Designer: Eduardo Baraf (Herbaceous, Herbaceous Sprouts, Skulk Hollow, Sunset Over Water)

Artist: Nichole Kelley

Publisher: Pencil First Games (Herbaceous, Herbaceous Sprouts, Skulk Hollow, Sunset Over Water)

Genre/Mechanisms: modular board, team-based game, worker placement, solo play

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Lift Off! Get me off this Planet! – Expanded Deluxe Edition is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total almost 3x the initial funding goal, with 4 days left to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: A new upgrade kit (and all-inclusive Deluxe edition) for Lift Off! Get me off this Planet! that includes a solo variant, a 6th player expansion, and some additional components.

How It Works: “The objective of Lift Off! Get me off this Planet! is to be the first player to get their 10 Aliens off the planet using Lift Off Points, Game Cards, and Phases of the Moon to escape. The first person to save all their Aliens wins. However, if the planet explodes first, the player with the most saved Aliens wins.”

On their turn, a player can do any of the following actions in any order at any time: Move (x2), taking two movement actions moving one Alien twice or two Aliens once each; Play Action Cards, for their listed actions; Pay Launch Platform/Lift Off Costs; and Trade 2 Cards for 1 (from the draw pile).

After taking 2 Actions, the Moon Token is moved counter-clockwise one spot around the Planet, and then the player ends their turn by drawing two Game Cards from the draw pile.

“When the Moon Token reaches the Star Icon at the top of the Game Board, a player must also move the Sun Token one spot forward on the Day Track. If the Moon moves backwards over the Star Icon because of a Move the Moon Action Card, the Sun Token on the Day Track moves back as well.” If the Sun ever reaches the explosion at the end of the track, the planet explodes and the game ends.

Game Variants include a Family Fun version with the “take that” elements removed from the game; a VS. mode; a new Solo Challenge Mode; We Don’t Have Time! for a shorter, quicker playtime; and Cutthroat Planet with a shorter Day Track, making the game more difficult.

Comparisons:  There are games like CO2: Second Chance where players are trying to save the world and stop it from ending. But Lift Off!’s central conceit, that the world will end one way or another, and players simply need to vacate it, place it more in line with Escape: The Curse of the Temple, Escape: Zombie City, or even Nemesis, where players are trying to escape the alien-infested ship. But unlike Nemesis, Lift Off! is a simple, fun, family-friendly game with bright, cartoony components and a ridiculous sense of humor.

What Should I Pledge?:
$25 Upgrade Kit for Original Lift Off!: includes a solo variant, a 6th player expansion, and some additional components.
$40 Lift Off! Expanded Deluxe Edition: the new revised edition of the game also includes all of the upgrades and additional content in the Upgrade Kit.
$60 Expanded Deluxe Edition & Upgrade Kit: both the Expanded Deluxe Edition (which already includes everything in the Upgrade Kit) and an additional Upgrade Kit to supplement a first edition of the game. Backers who only want one of everything and don’t have a 2nd copy of the game they also wish to upgrade need only pledge at the $40 level.

Add-Ons:
None.

KS Exclusives:
None.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $40 for the Expanded Deluxe Edition plus $10 in shipping for a total of $50.

Lift Off! Get me off this Planet! – Expanded Deluxe Edition completes its Kickstarter on Monday, January 20th and tentatively ships in March 2021.