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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.
- Tension from uncertain technology outcomes
- Engaging risk-reward loop around mission readiness
- Math-heavy, not for everyone
- Steep learning curve for some players
- risk management and space race strategy
- space exploration and colonization with a heavy emphasis on technology
- calculated, process-driven with probabilistic checks
- Other space/numbers-based eurogames
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cost-conditional loss — Failures cost money and may force strategic planning around resources.
- Technology checks with risk — Any new technology requires a check with potential failure costs.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Clues are used to seal gates in the game which is one of the main ways of winning
- one at a time after any skill check failed or not each spent clue token allows the player to roll one additional die and the result is a success
- the Provost can be moved up and down the board
- it's a fantastic atmosphere at the table
- the greatness in games is that they're fun and enjoyable
- you trick yourself into spending your important resource Clues into passing a check out of desperation
- trades are binding and you can't lie
- success is harder to move forward from than failure
References (from this video)
- engaging space-race theme
- weighty decisions
- math-heavy and niche audience
- space exploration and risk-taking
- space race and astronaut exploration
- math-heavy, strategic simulation
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- heavy map-based strategy — space program decisions affect progress and risk
- risk management and resource allocation — players manage risk vs reward in space missions
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Spirit Island my all-time favorite game
- Arkham Horror holds a special place of my heart
- it's joy in a box
- Leaving Earth is my favorite in that space
- this is one of those few games where I'm like yeah I think the streamlined version is the way to go
- June is the original game for this spot
References (from this video)
- Most unique game in collection
- Math-heavy simulation
- Works well solo due to calculation time
- Great push your luck mechanic
- Different missions and conditions
- Requires pencil and paper
- Very time consuming
- Not solved quickly
- Run a space agency
- Space exploration
- Complex simulation
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Math-heavy Simulation — Calculate orbital mechanics and trajectories
- Push Your Luck — Risk-taking in mission planning
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I've played about 300 solo games so this represents the top of all the solo games I've played
- These are entirely my opinions based on my personal play experience
- I think this is one of the cleverest solo modes on the market
- When you win a game of Robinson Crusoe there are very few things in solo board gaming more satisfying
- The closest experience in board gaming to being the captain on a bridge in a sci-fi movie where everything is going to shit
- I'm probably a solo board gaming masochist
- I just love Thunderbirds as a solo game
- It feels like Legendary Encounters was built for the Alien theme and was built as an upgrade to the original Legendary system
- Probably the best AI opponent in all of board gaming
- Few games have that genuine sense of exploration