Exploding Kittens: a family board game for game nights
Our favorite board game for family evenings. Simple, quick, and funny, perfect for playing with 7-year-olds. A moment of bonding that lasts 10 to 15 minutes and leaves everyone in a good mood.
Lately, in the evenings before bedtime, we play a little game or two with our 7-year-old daughter.
Since we have so much fun together, I wanted to share our little discoveries here.
Spoiler: we are not big board game players — no complex strategy or endless rules — just a simple, fun, and bonding moment.
With our 7-year-old daughter, we quickly realized that we needed to aim for short and funny games anyway. She loves to play, but patience hasn’t quite caught up with her growth yet.
In this series of articles, I will share our little evening gems: games that can be set up in two minutes, played in fifteen, and leave everyone in a good mood.
And to kick things off, we can’t not talk about one of our favorites: Exploding Kittens.
The concept: cats, bombs, and funny images
Exploding Kittens is an unlikely mix of strategy, bluffing, and feline chaos.
Each player draws cards hoping not to land on the terrible Exploding Kitten.
If it explodes without a defuse card, it's game over for them.
Otherwise, they defuse the bomb… and cunningly decide where to place it back in the deck.
It’s simple, quick, and incredibly effective.
A game lasts 10 to 15 minutes, making it a perfect board game for all three of us, even on a weekday evening.
It even leaves us time for the famous round called "Come on, just one more!"
Why it works so well with a 7-year-old
The rules are super simple. In three minutes, it's understood, and the game can begin.
The pace is lively. We play, we draw, we laugh, we stress a little… and we start again.
The interaction is constant. We attack each other, we protect ourselves, we tell tall tales, and every action triggers a reaction.
The cards are funny. Laser cats, exploding tacos, magic beards: the universe is absurd and irresistible.
It’s a game that keeps kids focused effortlessly. At this age, that’s a small miracle.
A quick, fun, and family-friendly board game
What I love about Exploding Kittens is that it doesn’t try to be more complicated than it needs to be.
It’s simple, funny, and creates a real moment of bonding.
We pull it out just as easily on a Tuesday night as on a Sunday afternoon, with no preparation, no explanation, no hassle.
And above all: children enjoy it just as much as adults do.
