Spotlight: Exploding Kittens hits iOS with its kitten-powered, card-based, Russian Roulette-like gameplay

Exploding Kittens isn't merely a card game about exploding cats, it also has a bit of internet history value attached to it. But mostly, it's about booming felines. Also, amusingly oddball power-ups that will make you laugh and ever so slightly squirm! All drawn up by The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman! Still, just in case you haven't heard this information, let us clue you in on the game's incredible success, before we tell you a bit more about its freshly released iOS version.

Last January, Exploding Kittens went up on Kickstarter and almost detonated the crowdfunding platform, racking up $10,000 worth of public enthusiasm in just 20 minutes of online presence. A little later, and the game amassed over 116,000 pledges, achieving 1000% of its funding goal. Not bad for a tabletop game in the year 2015, especially one which has nothing to do with an established franchise, such as Dungeons & Dragons! In fact, the game became both Kickstarter's most backed campaign, and the most-crowdfunded game ever.

A "kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette"

Playing like something of a "kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette", Exploding Kittens involves players drawing random cards from their decks. If they stumble upon an exploding kitten card, they are out of the game, unless they own diffuse or action cards that will let them survive the commotion. The sorts of diffuse cards available deserve an article of their own. For example, you can don a portable cheetah butt! Because... you can! Fans of The Oatmeal should be used to this type of humor, while those not in the know are in for much laughter and nonsense in equal proportions.

Exploding Kittens' iOS version lets two to five people play in multiplayer across multiple devices simultaneously. It's not a single player game, neither an online multiplayer game. It's meant to be enjoyed with people who are actually sitting near you, connecting everyone through a mixed Wi-Fi/Bluetooth network. It costs $1.99 to download, and all in-app purchases are free as part of a launch special – but hurry up, because it's a limited offer! The iOS version includes pretty much everything the $20 tabletop original does, save for "nope" cards and possibly other little omissions. These, along with an Android version, are in the pipeline.