Zombie Kittens Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• How It Works
• Basically
• Setup
• Taking Your Turn
• Dying
• Being Dead
• Coming Back to Life
• Ending the Game
• Three More Things
• Example Turn
• Field Guide
  • Exploding Kitten (4 cards)
  • Zombie Kitten (2 cards with paw print, 3 without)
  • Attack (2x) (2 cards with paw print, 0 without)
  • Attack of the Dead (0 cards with paw print, 3 without)
  • Nope (2 cards with paw print, 3 without)
  • Skip (1 card with paw print, 2 without)
  • Super Skip (1 card with paw print, 1 without)
  • See the Future (3x) (2 cards with paw print, 2 without)
  • Shuffle — NOW (1 card with paw print, 1 without)
  • Feed the Dead — NOW (0 cards with paw print, 2 without)
  • Clone (1 card with paw print, 2 without)
  • Grave Robber (0 cards with paw print, 1 without)
  • Favor (1 card with paw print, 2 without)
  • Dig Deeper (2 cards with paw print, 2 without)
  • Clairvoyance — NOW (1 card with paw print, 1 without)
  • Cat Cards (8 cards with paw print, 8 without)
• Special Combos
  • Two of a Kind
  • Three of a Kind

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.

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: You could use a See the Future to peek at the top few cards in the Draw Pile. If that reveals an Exploding Kitten, you could then use a Skip to end your turn and avoid drawing it.

2 players: No adjustments are needed to play with 2 players, but for an enhanced 2-player experience, read these rules, then visit the website.

How to play with other versions of Exploding Kittens & expansions: Check out the Zombie Apocalypse rules on the website.

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

Setup

1. To start, remove all the Exploding Kittens (4) from the deck and set them aside.
2. Choose which cards to use, based on player count:
   • 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.
3. Remove all of the Zombie Kittens from your deck and give 1 to each player. 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 exploding. 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 Kittens as you can.

4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.)
7. Pick a player to go first. (Some sample criteria: most excited to go first, tastiest braaaains, etc.)

Taking Your Turn

1. 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.
2. 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. Play continues clockwise around the table.

Remember: play as many or as few cards as you'd like, then draw a card to end your turn. Important! Play-or-Pass, then Draw. Play-or-Pass, then Draw.

Dying

If you draw an Exploding Kitten and you can't play 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.

There is no limit to the number of times you can die.

Even if you can play a Zombie Kitten, you do not have to. You might choose to die to avoid drawing cards for a while. Just hope another player will eventually bring you back into the game!

Being Dead

Dead players don't take a turn, but they can still play a Nope or any card with "NOW" in the title at any time, 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 2 Exploding Kittens can be put in 2 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 1 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 generally 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," 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" to end your turn and force the next player to take 2 turns.

But then another player plays a "Nope," which cancels your "Attack," so it's still your turn.

You don't want to draw that top card and explode, so you play a "Shuffle" 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."

Field Guide

You only need this if you have questions about specific cards.

Each card note below lists how many copies of the card are in the deck: how many carry the paw-print symbol (used in the 2-player subset) and how many do not (used in the 3-player subset). A "NOW" card can be played at any time before an action has begun, even if it is not your turn — including by Dead players.

Exploding Kitten (4 cards)

You must show this card immediately. Unless you can play a Zombie Kitten, you're Dead. When you die, put the Kitten that killed you face up in front of you so that everyone can see that you're Dead, and keep the rest of your cards in your hand.

Zombie Kitten (2 cards with paw print, 3 without)

If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can (but do not have to) play this card instead of dying. Place your Zombie Kitten on the Discard Pile. If there are any Dead players, you must choose one of them to bring 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 into the game, you'll do the same thing with their Exploding Kitten. (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.

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 paw print, 0 without)

End your turn without drawing a card, and immediately force the next player to take 2 turns in a row. If the victim of an Attack plays this card on any of their turns, the attacks "stack" and their turns are immediately transferred to the card's victim, who must take the Attacker's current and remaining untaken turn(s) plus 2 additional turns.

For example: if the victim of an Attack plays another Attack, the next player must take 4 turns. However, if the victim completes 1 turn, and then plays an Attack on their second turn, the next player must take only 3 turns.

Attack of the Dead (0 cards with paw print, 3 without)

End your turn without drawing a card. Force the next player to take 3 turns for each Dead player. You cannot play this card if there are no Dead players. If the victim of an Attack plays any type of Attack on any of their turns (Attack or Attack of the Dead), the Attacks "stack." (See the Attack rules for more details.)

The more Dead players there are, the deadlier this card gets. Just don't wait too long to use it or you might lose your chance.

Nope (2 cards with paw print, 3 without)

Stop any action except for an Exploding Kitten or a Zombie Kitten. It's as if the card beneath a Nope never existed.

You can also play a Nope on another Nope to negate it and create a Yup, and so on.

You can play a Nope at any time before an action has begun, even if it's not your turn. Any cards that have been Noped are lost. Leave them in the Discard Pile.

You can even play a Nope on a Special Combo.

Dead players can also play this card.

Skip (1 card with paw print, 2 without)

Immediately end your turn without drawing a card.

If you play a Skip as a defense to an Attack, it only ends 1 of the 2 turns. 2 Skips would end both turns.

Super Skip (1 card with paw print, 1 without)

Immediately end your turn without drawing a card. If you're supposed to take multiple turns, end them all.

This is useful when you've been attacked.

See the Future (3x) (2 cards with paw print, 2 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 — NOW (1 card with paw print, 1 without)

Randomly shuffle the Draw Pile so that no one knows the order of the cards.

NOW: you can play this at any time before an action has begun, 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 — NOW (0 cards with paw print, 2 without)

Choose any Dead player. All Living players (except you) must choose 1 card from their hand to give to the Dead player.

NOW: you can play this card at any time before an action has begun, even if it is not your turn. Dead players can also play this card, even on themselves.

Clone (1 card with paw print, 2 without)

Play this card into 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 when it is not your turn or if you are Dead — even if you play it on top of a card with the "NOW" symbol (because, at the time you played it, it was still a Clone and can only be played on your turn).

If you get an Exploding Kitten and the top card in the Discard Pile is a Zombie Kitten, you can play a Clone to avoid dying! 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). You cannot play a Clone on top of a Cat Card played by another player!

Grave Robber (0 cards with paw print, 1 without)

All Dead players with cards must choose 1 card from their hand to add to the Draw Pile. Then, shuffle the Draw Pile so that no one knows the order of the cards.

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 paw print, 2 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 paw print, 2 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, and your turn is over. 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. If there is only 1 card remaining in the Draw Pile, Dig Deeper has no effect.

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 worry about why you didn't want it!

Clairvoyance — NOW (1 card with paw print, 1 without)

Play this card when another player has played a Zombie Kitten. You get to watch where they insert the Exploding Kitten(s) into the deck.

NOW: you can play this at any time before an action has begun, even if it is not your turn. Dead players can also play this card.

Think the player putting the Exploding Kitten card(s) back into the deck has a grudge against you? Watch them put the Kitten(s) back into the deck to be sure!

Cat Cards (8 cards with paw print, 8 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 Cat Cards. It now applies to any pair of cards in the deck with the same title (a pair of Shuffle cards, a pair of Attack cards, etc.). Ignore the instructions on the cards when you play them as a Special Combo.

Three of a Kind

Exactly the same as Two of a Kind, but you get to name the card you want from the other player. If they have it, you get to take it. If not, you get nothing. Ignore the instructions on the cards when you play them as a Special Combo.