- BGG rating
- 8.0
Leaving Earth: Mercury
- 1–5 players
- 60–180 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2015
- BGG rank
- BGG #945
- BGG rating
- 7.7
Leaving Earth
2015
Rules assistance for Leaving Earth
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–5 players
- 60–180 min
- 15+
- Complexity 3.8/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Leaving Earth
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Leaving Earth is a board game released in 2015 for 1–5 players, 60–180 minutes per game, and ages 15 and up. It was designed by Joseph Fatula and its main mechanics are Push Your Luck, Point to Point Movement, and Modular Board.
Expansions
- BGG rating
- 8.3
Leaving Earth: Outer Planets
- 1–5 players
- Complexity 4.0/5
- 2016
- BGG rating
- 8.5
Leaving Earth: Stations
- 1–5 players
- Complexity 4.0/5
- 2017
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About the game
The year is 1956. Mankind stands at the dawn of a new age, the Space Age, when the flying bombs of yesteryear will become the rocket ships of tomorrow. As the director of a national space program, your country is depending on you for success in this great contest. You may be the first to create an artificial satellite, send a probe to another planet, or even put a man on the moon. Leaving Earth is a game about planning and about managing risk. With even a single grand journey into outer space, you might claim victory in the game. Consequently, it is your job to plan each journey carefully, finding the cheapest, quickest, and safest ways to reach your objective—but do not spend too long preparing, or another nation might reach its goal before you. On your turn, you will be conducting research, building spacecraft, and directing journeys into outer space. To conduct research, you buy an advancement that begins with certain flaws, then you test the advancement to find and eliminate those flaws. To build a spacecraft, you purchase components and assemble them into a whole. To travel to outer space, you expend rockets to maneuver from one location to another.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- The Lumenaris Group, Inc.
Questions and answers
Leaving Earth supports 1–5 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 Leaving Earth is 60–180 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 Leaving Earth for ages 15 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.
Leaving Earth has a complexity rating of 3.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a heavy 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.
Leaving Earth belongs to these categories: Card Game, Science Fiction, and Space Exploration. Its main mechanics are Push Your Luck, Point to Point Movement, and Modular Board. 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 Leaving Earth are: Joseph Fatula. 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 Leaving Earth 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.