The design is such that you never need to reshuffle the discard pile into the deck. One rather mean strategy is to place it right on top for the next player to draw. You can do this in front of everyone or even bring the deck under the table to place it. After that is played you put the explosive feline back into the deck anywhere you like. If you are unfortunate enough to draw an exploding kitten the only thing that can save you is a defuse card. If you don’t like a card that your opponent has just played you can counter it with a Nope card, though if they respond by playing their own it becomes a Yup! There are even some that allow you to reshuffle the deck. There are cards that allow you to steal card or peek at the deck. You can use cards to skip your turn or force others to take two turns in a row. There are a variety of cards that make the game move along and add a layer of strategy to the game. If the card is an exploding kitten and you cannot defuse it you are out of the game.
You can play as many cards as you like and you end your turn by drawing a card. The gameplay is quite simple the box claims it takes two minutes to learn. Characters such as Tacocat and Beard Cat make an appearance alongside original artwork on each card. The artwork is exactly what you may have come to expect from The Oatmeal.
