What do detonating bombs, finicky felines, and crowdfunding craziness have in common? Only one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history is what. In case you’ve missed out on Exploding Kittens’ meteoric rise on Kickstarter, it’s time for a little rundown of what you’ve missed.
Initially named Bomb Squad, the Exploding Kittens card game was created by Elan Lee (design team of first Xbox) and Shane Small (Xbox Entertainment Studios). Their original game offered annihilation by explosion whenever the ‘bomb’ card was drawn. Defusing cards were available, as well as the ability to make opponents draw additional cards. The fewer cards that were left in the deck, the greater the chances were that you would be the one getting blown to smithereens. And you know what happens when you’re blown to tiny bits? You’re no longer able to play the game and thus crowned The Loser.
This all sounds fun, right?
Now add in famed web-comic creator Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal and his twisted sense of humor and animation skills, and you have the Exploding Kittens card game. Inman had previously run successful Kickstarter campaigns (including restoration of the Tesla Science Center); his input proved invaluable, both in crafting a campaign that would result in fast delivery of a successfully funded product and iterating on the exploding bomb concept.
Instead of offering Kickstarter rewards that could potentially delay the fulfillment of backers’ orders, the trio focussed on adding multiple game perks. Not-safe-for-work decks, collectors’ editions, and signed card decks were just some of the perks on offer. Transitioning from exploding bombs to kitten catastrophes proved to be the winning concept. And no, we’re not talking maniacal masters blowing up cute balls of fur. Each kitty conundrum is brought on by self-initiated mischievous acts that cats are so well-known for. As they say, the rest is history.
In only seven hours, the newly launched Kickstarter campaign successfully raised $1 million dollars. In 24 hours, their backers had raised the funding to $2 million. After 72 hours, that total reached $3 million. Holy catnip, right? As the campaign hit the 0 seconds to go mark on February 19/15, 200,000+ backers had pledged over $8.7 million. As of the publishing of this report, that number was still climbing.
Who knew exploding kittens would prove to be so popular? With both their original funding goal and multiple stretch goals met, Exploding Kittens is likely to be one of the hottest games around once it starts shipping.
The team is working with Cards Against Humanity to ensure order fulfillment is as quick as possible. If you are already thinking ahead to Christmas gift giving or upcoming birthdays, Exploding Kittens should definitely be on your must-buy list.
To discover all the devilish details of this smash success game, dive into the details on their Kickstarter fundraising page. We think you’ll understand the appeal of Exploding Kittens and why their fundraising efforts were so successful. Just don’t blame us for your new annihilation addiction.
