Official Exploding Kittens: The Board Game Rules

Last Updated on July 22, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

If you’re looking for how to play Exploding Kittens: The Board Game, this guide covers all the essential rules, setup instructions, and gameplay mechanics you need. Based on the hit card game, this board game version adds movement, new actions, and chaotic flips between Calm and Chaos modes. Whether you’re new to the series or transitioning from the card game, this rule summary will help you learn how to play quickly and correctly.

Download rules
Exploding Kittens: The Board Game box product photo
buy now!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see our disclosures here.

How to Play Exploding Kittens: The Board Game

Contents

  • 1 Board
  • 64 Action Cards
  • 21 Move Discs
  • 6 Characters
  • 1 Field Guide

Game Objective

Be the first player to land on the Ribbon Space exactly to win the game.

Setup

  1. Put the board near the edge of the table. Avoid sitting along the “Back Edge” side.
  2. Each player chooses and assembles a Character and places it on the Litter Box.
  3. Shuffle the Action Cards and deal 5 to each player (keep hands secret). Place the rest face down as the Action Deck and leave room for an Action Discard Pile.
  4. Remove all 10 Danger Magnets from the Move Discs and place them face up near the board.
  5. Shuffle the remaining Move Discs, place them face down as the Move Deck, and leave space for a Move Discard Pile.
  6. Pick a starting player (youngest, loudest, or most alluring eyebrows suggested).

Taking Your Turn

Step 1: Play Action Cards
  • Play as many Action Cards from your hand as you want (or none).
  • Place played cards into the Action Discard Pile.
Step 2: Draw a Move Disc and Move
  • Flip the top Move Disc and place it on the Move Discard Pile.
  • Follow the instructions:
    • Move the number of spaces shown.
    • Some discs include effects like “Flip the Board”.

Spaces on the Board

1. Number Space
  • Draw that many Action Cards immediately.
2. Space with Another Player
  • Skip forward to the next available space ahead of them.
  • Only one character per space is allowed.
  • If multiple players are next to each other, skip over all of them.
3. Exploding Kitten Space
  • You explode unless you play a Defuse card.
  • If you explode:
    1. Discard down to 3 Action Cards (if applicable).
    2. Swap spaces with the player in last place (if you’re already last, choose one of the players in the Litter Box).
    3. Ignore space effects after swapping.

Move Discs Explained

Types of Move Discs include:

  • MOVE X: Move forward the number of spaces shown.
  • MOVE X OR FLIP THE BOARD: Choose to move or flip the board instead.
  • MOVE X THEN FLIP THE BOARD: Perform both actions in order.
  • MOVE TO NEXT EXPLODING KITTEN SPACE: Jump directly to the next one.
  • MOVE AHEAD OF NEXT PLAYER: Skip ahead to one space in front of the player ahead.

Danger Magnets

  • Start the game with no Danger Magnets in the Move Deck.
  • To add one: use an “Add a Magnet NOW” Action Card, and secretly insert one face-down anywhere in the Move Deck.
  • You can also place a Danger Magnet directly on top of the Move Deck to sabotage the next player.

Flipping the Board

  • Some Move Discs or Action Cards say “Flip the Board.”
  • This toggles between:
    • Calm Mode (blue side)
    • Chaos Mode (red side)
  • Board effects do not trigger immediately after flipping (e.g. landing on an Exploding Kitten space after flipping won’t cause an explosion).
  • Players may peek at the other side of the board but must flip it back.

Running Out of Cards or Discs

  • If any deck runs out:
    • Shuffle the respective discard pile to form a new deck.

Winning the Game

If another player is already on the Ribbon Space and you land on the space before it, you win instead.

You must land exactly on the Ribbon Space.

If you overshoot, use the Loop Back Arrow and continue moving.

Conclusion: From Card Chaos to Board Game Mayhem

The Exploding Kittens Board Game brings a whole new layer of strategy, movement, and unpredictability to the beloved original card game. While the classic Exploding Kittens focused on bluffing and hand management, this version adds a dynamic board, action cards, and movement discs that flip the game—literally—with Calm and Chaos modes. It’s perfect for players who love the original but want a more interactive, fast-paced tabletop experience.

If you enjoy the offbeat humor and gameplay style of Exploding Kittens, you may also want to check out other games from the same creators, including:

  • Throw Throw Burrito – a dodgeball card game where you hurl foam burritos at your friends
  • Poetry for Neanderthals – a guessing game where you can only speak in one-syllable words
  • Danger Danger – fast-paced strategic card game, perfect for family game nights
  • Imploding Kittens – Imploding Kittens is an expansion for Exploding Kittens that adds new twists and challenges.

Whether you’re diving into kittens, burritos, or prehistoric grunting, Exploding Kittens continues to deliver games that are easy to learn, quick to play, and hilariously fun.

Now that you know the official Exploding Kittens board game rules, grab your character, spin the move disc, and see if you can survive the chaos—and the kittens.

You may also like

Official Monopoly House of the Dragon Edition Rules A high-angle view of the box art for the board game Gaia Project: A Terra Mystica Game, showing a figure in a high-tech control room steering a spaceship toward a glowing green and purple planet. The title is prominent in silver lettering.Official Gaia Project Rules Jinx dice board game box product photoOfficial Jinx Rules The Lord of The Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth game boxOfficial The Lord of The Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth Rules Guess Who? board game boxOfficial Guess Who? Rules The image displays the box art for the board game Pilgrim, designed by Nick Case and published by Spielworxx and A-Muse-Ment, as indicated by the logos on the box. This is a medium-heavy Eurogame for 1 to 4 players, set in a provincial 14th-century abbey, where players take on the roles of abbots and abbesses. The gameplay is noted for its high-strategy, zero-randomness design over 26 rounds, featuring a unique Mancala-movement mechanism for distributing acolytes across duties to determine actions, and an 18xx-style tile development on the map board used to build trade routes for revenue and pilgrim trails for endgame points. The beautiful box art features an old pilgrim with a staff walking down a path beneath trees with vibrant pink and red leaves.Official Pilgrim Rules Creature Caravan strategy board game boxOfficial Creature Caravan Rules Panda Royale dice game boxOfficial Panda Royale Rules Mycelia puzzle board game boxOfficial Mycelia Rules TOSY Flying Ring toy box product photoOfficial TOSY Flying Ring Rules Battleship reloaded strategy board game setup and boxOfficial Battleship Reloaded Rules Magnetic Chess Game with StonesOfficial Magnetic Chess Game with Stones Rules

Leave a Reply

Scroll to Top