Avoid exploding Minions in this family-friendly card game.
Editor’s Note (06/28/2021): This article has been update to reflect that Illuminations Entertainment, rather than DreamWorks, is the company behind the Minions. SuperParent apologizes for any confusion this error may have caused.
The maker of Exploding Kittens and A Game of Cat & Mouth has released Exploding Minions, a twist on the Exploding Kittens formula that features Illumination Entertainment’s Minions characters.
Exploding Minions is a card game for 2-5 players aged 7+. Similar to the game of Hot Potato, it has a simple premise — don’t get stuck with an Exploding Minion card.
Before starting each game, players are given seven regular cards from the deck, along with one Defuse card. Once these cards have been dealt, the rest of the Defuse cards and a number of Exploding Minions cards (determined by the number of players) are placed into the deck, which is shuffled and placed in the center of the table.
Once the game begins, players take turns playing cards from their hand into the discard pile. They can play as many cards as they want on each turn, or they can pass and not play a card. Some cards are “powerless” unless they’re played alongside another specific card, while others trigger actions as soon as they’re played.
For instance, an “Attack” card allows someone to force the next player to take two turns in a row, while “See the Future” cards allow players to look at the next three cards in the deck, “Shuffle” cards allow players to shuffle the draw pile, and so on. Each card features artwork of Minions from the creator of The Oatmeal comic series.
To end their turn, players will draw a card from the deck. If players draw a normal or Defuse card, nothing happens and play continues to the next person. However, if they draw an Exploding Minion card, they’ll explode unless they can play a Defuse card from their hard to defuse the bomb.
If players can defuse the Exploding Minion, they’ll place the Exploding Minion card back in the draw pile wherever they’d like. If they want to sabotage the next player, they’re free to place the Exploding Minion at the very top of the pile in an attempt to force the next person to draw the card on their turn. (Players are also free to hide the deck under the table while they place the Exploding Minion card so no one can see where it was placed.)
If players don’t have a Defuse card, the bomb “explodes,” and they’re removed from the game. The game will then continue with the remaining players until only one person is left. The last player standing wins the game.
Exploding Minions is now available for $19.99. The game has an expected play time of 15 minutes, though this may vary depending on the number of players and where the Exploding Minions wind up in the deck.
You can learn more about Exploding Minions and pick the game up for your family on the Exploding Kittens website.
Disclosure: SuperParent received Exploding Minions for coverage purposes.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
