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Cities of Venus: Lost Contact
2025
Rules assistance for Cities of Venus: Lost Contact
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–6 players
- 45–90 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.8/5
Rules assistant for Cities of Venus: Lost Contact
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Cities of Venus: Lost Contact is a board game released in 2025 for 2–6 players, 45–90 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by James Staley and Adam Staley and its main mechanics are Worker Placement.
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About the game
Cities of Venus: Lost Contact is a medium weight, scifi Euro, based in the year 2222. Various countries on Earth have set up colonies in cities that float in the clouds. Each player represents the governor of a floating city and must compete with other players to maximize the growth of their city by growing their population and strategically deploying it across the various departments to keep their city running. To help the cities, Earth has been sending immigrants and city upgrades in the form of Drops. At some point, a catastrophe occurs on Earth, cutting off communication with Venus. No one knows when the last Drop from Earth will come. Each round, players move through several phases: Resolve events, erode shields, grow and deploy population, mine for resources and modify the city, and grab a drop to improve the city. A player can gain victory points in the following ways: Points on station upgrades Points for a certain amount of mined resources Points for city population Bonus points for the most populous, the richest, and most upgraded cities Some time in the third phase of the drops, a card (randomly shuffled into the card deck) will turn up with the Earth on it. This card signifies that this is the last drop that will arrive from Earth and triggers the end of the game. The player with the most victory points at that point wins. —description from the publisher
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Tin Robot Games
Questions and answers
Cities of Venus: Lost Contact supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Cities of Venus: Lost Contact is 45–90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Cities of Venus: Lost Contact for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Cities of Venus: Lost Contact has a complexity rating of 1.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Cities of Venus: Lost Contact belongs to these categories: City Building, Science Fiction, and Space Exploration. Its main mechanics are Worker Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Cities of Venus: Lost Contact are: James Staley and Adam Staley. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Cities of Venus: Lost Contact as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.