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Base game
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Kritiku rating
Early7.6
- Published
- 2024
- Reach
- Widely known
- Players
- 1–4
- Play time
- 40–160 min
- Weight
- Medium heavy
- Ratings
- 1
- Science Fiction
- Space Exploration
How it plays
Lead a research agency, earning points by exploring the solar system, scanning stars, analyzing data, advancing technologies, and helping discover alien species. On your turn, take one main action—launch or move a probe, scan, analyze data, research technology, or play a card—then pay costs and resolve effects. After five rounds, add end-game bonuses to scored points; highest total wins.
Main mechanics
- Area control
- Engine building
- Area control: Presence on the map decides who scores.
- Engine building: Small early moves compound into a machine that does the work later.
Full publisher description
In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence , you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. The game draws inspiration from current or emerging technologies and efforts in space exploration. Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions. Decide whether to land on their surfaces to collect valuable samples or stay in orbit for a broader survey. Additionally, by directing your telescopes to gaze into distant star systems, you may detect traces of alien signals or undiscovered exoplanets, and collect promising data to examine and study back home. Back on Earth, you can invest in upgrading your equipment so you can analyze incoming data more efficiently, boost your telescope signal capacity, or increase your supply of resources all to expand the scope of your search that could lead to a discovery of extraterrestrial life forms. Finding traces of extraterrestrial life is only a matter of time utilize the resources you have at your disposal strategically and you may well end up being the one to make the biggest scientific contribution towards advancing our understanding of alien life within our galaxy. You will also make use of over 200 cards to aid your efforts or focus your research in a particular direction for additional bonuses and rewards. Each card has unique effects and illustrations and depicts real-life technologies, projects, and discoveries (like the ISS, Large Hadron Collider, Perseverance rover, Voyager probe, and many more). The game is played in five rounds. The player with the starting player marker takes the first turn of the round. Players take turns in clockwise order, skipping any players who have already passed for the round. At the end of round 5, the final score is calculated and the player with the most points wins. SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence pays homage to space and planetary exploration, astronomy, the ongoing search for signs of life in the vastness of space, and efforts to understand the nature of life in the universe. description from the publisher
Criterion breakdown
- Kritiku average
- Criterion
- Kritiku
- Complexity
- 4.0
- Depth
- 4.0
- Luck vs Skill
- 4.0
- Player Interaction
- 2.0
- Table Experience
- 4.0
- Production
- 4.0
Heavy
Intricate
High Skill
Low Conflict
Memorable
Handsome