diff --git a/messages/en.json b/messages/en.json
index cb304de..e233671 100644
--- a/messages/en.json
+++ b/messages/en.json
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@
     "player_missing": "\u0002{0}\u0002 has gone missing.",
     "leave_death": "\u0002{0}\u0002 died due to falling off a cliff. The \u0002{1}\u0002 is lost to the ravine forever.",
     "leave_death_no_reveal": "\u0002{0}\u0002 died due to falling off a cliff.",
-    "quit_new_game": "The game already started! If you still want to quit, try again in {0} second{1}.",
+    "leave_game_ingame_safeguard": "The game already started! If you still want to quit, use \"{0}leave -force\".",
     "static_quit": "\u0002{0}\u0002, a \u0002{1}\u0002, has died of an unknown disease.",
     "static_quit_no_reveal": "\u0002{0}\u0002 has died of an unknown disease.",
     "villagers_lynch": "The villagers must now vote for whom to lynch. Use \"{0}lynch <nick>\" to cast your vote. {1} votes are required to lynch.",
diff --git a/src/wolfgame.py b/src/wolfgame.py
index 2cb6421..868657c 100644
--- a/src/wolfgame.py
+++ b/src/wolfgame.py
@@ -3639,16 +3639,14 @@ def leave_game(cli, nick, chan, rest):
             else:
                 population = messages["new_player_count"].format(lpl)
         else:
-            dur = int(var.START_QUIT_DELAY - (datetime.now() - var.GAME_START_TIME).total_seconds())
-            if var.START_QUIT_DELAY and dur > 0:
-                cli.notice(nick, messages["quit_new_game"].format(dur, "" if dur == 1 else "s"))
+            if not rest.startswith("-force"):
+                reply(cli, nick, chan, messages["leave_game_ingame_safeguard"].format(botconfig.CMD_CHAR), private=True)
                 return
             population = ""
     elif chan == nick:
         if var.PHASE in var.GAME_PHASES and nick not in list_players() and nick in var.DEADCHAT_PLAYERS:
             leave_deadchat(cli, nick)
         return
-
     else:
         return