LibraryNowOriginsOddsMechanicsMCP

Kinds

Campaign380Product91Food & drink27App & software56Film24Series24Music60Game115Book22Creator moment54Meme & format109Trend & aesthetic38Activity58Moment89
PricingPrivacyTermsRefundsPress
Library/Campaign/Exploding Kittens Kickstarter campaign
Grade B20 sourcesHIS-00864

Exploding Kittens Kickstarter campaign

Campaign · 2015 · Notable

43Editable slideCertificate

A card-game campaign drew $8.78 million in Kickstarter pledges.

Trailer · Matthew Inman on YouTube
Official Kickstarter pitch image showing the red cards, kitten and campaign title.
Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens - A new card game on Kickstarter
Matthew Inman on YouTube
‘Exploding Kittens’ most backed Kickstarter ever | CNN
CNN
02_02_Cats_01
Newsweek
Animal Sanctuary Needs £200,000 To Avoid Closure
Time
‘We Stopped Talking About Money’ — and Raised $9 Million
Kickstarter
The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts: Elan Lee, Co-Creator of Exploding Kittens — How to Raise Millions on Kickstarter, Deconstructing Mega-Successes, Secrets of Game Design, The Power of Positive…
The Tim Ferriss Show
The Oatmeal's Exploding Kittens tops $1M in crowdfunding in one day, claims it blasted card game records (update)
GamesBeat
Exploding Kittens Creators Announce Shipping News & Secret Reward
Crowdfund Insider

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagion35Breadth40Velocity65Longevity3543

Numbers

Peak date
Week of Jan 26, 2015
Jan 20 ’15 to Week of Jan 26, 2015
Platforms
3
Started on Open web
Origin
Seeded
Gaming

Mechanics

  • ChallengePrimary
  • Maker origin
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop
  • Underdog

How it spread

Trace the origin

The creators launched a Kickstarter campaign through The Oatmeal’s audience. Backers then joined photo challenges and parties. The campaign closed as Kickstarter’s most-backed project with $8.78 million pledged; the team later reported selling 460,000 copies.

Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Google searchesNov ’14Feb ’15MarMayAugJun ’16Apr ’17DecOct ’18Jun ’19PeakOpen webRedditPress
Open webRedditPress

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

Timeline (16)

  1. January 2015

    Elan Lee, Matthew Inman and Shane Small seed · Jan 20 ’15

    The team launched its Kickstarter campaign for Exploding Kittens.[1][2][3]

    The Oatmeal's Exploding Kittens tops $1M in crowdfunding in one day, claims it blasted card game records (update)
    Open the first post ↗
  2. bearded / r/boardgames platform jump · Jan 20 ’15

    A launch-day Reddit thread drew discussion of the game’s price and international shipping.[4]

  3. The Washington Post / GamesBeat press · Jan 20 ’15

    The Washington Post and GamesBeat covered the campaign on its launch day.[2][1]

Origin
Seeded
Sector
Gaming
Region
US
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

Obsession

Box office · 2025

78
Obsession: poster

$522.2M on a $750K–$1M budget

Dollar Shave Club launch video

YouTube · 2012

50
DollarShaveClub.com - Our Blades Are F***ing Great

10M views

Chipotle Lid Flip

Instagram · 2019

28
Chipotle on Instagram: "💯"

111K derivatives

Will It Blend?

YouTube · 2006

11
Will It Blend? - Marbles

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

See every timeline

Free account, every case's full spread.

Join free
Log inJoin free
Google searchesNov ’14Feb ’15MarMayAugJun ’16Apr ’17DecOct ’18Jun ’19PeakOpen webRedditPress
Open webRedditPress

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them
  1. January 2015

    Elan Lee, Matthew Inman and Shane Small seed · Jan 20 ’15

    The team launched its Kickstarter campaign for Exploding Kittens.[1][2][3]

    The Oatmeal's Exploding Kittens tops $1M in crowdfunding in one day, claims it blasted card game records (update)
    Open the first post ↗
  2. bearded / r/boardgames platform jump · Jan 20 ’15

    A launch-day Reddit thread drew discussion of the game’s price and international shipping.[4]

  3. The Washington Post / GamesBeat press · Jan 20 ’15

    The Washington Post and GamesBeat covered the campaign on its launch day.[2][1]

  1. commercial · Jan 21 ’15

  2. peak · Week of Jan 26, 2015

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

Join free

Why it worked

Do this

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

Pro opens the playbook, all 8 sourced numbers and 20 sources. Start with a free account.

Join freeGo Pro