Exploding Kittens expansions are a great way to crank up the laughs at the games table. If you’re a fan of the base game, expansions like Imploding Kittens add a lot of new content without making the game too complicated.
With its broad appeal, I’ve seen this game delight both office parties and kid’s birthdays. For casual groups, these fast-paced and exciting additions can be cycled into any play session to keep players entertained. Since each expansion pack mostly just adds new card variants into the play-deck, there’s no set order to purchasing these. But I’m going to show you some popular expansions that add much more than new cards, including mechanics and fun bonus items!
Imploding Kittens is one of the most popular Exploding Kittens expansions and it’s for a good reason. In this one, you get a variety of new content. If you’re hoping for added strategy, the new cards add five new types of actions that can spice up the game in a simple way.
For those who enjoy Exploding Kittens in a party atmosphere, the imploding kitten card enables you to add an extra player into the game! That increases the party size to six. Along with that, this set comes with a wearable “cone of shame”. While this doesn’t change the gameplay, the hilarious-looking cone can really amplify the silly atmosphere with a group of people.
I love how this expansion hits all the bases and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a wide makeover of the base game!
While Streaking Kittens looks like a smaller expansion, the 15 new cards pack a lot of new gameplay options. As the most notable addition, the streaking kitten card allows you to hold an exploding kitten card without being eliminated. This changes the whole dynamic of the base game in a really fun way and I like the strategy it adds. It makes actions like taking a card from another player’s deck a lot more risky!
I recommend adding this expansion into the deck once players are familiar with the base game, as the new cards might take a few extra minutes to explain for first-time players. But once you get the hang of it, this small expansion is an affordable way to add excitement and intensify the rivalries between players!
Another one of the Exploding Kittens expansions that change the dynamics of the game quite a bit, Barking Kittens is a fun one to freshen up the game after multiple sessions.
Similar to Imploding Kittens, this comes with a wearable item: the Tower of Power hat! However, unlike before, this item actually has an effect on the game beyond just a fun visual. Now there are random cards placed in the hat, so players have to draw from it when they want to steal from your hand. I appreciate that there was effort into integrating the hat into the gameplay so there’s more incentive to actually bring it out of the box!
For a bonus, I’ll note that the box this comes in is pretty big. I use it to contain all my Exploding Kittens cards for easy portability!
This one adds an element that really shakes up the main game: zombie kitten cards! Basically, it means you can bring players back to life after they’ve been eliminated. While the base game can get pretty ruthless with the eliminations, I like how the zombie kittens can add another level of cooperation and extension to game time. Adding this mechanic solves the problem of the base game: people feeling left out when they get eliminated immediately! To really make it fun, I’d say this mechanic works best if you’re playing with more than two people.
Outside of the new zombie mechanic, this is one of the larger Exploding Kittens expansions. With 61 new cards, there’s a ton of new stuff here to add into your set.
I saved this one for last, because it’s almost cheating. In one convenient set, Recipes for Disaster integrates the best cards from all of the sets we looked at above. If you are having a hard time deciding which expansion to pick up, buy this one!
I’ve given this one as a gift to people who enjoyed playing the base game with expansions and wanted their own set. For a great value, it’s basically like a greatest hits version of all the available products. Along with that, it comes with fun “recipes” that can guide you into new versions of playing the game. With this set, you’ll always have a unique session that you can dive right into.
And as a bonus, it comes with the cone of shame!
If you’re playing Exploding Kittens expansions, you’re probably just looking for a fun, quick game to play with some friends. With the additions to the base game, the basics stay relatively the same and learning new mechanics doesn’t take long at all. When I’m looking to entertain any group with some lighthearted gaming, I use the expansions a lot! I never have to spend more than a few minutes explaining things, so the gameplay tends to be seamless. The broad appeal keeps the fun going for any age group!
If you find a group gets bored of the base game quickly, these expansions change things up just enough to keep everyone engaged without demanding much from their brains. And the ridiculous wearable items and comical cards always adds to the party atmosphere!