Exploding Kittens are back! They’ve been exploding and implodingstreakingbarkingpartying and turned to zombies but nowthey have their own Netflix show. God and the devil have shown up on Earth in cuddly kitten form for our entertainmentand they’ve become the most powerful cards in this new game. This member of the Exploding Kittens family is a standalone version of the classic that can be played on its own or chopped up and served with the original. Add expansions to taste.
Written by Emma Garrett
How to play Exploding Kittens: Good Vs Evil
Each turn you can either pass or play. If you playyou can play as many cards as you like. You must always end your turn by picking a card from the draw pile. Along the way you can play cards that allow you to do actions like steal cardslook at the next cards in the draw pile or shuffle the cards. When you have two matching cat cardsyou can play them together and steal a card from another player. The aim of the game is not to explode. When an exploding kitten card is drawn from the deckif a player is unable to defuse itthey are eliminated. Gameplay continues until only one of you stands victorious and unexploded.
Exploding Kittens: Good vs Evil contains cards with new artworkdifferent cat cards and the Armageddon card. When a player plays the Armageddon carda mini game is started between two players. Whoever played the cardtakes the godcat and the devilcat cards from the special playing mat and secretly puts one in front of themselves and one in front of another player. It is now up to that player to choose which card they want to take. The godcat is the most powerful card in the pack. The devil card immediately explodes youunless you can defuse it. It’s a fun game of bluffing and reading what you think the other player will have done. I imagine this could be especially fun with children who may not have complete grasp of the reasons they’d want to give the godcat card to their opponent.
It’s finebut there is very little that differs from the original version of the game. The only change is the addition of Armageddonwhich is nice enoughand does speed up the game by giving extra opportunities to eliminate players. I do love the concept of taking one card and giving a card to someone and letting them choose which one to take. It’s amazing how a simple binary choice can lead to so much potential for reading someone or misleading them. It’s a small but entertaining addition to the game.
Is it worth buying for £22? If you have a group that loves playing and hasn’t tired of the basic conceptit’s a fair addition to the collection. Off the back of the Netflix showthe game may get new fans coming to the game for the first timeand I’d not want to put them off. It’s a manicsilly game best played at higher player counts and higher card counts. You’ll want to try to combine as many versions as you can to get the best insanity levels. Does Exploding Kittens: Good Vs Evil have anything that the original and previous expansions haven’t already done and done better? Not really. The godcatdevilcat and Armageddon cards could have been a £5 expansionlike Streaking Kittensbecause it is a fun addition. Something makes me feel you’d be missing out if you built your expansions from here instead of from the originalbut maybe that’s just familiarity and nostalgia.
Should you play it? Maybe.
The mini-game of Armageddon is a solid double and triple bluffing challenge. If you’re collecting the versionsit’s another one to add to the pandemonium.
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