Last modified April 29, 2026 by Jarjar

I have always been drawn to space, as a child I would spend a lot of time looking at the stars in my parents' backyard. As Eleanor Arroway so aptly put it in the movie Contact:

 "The universe is so vast, and we are so small, that if we were alone, it would be a waste of space." 

I love science fiction. I've lost count of how many times I've watched Interstellar and Contact. I devoured Avi Loeb's book, *The First Sign of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life*, about a mysterious object called Oumuamua (which is also mentioned in the game) that supposedly crossed our solar system in 2017. I also loved Andy Weir's *The Last Chance Project* and Liu Cixin's *The Three-Body Problem*, both science fiction books dealing with encounters with extraterrestrials. My son's name, Elliot, is inspired by the cult film E.T.

As you can see, the subject of the search for extraterrestrial life interests me a lot. So, unsurprisingly, when the publication of this game was announced, a little before Essen, I pre-ordered it practically with my eyes closed.

Overview
SETI is a fairly demanding game where you manage a space agency that launches probes, scans space, and analyzes data to discover traces of extraterrestrial life on a game board representing the rotating solar system. The core of the game revolves around multi-purpose cards that you can play for their actions, discard to move satellites, or use to mark sectors during space scanning.

My first impressions
So there was a certain nervousness in the air within our group when we planned to play an opening set of SETI, a game that has generated a lot of buzz since the Essen 2024 trade fair.

And I think that, following this first part, our group can confirm that the current craze around this game is fully justified, because it is an excellent game, with a magnificent production offering a beautiful and imposing presence on the table.

The card illustrations and the atmospheric texts easily hook any space enthusiast or curious person. The game offers us a rather refreshing mechanic with these satellites and the planets that rotate, replicating what is called "ideal launch windows" (I had the same "wow" feeling when I discovered the game Barrage ). Thematically, the game is remarkable!

There are also exciting races that create tension between players: discovering alien signs, exploring moons, certain bonuses from alien tracks, achieving majority control on scans, bonuses for being the first to acquire technologies, and so on. The movement of planets, triggered by acquiring technologies or the first player passing through, adds an almost unpredictable strategic dynamic! In short, a huge amount of interaction, very fun!

Another very interesting mechanic is the discovery of the existence of these new aliens, which interrupts the game to introduce a new board, new cards and components, which can subtly modify the players' strategy.

The rulebook also deserves a special mention, with its beautiful illustrations that stand out from what we usually see.

GAME FACTS
The author, Tomáš Holek, is on his first published game! He had been making prototypes for over 10 years, and started working on SETI in 2018, which was worked on for 4 years before presenting it to publishers.
"What's interesting about this game is that I started with something completely different. I started by writing flavor text for the cards. After writing about 150 flavor texts, I started to develop the game mechanics."

REPORT PART OF JANUARY 15, 2025

It is after 25 minutes of explanation that we launch into a first game with 4 players. Mick launches into the scans quickly (having practically scanned the entire galaxy 2-3 times at the end of the game :)) and into the discovery of aliens, while Marie explores the moons, the planets and succeeds very well with the end-of-game objectives. I also try this strategy of exploring the moons while trying to position myself well on the alien tracks, but I succeed less well, I have difficulty finding the energy necessary to execute my plan. Marie and I jostle to land on the moon of Uranus while Jeff develops and uses his computer quickly, suffering during the 2nd and 3rd rounds, but succeeds in a great comeback at the end of the game! We complete the sector scans several times during the game, which gave rise to great majority fights.
Final score: Marie 192, Mick 172, me 137 and Jeff 116
Duration of the game: 2 h 15

SOLO MODE

Absolutely brilliant, the game offers an AI that is easy to maneuver, but which really gives the impression of playing against someone else. Its adaptability is remarkable, especially when the alien mechanics come into play. It even enriches the experience by offering secondary objectives whose failure results in penalties, adding additional planning. Without a doubt, this is the best single player mode I have ever played!

EXTENSION : SPACE AGENCIES

This first expansion, in addition to including some rather original aliens, significantly boosts the game's start: more starting resources, more income, a unique power for each agency, some satellites already deployed—all of which propels us into the thick of things from the very first turn. The game has one less turn, but since we have a machine already up and running, the turns are a bit longer. As a result, the game opens up more quickly, and our agencies are more developed by the end. My opinion remains mixed on the necessity of adding this expansion; it's effective, certainly, but I appreciate the gradual increase in power in the base game, which seems a bit more accessible, I would say. We'll see in our next games.

RULE POINTS
We have to cover only one space at a time, on triggerable missions. This is also valid for the objective maps in single player mode.

TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 8 (with 2, 3 and 4 players)
Best player setup: 3, but also excellent in solo mode!
Level: experienced player
My best score: 188 (with extension)
Price: $81 CAD

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I loved :
>> A magnificent production, a titanic and almost perfect work of the editor and the author. Impressive for a first publication, definitely an author to watch!
>> Very well-felt theme
>> This magnificent mechanics of satellite and planetary movements is very refreshing
>> Lots of interaction thanks to the many races available
>> These alien tracks that come to add little twists in the middle of the game, changing our planning
>> The mood texts are sometimes educational, sometimes funny.

I liked less:
>> A game that doesn't forgive mistakes; the first few rounds seem crucial, making it difficult for players who are slow to get back into the game. The expansion seems to address this.
>> Calculating majorities of scans comes around quickly (with 4 players), sometimes there isn't even time to go around the table, which is the complete opposite with 2 players (also addressed with the expansion).
>> the tech tree is limited, but we can guess that future expansions could add more.
>> A bit long with 4 players (especially with the expansion)

A masterpiece so much fun to discover with rules that are still very fluid, several options available to us in turn and the fun of seeing the progression of our satellites through the movements of the planets. Don't neglect the energies!

FUN FACTOR 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