EXPLODING KITTENS ZOMBIE Kittens The Rules Cards User Guide
- June 12, 2024
- EXPLODING KITTENS
Table of Contents
zombie KITTENS
THE RULES
players: 2 – 5
contents: 61 cards
ZOMBIE Kittens The Rules Cards
2 Players
No adjustments are needed to play with 2 players, but for an enhanced 2 player
experience, please visit
www.ekzombiekittens.com/how
HOW TO PLAY WITH OTHER VERSIONS OF EXPLODING KITTENS & EXPANSIONS
Zombie Apocalypse Rules: www.ekzombiekittens.com/how
https://www.explodingkittens.com/pages
/how-to-play-zombie-kittens
HEY!
DON’T READ THESE RULES!
READING IS THE WORST WAY TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY A GAME.
INSTEAD, GO ONLINE and watch our instructional video:
www.ekzombiekittens.com/how
https://www.explodingkittens.com/pages/how-to-play-zombie-kittens
IMPORTANT!!!
We know you’ve been playing Exploding Kittens for years and think you know all
the rules, but you don’t. When it comes to this new game, you’re a dumb
adorable kitten… let’s make you undumb…please read these rules.
(Don’t worry, you’ll still be adorable no matter what.)
How it works
In the deck of cards are some Exploding Kittens. You play the game by putting
the deck face down and taking turns drawing cards until someone draws an
Exploding Kitten. When that happens, that person explodes and they are out of
the game (for now). All of the other cards will give you powerful tools to
help you avoid exploding!
This process continues until there’s only 1 player left who wins the game.
Basically
If you explode, you lose.
If you don’t explode, you win.
And all the other cards will lessen your chances of getting exploded by
Exploding Kittens.
For example
If it were your turn to draw, you could play a See the Future Card to peek at
the top few cards in the Draw Pile before drawing.
If you saw an Exploding Kitten, you could then play a Skip Card to end your
turn without drawing a card instead of exploding.
SETUP
-
To start, remove all the Exploding Kittens (4) from the deck and set them aside.
-
If you are playing with 2 PLAYERS: Use only the cards WITH a Paw Print symbol in the corner (24 cards).
Remove the other cards from the game. If you are playing with 3 PLAYERS: Use only the cards WITHOUT a Paw Print symbol in the corner (33 cards).
Remove the other cards from the game. If you are playing with 4 or 5 PLAYERS: Use all of the cards. -
Remove all of the Zombie Kittens from your deck and give 1 to each player. Insert the extra Zombie Kitten(s) back into the deck.
For a 4 PLAYER game, there will be 1 extra Zombie Kitten. Shuffle it back into the deck.
Zombie kittens
The Zombie Kitten is the most powerful card in the game. These are the only cards that can save you from an Exploding Kitten. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, instead of dying, you can play the Zombie Kitten and reinsert the Exploding Kitten back into the Draw Pile anywhere you’d like in secret. If any of the other players are Dead when you play a Zombie Kitten, you have to choose one of them to bring back to life.
Try to get as many Zombie Kitten cards as you can. -
Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards face down to each player.
Everyone now has a hand of 8 cards total (7 cards + 1 Zombie Kitten).
Look at your cards but keep them secret. -
Insert enough Exploding Kittens back into the deck so that there is 1 fewer than the number of people playing.
Remove any extra Exploding Kittens from the game.
For example
For a 4 player game, insert 3 Exploding Kittens.
For a 3 player game, insert 2 Exploding Kittens.
This ensures that everyone eventually explodes except for 1 person. -
Shuffle the deck and put it face down in the middle of the table.
This is your Draw Pile.
(Be sure to leave some space for a
Discard Pile as well.) -
Pick a player to go first. (Some sample criteria: most excited to go first, tastiest brainz, etc.)
Taking your turn
-
Gather all 8 of your cards into your hand and look at them. Do one of the following:
Play
Play a card by placing it FACE UP on top of the Discard Pile and follow the instructions on the card. Read the text on a card to learn what it does.
After you follow the instructions on the card, you can play another card. You can play as many cards as you’d like.
or
Pass
Play no cards. -
After either playing as many cards as you’d like or passing, you will end your turn by drawing a card from the top of the Draw Pile into your hand and hoping it’s not an Exploding Kitten. (This is different from most games in that you END YOUR TURN by drawing a card.)
Remember
Play as many or as few cards as you’d like, then draw a card to end your turn.
DYING
If you draw an Exploding Kitten and you don’t have a Zombie Kitten (or have
one and choose not to play it), you are Dead.
