds nothing until the first is worn out. A single £19.00 tin also sits below the maker's £33 free-shipping line, so postage is worth checking at the till. The durable purchase pattern is one box, kept in the drawer closest to the table, replaced when the cards are genuinely soft — not collected.
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 product listing (UK store) (opens in a new tab)
- Exploding Kittens: shipping policy (opens in a new tab)
