Exploding Kittens Launches New Game, Exploding Minions

LOS ANGELES , June 21 /Businesswire/ - Exploding Kittens, the hit tabletop game creator, today announced the launch of its first licensed game, Exploding Minions, in collaboration with Illumination and Universal Brand Development. Inspired by Minions, the most successful animation franchise of all time, the themed edition of the flagship Exploding Kittens card game is easy to learn, quick to play, and fun for kids and adults to enjoy together.

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Exploding Minions by the team behind Exploding Kittens (Photo: Business Wire)

“We’re excited to combine one of the biggest card games with Illumination’s global pop-culture phenomenon, the Minions, to create a new family game night essential,” said Elan Lee, Co-Creator and CEO of Exploding Kittens. “Exploding Minions marries these two universes to create a simple yet strategic game for all to enjoy.”

Best for players ages 7 and up, Exploding Minions is a family-friendly spin-off of the core Russian Roulette-style game that includes new card types and fun illustrations of Minions as imagined by The Oatmeal. To play, participants take turns drawing cards while trying to evade the Exploding Minions. Players can avoid exploding by using clever strategies and favorite cards such as ‘Defuse’, ‘Nope’ and ‘See the Future’ as well as the brand new ‘Clone Card.’ The last player who hasn’t exploded wins.

Exploding Minions is available at Target retail stores, Target.com, and ExplodingKittens.com for $19.99 with availability at Walmart later this summer. For more information on how to play, check out this video narrated by Despicable Me’s Dr. Nefario (played by Russell Brand).

About Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens is a leading game and entertainment company with a mission to inspire people to connect, laugh, and play fun games in the physical world. After initially seeking to raise $10K through Kickstarter, the Exploding Kittens campaign raised $8.7M in 30 days from 219,000 backers. To date, Exploding Kittens is the #1 most-backed project in Kickstarter history and has sold over 15 million games.

Started by former Xbox game designer Elan Lee and The Oatmeal’s founder Matthew Inman, Exploding Kittens and its family of games seek to reshape traditional game night into an entertaining person-to-person experience. Today, there are 11 games available for purchase as well as an Exploding Kittens mobile app that is one of the top 30 premium games on both iOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch console, as well as a free-to-play app, Kitty Letter.

About Minions: The Rise of Gru

The latest installment of the most successful animated franchise of all time, Minions: The Rise of Gru takes us back to bad as we explore the origin story of young Gru and his Minions, giving us a first-hand look at how they became the world’s most despicable team.

Teeming with Illumination’s signature subversive humor, pop-culture sophistication, full-hearted emotion, bold music sensibility, and over-the-top action, Minions: The Rise of Gru stars Oscar® nominee Steve Carell, returning in the role of Gru, and features a thrilling new cast of stars including Oscar® winner Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren and Danny Trejo. The film also features Russell Brand, Michelle Yeoh and Oscar® winner Julie Andrews.

Steered by the franchise’s original creators, Minions: The Rise of Gru is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborators Janet Healy and Chris Renaud. The film is directed by returning franchise filmmaker Kyle Balda (Despicable Me 3, Minions), co-directed by Brad Ableson (The Simpsons) and Jonathan del Val (The Secret Life of Pets films), and features the iconic voice of Pierre Coffin as the Minions and a killer ʼ70s soundtrack courtesy of legendary Grammy-winning music producer Jack Antonoff. www.minionsmovie.com

About Illumination

Illumination, founded by Academy Award® nominee Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of event-animated films, including Despicable Me, the most successful animated franchise in cinematic history. The company’s releases include two of the top 10 animated films of all time, and its iconic, beloved franchises—infused with memorable and distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance—have grossed more than $6.25 billion worldwide.

Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the world of Despicable Me. The franchise includes Minions, the fourth-highest-grossing animated film of all time and the most profitable film in Universal’s history, as well as the Academy Award®- nominated Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 3, which made more than $1 billion at the global box office.

Illumination has launched two additional original properties that captivated audiences worldwide: The Secret Life of Pets, which achieved the best opening for an original movie, animated or otherwise, in U.S. history, and the global smash, Sing. In 2018, Illumination’s Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch had the biggest opening weekend of any Christmas-themed movie in history, followed, in June 2019, by The Secret Life of Pets 2. Illumination’s upcoming films include Sing 2 on Dec. 22, 2021, and Minions: The Rise of Gru in July 2022.

About Universal Brand Development

Universal Brand Development globally drives expansion of the NBCUniversal's intellectual properties, franchises, characters and stories through innovative physical and digital products, content, and consumer experiences. Along with franchise brand management, Universal Brand Development's core businesses include Consumer Products and Games and Digital Platforms based on the company's extensive portfolio of intellectual properties created by Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. Universal Brand Development is part of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. www.universalbranddevelopment.com.

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