Put the Exploding Kitten that killed you face up in front of you and keep the
rest of your cards in your hand. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you DO NOT
have to play a Zombie Kitten even if you have one. You might choose to
intentionally die to avoid drawing cards for a while and to shield yourself
from other players. Just hope another player will eventually bring you back
into the game!
There is no limit to the number of times you can die.
BEING Dead
Dead players don’t take a turn, but they can still play any card from their
hand with in the title or a Nope Card to affect the game (because these cards
can be played even when it’s not your turn).
You cannot steal cards from Dead players unless a card specifically allows you
to (i.e., you cannot play a Favor or Pair of Cat Cards on a Dead player).
COMING BACK TO LIFE
Whenever a player chooses to play a Zombie Kitten to save themselves from
dying, they must bring a Dead player (if there are any) back to life. If they
choose to bring you back to life, they will put their Zombie Kitten in the
Discard Pile and then take their Exploding Kitten and the Exploding Kitten in
front of you and put both of them separately back into the Draw Pile anywhere
they’d like in secret. (The two Exploding Kittens can be put in two different
locations.) You are now a Living player and must take your turns as normal.
If you play a Zombie Kitten and there is more than one Dead player, you can
choose any one of the Dead players you’d like to bring back into the game, but
choose carefully… they can only win if they eventually outlive you!
ENDING THE GAME
The last Living player wins the game.
You won’t ever run out of cards in the Draw Pile because you inserted enough
Exploding Kittens to kill all but 1 player.
Three more things
A good strategy is to save your cards early in the game while your chance of
dying is low.
You can always count the cards left in the Draw Pile to figure out the odds of
dying.
There is no maximum or minimum hand size. If you run out of cards in your
hand, there’s no special action to take.
Keep playing. You’ll draw at least 1 more card on your next turn.
Stop reading! go play!
If you have questions about specific cards, flip this sheet over.
example turn
You suspect the top card in the Draw Pile is an “Exploding Kitten,” so instead
of passing and then drawing a card to end your turn, you decide to play a
“SEE THE FUTURE” card allowing you to privately peek at the top 3 cards in the
Draw Pile. While viewing the top 3 cards, you see that you were right and the
top card (the carD you’re about to draw) is an “exploding kitten.” You decide
to play an “attack” card to end your turn and force the next Player to take 2
turns. but then another player plays a “NOPE” card which cancels your
“attack,” so it’s still your turn.c You don’t want to draw that top card and
Explode, so you play a “Shuffle” card and randomly shuffle the Draw Pile. With
the deck freshly shuffled, you draw the top card to end your turn and hope
it’s not an “EXPLODING KITTEN.”
Exploding kitten 4 Cards
You must show this card immediately. Unless you have a Zombie Kitten Card,
you’re out of the game. Put this card face up in front of you and keep your
hand of cards hidden.
zombie kitten
2 cards with
3 cards without
If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can (but do not have to) play this card
instead of dying. Place your Zombie Kitten Card on the Discard Pile. If there
are any Dead players, you must choose one of them and bring them back into the
game.
Next, take the Exploding Kitten and, without reordering or viewing the other
cards, secretly put it back in the Draw Pile anywhere you’d like.
If you bring another player back from the Dead, you’ll do the same thing with
the Exploding Kitten Card face up in front of them.
(This means you’ll be putting 2 Exploding Kittens back into the deck at once,
each in its own secret location.) Your turn is over after playing this card.
You can still play this card if there are no Dead players.
Want to hurt the player right after you? Put the Exploding Kitten right on top
of the deck. If you’d like, hold the deck under the table so that no one else
can see where you put it.
Attack (2x)
2 cards with
0 cards without
Do not draw any cards. Instead, immediately force the next player to take 2
turns in a row. Play then continues from that player. The victim of this card
takes a turn as normal (play-or-pass, then draw).
Then, when their first turn is over, it’s their turn again.
If the victim of an Attack card (Attack (2x), Attack of the Dead, etc.) plays
an Attack card on any of their turns, the new target must take any remaining
turns plus the number of attacks on the Attack Card just played (e.g., 4
turns, then 6, and so on).
For all attacks (Regular, Personal, and Targeted), if you Defuse an Exploding
Kitten, it only ends ONE of your turns. You must still take any remaining
turns after defusing the Kitten!
nope
2 cards with
3 cards without
Stop any action except for an Exploding Kitten or a Zombie Kitten Card.
Imagine that any card beneath a Nope Card never existed.
Any cards that have been Noped are lost.
Leave them in the Discard Pile.
You can play this card at any time, even if it is not your turn. Dead players
can also play this card.
A Nope can also be played on
another Nope to cancel it and create a Yup, and so on.
