Exploding Kittens: The Board Game

I’ve played a lot of party games, but the tension of creeping toward that end space while everyone else plots your doom is genuinely addictive. The sabotage cards really force you to watch every move, and we ended up playing three rounds in a row without noticing the time.

The way the cards let you stack sabotage on whoever’s closest to the finish line had our whole group yelling at each other by round two. Landing on that Exploding Kitten after thinking you’re safe is genuinely brutal, but in the best way possible—we’ve already played it three nights in a row.

We bought this for our usual get-together and the sabotage card combos had everyone yelling at each other by round three. The board itself isn't too long, but the way you can plot to push someone closer to that Exploding Kitten square keeps the tension up the whole way through.