Setting The Fuse…
Like its big brother, playing the self-styled “russian roulette” of the Exploding Kittens 2- Player Version is simplicity itself. First things first: as its title states, this edition is exclusively for two players, aged 7 and up. You and a friend will first remove four cards from the deck: the eponymous Exploding Kitten, and three Defuse cards, giving one of the latter three to each player and shuffling the third back into the deck. Next, deal seven cards to each player before shuffling the flammable feline back into the remaining cards. Far simpler than bomb defusal, on your turn you may either play a card, or pass your turn. This means you can play one card and bide your time, or play them all in a single turn like an explosive chain reaction.
But be warned: every time you play a card, you must draw one, and if you draw the exploding kitten, you’d better have a set of pliers on hand to cut that red wire in the form of a Defuse card, disarming the danger and allowing you place it back into the deck. While that basic gameplay loop remains in place, various other cards allow you to perform such shenanigans as forcing your opponent to draw more cards, secretly peering at cards in the draw pile, or even stealing cards from the other player’s hand. The first person to draw the exploding kitten without a Defuse in their hand loses!
On That Bombshell…
The signature, stylish, instantly recognisable artwork from The Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman are still splashed across the cards in this edition, and the only difference between this and the full version is that a number of cards have been removed to make this more suitable for one-to-one play. You don’t need the base game to play this pack, and you can mix this pack into the full game with various variants recommended in the rulebook for experienced players.
Kaboom!
As fast as a shockwave from a megaton moggy, when you want the quickfire gameplay of Exploding Kittens, but just don’t have enough people round the table on that occasion, this Exploding Kittens Two Player Edition is a more refined experience for couples, friends, siblings, and… Well, we all love to see these kittens go boom!
