My friends and I play a lot of board games. I feel Exploding/Imploding Kittens is best sandwiched between games as a humorous pick-me-up. Sometimes depth and strategy are great, but over time, it can mushify your brain. During times of such turmoil, we RELEASE THE KITTIES because it's simple, quick, and enjoyable. Dealing is easy; there's nothing complex. We can have a game going in under 2 minutes if we're not slothily motivated. •• Expansion Content •• As I thoroughly enjoy the base game, I highly recommend adding Imploding Kittens to it as soon as possible. It makes a fun game more fun. It doesn't detract from the base game; in fact, it adds a wee bit of enjoyable depth and ups the max players to 6. The imploding kitten is a nastier version of the exploding kittens because it can't be defused. I like how it changes the flow by eliminating one poor sap immediately upon drawing. Excellent... now only 4-5 remain for the conquering. The additional cards bring minor rule tweaks. Again, they're welcome additions. I can't think of a single card that makes me go, "Oh great. Here comes that busted piece of crap." In other words, there's nothing inherently broken or unfun. It's just more mayhem. The cone of shame is an included joke item. The first person to forget the turn order gets to wear it. I fully admit... that was me, in the first game we played, even though I knew the darn rules. I wore it like a boss. Although... it really does make the game harder to play. Animals fresh outta the vet clinic have it rough. Now I know first hand. Thank you for opening my mind, makers of exploding kittens. Full disclosure: you can choose to play without the cone, but that is a shame unto itself. Beware your insolence, humans. •• Number of Players •• This is fairly important. If you play this as a 2-3 person game, it won't hold your attention long. That said, this game is a ton of fun among friends. I recommend 4-5 players in order to have the full "screw people over" factor take effect. People often compare it to Cards of Humanity. It's not alike at all. It's like if a simplified version of Munchkins and Uno had a sexy lovechild -- only that lovechild is a cat that loves to blow people up. You can literally learn its base rules within 5-10 minutes max. Everyone up to speed? Good, now let's murderously mess with each other. •• Addressing Criticism •• I've read a few reviews that say, "Played it for a couple hours. Gets boring quick." To you, I say... Well, duh. The Kittens are not incredibly complex. You can't expect to play it day after day, week after week, and have continuous fun. It's the same with Cards Against Humanity. Once you've seen all of the shocking text, there's a surprise factor that's gone forever. An exploding kitten, on the other hand, can always surprise you. •• Conclusion •• I bought Exploding & Imploding Kittens to sandwich between more strategically intense board games. It's easy to learn and simple to play. Games often don't last longer than 10-15 minutes unless Stu keeps getting up for mountain dew. Seriously, just buy a hydration backpack, Stu. Kitten Jayzus. gg, happy playing, and don't forget to 'asplode people without mercy.