8 min read

Zombie Kittens

Mar 16 2023

"Oh, these kittens are so cute"; then they started exploding, imploding, barking, streaking; now, watch out, they are turning into Zombies!

How lovely are these Exploding Kittens! The absurd card game turned into a global phenomenon. Strategise, defuse those naughty kittens, and betray your friends, but no matter what, DO NOT EXPLODE!

Well, that's past now with Zombie Kittens! Now you can rise from the grave, come back to life, and ultimately explode once again.

Zombie Kittens 1

Gameplay Overview

If you do not know how to play Exploding Kittens by now, where have you been all these years? Have you heard, by any chance, of this niche indie movie called "Night of the Living Dead"?

Ok, I agree I may be pushing your buttons too far, but if you have not enjoyed the wild mythic world of Exploding Kittens yet, it is time to make the wrong right with "these ZOMBIE kittens that are so cute!!!" (Until they bite you at least).

First, let's recap Exploding Kittens' main rules and then talk about Zombie Kittens' new mechanics. A player's turn begins by playing as many cards as they want from their hand, then drawing the top card. The core rule of the game is that if you draw an "exploding kitten" card and don't have a "defuse the kittens" card, you explode; game over! The last player standing wins. To avoid exploding, there are lots of cards that can help you strategise against your opponents:

"Attack" lets you skip drawing a card and forces the next player to play two turns instead of one. The following players can play attack cards which skip their turns, and the total "Attack" turns adds up.
"Favor" takes a card of their choice from any other player.
"Nope" stops actions except for an Exploding Kitten or a Defuse Card. It can be played at any time by any player.
"Shuffle" the Draw Pile.
"Skip" drawing cards during your turn.
"See the Future" and check out the top three cards in the Draw Pile.

The "Cat Cards" allow you to steal a card from any player by matching two of them.

The game setup is straightforward; players start the game with seven cards plus one Defuse Card. Exploding Kittens cards added Draw Pile are one less than the number of players. Shuffle the Draw Pile.

Now let's discuss the differences between Zombie Kittens and the original game. It differs from the original game in that "Zombie Kittens" replace the "Defuse" cards. Dead players can play "Now" and "Nope" cards; living players can resurrect dead players. When a player draws an "Exploding Kitten" and chooses to play a "Zombie Kitten" to avoid exploding, they must bring a Dead player of their choice back to life. Resurrected players place back "Exploding Kitten" cards wherever they decide; then discard "Zombie Kittens" used.

The following cards are common to the original game: "Exploding Kitten"; "Attack"; "Skip"; "See the Future"; "Shuffle"; "Favor"; and "Cat Cards".

Zombie Kittens introduces new strategic cards and "Now" cards. Even if it is not their turn, players can play "Now" any time, including Dead players. The following cards are new to Zombie Kittens:

"Zombie Kitten" is the most crucial card in the game; it replaces "Defuse"; save yourself and bring a Dead Player to life.
"Clairvoyance" is played once a player defuses an Exploding Kitten. You can see where players placed the Exploding Kitten Card(s).
"Super Skip" multiple turns without drawing a card.
"Feed The Dead"; living players (except you) must pick a card and give it to a chosen Dead player.
When you discard a "Clone" card, it clones the card beneath it and adopts its rules.
"Grave Robber" forces Dead players to pick a card and shuffle into the Draw Pile.
"Attack of the Dead" is a powerful version of "Attack"; it lets you skip drawing a card and forces the next player to play three turns for each Dead player.

A game can be made more interesting by adding Special Combos rules. You can also combine Zombie Kittens with any copy of Exploding Kittens to play a Zombie Apocalypse game with up to 9 players. Please refer to the rulebook for Zombie Apocalypse special rules.

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Game Experience

Is it worth purchasing another Exploding Kittens game? If it has "Zombie" in the name, it most absolute is!

It is fair to say that Zombie Kittens is superior to its predecessor because even if players explode, they stay in the game until the very end. That subtle change in the game mechanics makes it much more engaging, compelling, and exciting.

You will feel at home if you love Exploding Kittens and its gameplay. However, while Zombie Kittens shares many card types with the original, it introduces several new ones, creating a unique and renewed experience.

The game is as simple and easy to learn as the original one, and new players can understand gameplay after a couple of rounds. Every card is self-explanatory, and in case of doubts, you can quickly refer to the rulebook because it comprehensively describes each card of the game. It is a game of deducing, deceiving, pushing your luck and strategising against your opponents; a seemly simple game of cards hides deep tactical mechanics. It reminds me of Uno or similar games, where you are waiting for the opportunity to betray your opponents using fun and cruel strategies against each other. The cards' actions force players' interactions to be continuous and consistent, resulting in immersive and engaging gameplay.

It is important to note that the game plays best with three or more players. It loses the Zombie factor in a two-player game; once one player dies, the other wins; there are no "dead players", and you will never revive a player. A two-player game resembles the original so much that it may be better to play Exploding Kittens instead.

You can expect fantastic fun illustrations from this Exploding Kittens game with the Zombie theme. There's something profoundly joyous and entertaining about these game cards, and zombie fans will totally love this ludicrous, outlandish work of art.

In terms of components, you get what you expect. This card game has standard-sized decent-quality cards (I strongly recommend sleeving the cards, though). The small-sized sturdy box is easy to carry. The rulebook is a folded one-pager concise guide to the simple game rules, but a small rulebook would have been preferred quality-wise.

The quick-paced and straightforward nature of the game, coupled with deep strategy, means you are motivated to play it over and over again. Unfortunately, it can get repetitive and lose the novelty factor after some time, and you may lose interest in the game.

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Final Thoughts

To conclude, Zombie Kittens is a must-have in your Exploding Kittens collection. It is not an expansion but a new core Exploding Kittens game, and it also mixes and matches well with other Exploding Kittens games. It is lovely absurd, crazily fun, and always provides an entertaining play. You can let it "cat nap" on your games pile for a while, but it will return to the game table anytime soon.

Score - 4 out of 5 - Amusing and comic artwork, straightforward to learn and play, great player interaction and good replayability. Zombie Kittens is a welcome addition to the series with new twists and turns to make it unique.

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