Before We Leave
Nonviolent city builder linking island settlements across multiple planets
Balancing Monkey Games · Published by Team17 · Released May 13, 2021
- Reviews
- Mostly Positive
- 78% of 1,730
- Recent reviews
- Not enough recent
- Playing now
- 5
- right now
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Last update
- 11 months ago
- Oct 3, 2025
Metacritic: 72/100 (critic reviews)
What is Before We Leave?
In this single-player city builder, people emerge after generations underground to rebuild their civilization. You place buildings on hexagonal tiles, gather resources, research old technology, manage pollution and happiness, and ship goods between settlements on different islands and planets.
For you if...
- +you like building settlements without combat or conquest
- +you enjoy planning trade across islands and planets
- +you prefer a forgiving strategy game
Not for you if...
- −you want battles or competition for territory
- −you dislike fitting roads and buildings into tight spaces
- −you want little logistical planning as settlements expand
What players say
78% of 1,730 reviews are positive
Players praise the relaxed, nonviolent pace and the straightforward building mechanics. Some say shipping goods between settlements becomes tedious as they expand, while others find the hex grid and road requirements restrictive.
Screenshots and trailer
Before We Leave system requirements
As published by the developer.
Minimum
- OS
- Windows 10 (64 bit only)
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-4300U or AMD Phenom II X4 975
- Graphics
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti or AMD Radeon HD 4890
- Memory
- 4 GB RAM
- Storage
- 2 GB available space
- DirectX
- Version 11
Recommended
- OS
- Windows 10 (64 bit only)
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-9400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
- Graphics
- NVIDIA Geforce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 590
- Memory
- 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 2 GB available space
- DirectX
- Version 11
PC version details
DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.
- DRM
- None declared on Steam
- Controller
- Keyboard and mouse
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS
- Achievements
- 56
- Steam features
- Family Sharing
Steam Deck: Playable
- Default controller config not fully functional
- Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
- Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
- Some in-game text is small and may be hard to read
- Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
- External controllers are not supported for the primary player
Multiplayer and co-op
Languages
Text only: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Japanese.
Tags
- City Builder
- Casual
- Economy
- Relaxing
- Hex Grid
- Family Friendly
- Resource Management
- Atmospheric
- Building
- Singleplayer
- Space
- Post-apocalyptic
- 3D
- Sci-fi
- Simulation
- Top-Down
Recent updates
- Oct 3, 2025 · ❗Update Required
- May 4, 2023 · Before We Leave Patch Notes v.1.0346
- Dec 13, 2022 · One Last Update for 2022
- Nov 3, 2022 · Before We Leave patch v1.0340
- May 3, 2022 · Before We Leave news - A Quick Update!
1 DLC available.
