EXODE starts with two main game scenes (Evacuation and Colonization) but all scenes rely on the same cards and mechanics.

To start a game in EXODE, you set up your own game by picking cards from your collection. You must have an Origin, a Ship, and a number of characters who will make up your Officers and Crew (as well as your Passengers). Characters may have Weapons and Armor. There are also Equipment Sets and Cargo for your colony

When your launch your game, it sends a message to the blockchain which includes these cards, confirming your game. Once the game is confirmed, the cards that you selected will then be locked to your current game and temporary characters and in-game assets will be generated from them. The cards will be unusable outside the game until the game ends – even if a character dies or an asset is destroyed.

You will then begin your Evacuation. If you succeed, these characters, weapons, armor and cargo - plus whatever you got during EVAC - will become your first citizens and assets on your planet.

Next, you will choose a planet to land on. You will acquire this planet and settle a new colony. This is when Space Colonization truly begins for you.

You will then be able to manage their colony, build structures, explore their planet, design new food and fuel, even repair your ship, explore the galaxy and/or create unique resources specific to their planetary discoveries. To do so, you must give orders to your crew and citizens – and make decisions when events will arise.

A game of eXode does not have any fixed duration. But it notably ends when you lose or abandon your colony.

You get numerous types of rewards (mission/quest rewards, assets from discovery, collecting & crafting, weekly rewards & season rewards) during the game as long as your colony survives. Also, the longer you do survive, the greater the rewards that you get at the end of the game.

When you end the game (with your colony destroyed by aliens for instance) you get some loot: these cards are called Legacy Rewards and are part of a unique loot table related to your starting Origin and launch cards.