Last modified February 3, 2025 by jarjar

FIRST IMPRESSION

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 can't count the number of times I've watched Interstellar and Contact, I literally devoured Avi Loeb's book, The First Sign of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life, a book about a mysterious object called Oumuamua (also mentioned in the game) that would have crossed our solar system in 2017. I also loved Andy Weir's The Last Chance Project and Liu Cixin's The 3-Body Problem, which are fiction books dealing with alien encounters. My son's name, Elliot, is inspired by the cult film ET.

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.

So yesterday there was a certain excitement in the air in our group, as we had planned to play a first part of SETI, which has caused a lot of ink to flow since Essen.

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 some great races that bring tension between players: discovery of alien signs, exploration of moons, some bonuses from alien tracks, getting the majority on scans, bonuses for the first to take technologies, etc. The movement of the planets, triggered by the acquisition of technologies or the passage of the first player, adds an almost unpredictable strategic dynamic! In short, a lot 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!

TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 4
Best player setup: 3-4, but also great solo!
Level: experienced player
My best score: 168

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 does not forgive, the first turns seem to be crucial, difficult for players who are dragging their feet to get back into the game.
>> Calculating the majority of scans comes back quickly (with 4 players), sometimes, we don't even have time to go around the table, which is totally the opposite with 2 players.
>> the tech tree is limited, but we can guess that future expansions could add more.

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.

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 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