Kittens in a Blender - Review

Um… what? Yes, you read that right – we’re going to blend some kittens! So, the concept of this game is pretty horrific; much like the well-loved Exploding Kittens, this game involves, bloodshed, carnage, and dead cats. Players take it in turns to save their cats, by putting them in the box, or kill their opponents’ cats, by putting them in a blender.

Will you be the hero the kittens need?

Set-up: 9/10

Each player picks a colour to play as and shuffles the Kitten cards of that colour into the deck. Remaining Kitten cards are placed to one side. The Blender and Box cards are placed into the top and bottom halves of the box, with a gap left between for the Blender. The longest part of the set-up is shuffling the deck of cards – you don’t have to worry about sorting out the different coloured Kitten cards, as each one gets sorted throughout the course of a game.

Mechanics: 9/10

Learning the game is incredibly simple; on your turn you play two cards. That’s it! There are eight different types of cards, and, except for Kitten cards, each cards tells you what it does. Kitten cards are played to the Box, the Counter, or the Blender, whilst all the other cards are played in front of the player that played them. Blends and Blend/Pulses – the two most common cards in the game other than Kittens) – are used to save and blend kittens; when it’s played, Kittens in the Box are saved, and placed under the Box, while Kittens in the Blender are blended, and placed under the Blender. Blend/Pulses can also be used to stop a Blend, useful for if your Kittens are at risk of being Blended. For the most part, the rest of the cards are used to move Kittens, either moving individual Kittens or placing all the Kittens in one spot.

The different cards helped you save or blend everyone’s kittens!

Scoring: 8/10

Scoring is straightforward. At the end of the game, each cat that’s been saved is worth two points, and each cat that’s been blended loses the player one point (you can get negative scores). Any cat that hasn’t been saved or blended at the end of the game is worth nothing. Add the scores up, and the player with the highest score wins!

Speed: 7/10

The first game is a little bit slow, as players learn the cards and tactics, but after this, the game is relatively quick. The box states the game takes between 20-40 minutes, and, depending on how many players there are and how new they are, this is fairly accurate; you’re looking at roughly ten minutes a player. Experienced players will be faster than newer players, but once everyone’s played a few times, games shouldn’t take longer than half an hour, as each turn is quick, as each player only plays two cards on their turn.

You want to put your kittens in the box, and your opponents’ in the blender!

Replayability: 5/10

In the right group, Kittens in a Blender has a lot of replay value; it’s one of those games you want to play two or three games in a row. Players will sometimes get friendly vendettas against other players, specifically targeting people, which can put some people off, but is quite amusing to watch two players go out of their way to destroy each other, only for the third to sneak in with the win! It can be a surprisingly strategic game as well, as you work out the pros and cons of playing a blend card. However, for me, the main downside to Kittens in a Blender is it can sometimes sit in the awkward spot between a longer, in-depth game, and a quick, fast paced game.

Kittens In A Blender is an easy to learn game, making it easily accessible to everyone!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoy Kittens in a Blender. It’s a good game, and we often play it at family dinners, as it’s easy to learn and makes for a fun, semi-competitive game. Unfortunately, it’s overshadowed by other similar games, such as Exploding Kittens, that fill a similar niche, being easy to learn and taking a similar amount of time to play. This said, it is a light-hearted game, and I think better for younger people or a casual gaming night; although it’s a game for 2-4 players, I definitely recommend playing with at least 3 players, the more people playing, the more enjoyable it is.

If you want to hear more about Kittens In A Blender, I’ll be posting rules for my two- and three- player variant later in the week, exclusively for members! Members gain access to extra content, or you can also support me by becoming a Patron!

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Happy gaming!

Chris