Clairvoyance
1 card with
1 card without
Play this card when another player is putting an Exploding Kitten card(s)
back into the Draw Pile (ie, when they play a Zombie Kitten or Defuse). You
get to watch where they insert the Exploding Kitten(s).
You can play this card at any time, even if it is not your turn.
Dead players can also play this card.
You can leave your seat and walk over to the player putting the Exploding
Kitten back into the Draw Pile to see where they secretly place it.
Skip
1 card with
2 cards without
Immediately end your turn without drawing a card.
If you play a Skip Card as a defense to an Attack Card, it only ends 1 of the
2 turns. 2 Skip Cards would end both turns.
Super skip
1 card with
1 card without
Immediately end your turn without drawing a card.
If you’re supposed to take multiple turns, end them all.
See the future (3x)
2 cards with
2 cards without
Privately view the top 3 cards from the Draw Pile and put them back in the
same order. Don’t show the cards to the other players.
Shuffle
1 card with
1 card without
Shuffle the Draw Pile thoroughly.
You can play this card at any time, even if it is not your turn.
Dead players can also play this card.
A great way to use this card is right after someone plays a “See the Future”
but before they draw a card!
Feed the Dead
0 cards with
2 cards without
Pick a Dead player. All Living players with cards (except you) must pick a
card of their choice and give it to that player. You cannot play this card if
there are no Dead players.
You can play this card at any time, even if it is not your turn.
Dead players can also play this card.
Clone
1 card with
2 cards without
Play this card onto the Discard Pile and it becomes whatever card is beneath
it and adopts the rules of that card.
You cannot play a Clone on top of another Clone.
You cannot play a Clone Card when it is not your turn or if you are Dead―even
if you play it on top of a card with the symbol (because at the time you
played it, it was still a Clone Card and can only be played on your turn).
You can play a Cat Card with a Clone to create a pair and steal a card
(because the Clone becomes the same card as the Cat Card you put beneath it).
This only works if you are the player who played both the Cat Card AND the
Clone―you could not play a Clone on top of a Cat Card played by another
player!
GRave Robber
0 cards with
1 card without
All Dead players with cards must choose one card from their hand to shuffle
into the Draw Pile. You cannot play this card if there are no Dead players.
This is very useful near the end of the game when you need a better chance of
avoiding an Exploding Kitten.
Favor
1 card with
2 cards without
Force any other player to give you 1 card from their hand.
They choose which card to give you.
You cannot play this card on a Dead player.
Dig deeper
2 cards with
2 cards without
Draw the top card from the Draw Pile, look at it, and decide if you want to
keep it. If so, put it in your hand. Otherwise you MUST draw the next card in
the Draw Pile no matter what it is. (Then put the card you decided not to draw
back on top of the Draw Pile). Your turn is now over.
This card is a great way to mess with the heads of other players.
If you decide not to keep the top card, everyone will drive themselves crazy
trying to figure out why you didn’t want it!
attack of the Dead
0 cards with
3 cards without
End your turn without drawing a card. Force the next player to take three
turns for each Dead player.
If the victim of an Attack card (Attack (2x), Attack of the Dead, etc.) plays
an Attack of the Dead card on any of their turns, the new target must take any
remaining turns plus the number of attacks on the Attack Card just played.
You cannot play this card if there are no Dead players.
The more Dead players there are, the Deadlier this gets.
Just don’t wait too long to use it or you might not get a chance.
Cat cards
8 cards with
8 cards without
These cards are powerless on their own, but if you collect any 2 matching Cat
Cards, you can play them as a Pair to steal a random card from any Living
player.
You cannot play this card on a Dead player.
They can also
be used in Special Combos.
Special Combos
(read this after you’ve played your first game)
Two of a kind
Playing matching Pairs of Cat Cards (where you get to steal a random card from
another player) no longer only applies to pairs of Cat Cards. It now applies
to ANY pair of cards with the same title (a pair of Nope Cards, a pair of Skip
Cards, etc). Ignore the instructions on the cards when you play them as a
combo. Three of a kind
When you play 3 matching cards (any 3 cards with the same title), you get to
pick a player and name a card. If they have that card, they must give one to
you. If they don’t have it, you get nothing. Ignore the instructions on the
cards when you play them as a combo.
You cannot target a Dead player with combos.
© 2023 Exploding Kittens
Made in China
7162 Beverly Blvd #272 LA CA 90036
Imported into the UK by Exploding Kittens
Oceana House, 1st Flr 39-49 Commercial Rd, Southampton, Hampshire SO15 1GA, UK
Imported into the EU by Exploding Kittens
10 Rue Pergolèse, 75116 Paris, FR
www.explodingkittens.com
support@explodingkittens.com
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