
- BGG rank
- BGG #702
- BGG rating
- 8.3
High Frontier 4 All
- 1–5 players
- 30–240 min
- Complexity 4.8/5
- 2020

Rules assistance for Leaving Earth: Mercury
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Leaving Earth: Mercury is an expansion for Leaving Earth released in 2015 for 1–5 players and 60–180 minutes per game. It was designed by Joseph Fatula and its main mechanics are Point to Point Movement, Simulation, and Pick-up and Deliver.
A mini-expansion for Leaving Earth (a pseudo-historical game about the Space Race) adding support for the planet Mercury. It comes with location cards to allow travel to and from the planet, along with missions to complete on and around Mercury, and component cards to represent samples taken from the surface. This expansion was offered for free to anyone who preordered Leaving Earth, and remains available for purchase separately afterwards. Later included with the base game.
Leaving Earth: Mercury 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: Mercury 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.
Leaving Earth: Mercury has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight 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: Mercury belongs to these categories: Expansion for Base-game and Space Exploration. Its main mechanics are Point to Point Movement, Simulation, and Pick-up and Deliver. 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: Mercury 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: Mercury as an expansion for Leaving Earth. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Leaving Earth to use it. Check that your edition of Leaving Earth is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.