Card game Exploding Kittens remains one of the most popular projects of all-time on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, having attracted 219,382 backers and $8.8m (£6.2m) of pledges in early 2015.
Now the game’s creators are targeting a new, digital audience with the release of an Exploding Kittens iPhone app, with an Android version to follow.
The game involves drawing from a deck of cat-themed cards, trying to avoid (or defuse, if you have the right card) the exploding-kitten cards that knock you out of the game, and manipulating other players to draw them instead.
The iPhone version of the game has been designed to be played with friends locally, rather than alone or over the internet.
“It’s very much a party game, and we built our app with that in mind,” explains the game’s website. “It’s not a single-player game, nor is it a game you’d want to play with anonymous strangers over the internet.”
Not every early buyer is satisfied with this approach. Exploding Kittens currently has a 2.5-star rating (out of a possible five stars) on the UK app store, with several one-star customer reviews complaining at the lack of a single-player mode for when friends aren’t available.
Developer Substantial has used a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect the devices of players locally, although it has also warned that “the technology is super new, it’s got some bugs and doesn’t always work perfectly”.
The physical version of Exploding Kittens costs £16, but the iPhone edition costs £1.49. However, it will sell additional cards and player avatars as in-app purchases.
For the first few days, the extra content will be free, which the game’s creators said was a “thank you to out Kickstarter backers and everyone who supported us in our first year”.
