The game is a highly strategic and feline version of Russian roulette. Players draw cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten card; at that point, that player explodes, is eliminated, and is out of the game. Unless that player has a Defuse card in their hand, which can defuse the Exploding Kitten card using items like laser pointers, belly scratchers, or catnip sandwiches. All remaining cards in the deck are used to move, mitigate, or avoid the Exploding Kitten cards. Exploding Kittens made Kickstarter history in 2015 when more than 219,000 people helped fund the project.