How I Built This with Guy Raz artwork

Dec 22, 2025 · 1h 27m, Episode 793

Exploding Kittens: Elan Lee. How cat-themed Russian Roulette changed game night forever

From How I Built This with Guy Raz

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Exploding Kittens began as a jerry-rigged version of Russian Roulette — a deck of cards hastily modified with a Sharpie. But what happened next is one of the most improbable success stories in the creator economy: a $10,000 Kickstarter goal that ballooned into nearly $9 million, a community that rewrote the rules of crowdfunding, and a company that has now sold over 60 million card and board games. Co-founder Elan Lee shares the story behind Exploding Kittens — from dismantling his brother’s toys as a kid, to helping design Halo, to walking away from Microsoft…twice. He reveals how burnout, curiosity, and an o...

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