SETI is a crunchy eurogame for one to four players. In this game, you’ll search for extraterrestrial life, uncover their traces, discover and interact with them to compete for victory points.

Gameplay

The game is played over five rounds. On each turn, players choose one action from a variety of options: playing cards, upgrading technology, launching probes, scanning for extraterrestrial signals, moving probes across the solar system, and landing on planets or their moons.

In SETI, you must advance on multiple fronts simultaneously, with each strategy reinforcing the others. For instance, scanning for alien traces earns you data tokens that provide resources or income upgrades when you place them in your computer. Similarly, sending probes to planets earns publicity, which enables technology upgrades. Orbiting or landing on planets rewards alien traces, income upgrade opportunities, and additional data. Managing this interconnected web of choices with limited resources is deeply satisfying. Every decision matters, and careful planning leads to powerful turns. That said, the sheer depth of options may trigger analysis paralysis for some players.

Multiuse cards are a core mechanic in SETI and are implemented well. You have a limited hand of cards that can be used in multiple ways. Their most important use is for their actions: by paying energy, you can play these cards to perform usual actions at a cheaper cost or get a combination of benefits from multiple actions. The cards can also be discarded for satellite movements, data, or publicity; tucked for income; or used to mark sectors during the scan action. Maintaining a steady flow of cards is extremely important in this game. With a limited number of cards in your hand that have multiple uses, you’ll constantly face difficult decisions about whether to keep cards for their main action or use them for other purposes. Overall, the card mechanics are excellent in this game. That said, I sometimes wish for cards with ongoing abilities, similar to those in Underwater Cities.

The solar system’s rotation is another unique feature of the game. While it might seem gimmicky at first, the mechanic is both thematic (with inner planets moving faster than outer ones) and strategically important. Certain cards and effects rotate the board, altering scanning opportunities and travel distances to planets. Though you can’t predict rotations initiated by your opponents, you can position your probes to capitalize on future movements. There’s great satisfaction in leveraging these orbital movements to accomplish more with your limited resources.

One of your primary goals is launching probes from Earth and moving them to other planets. You can choose to orbit planets or land on their surfaces, and with the right technology upgrades, you can even land on moons. Orbiting and landing on planets offer various benefits: collecting alien samples, scoring victory points, gathering data, or increasing income. These actions form crucial pieces of your overall strategy. However, since launching and moving probes are expensive, you’ll want to time your movements carefully, taking advantage of the planet’s proximity or solar system rotations to maximize efficiency.

The alien species are another highlight of SETI. The game includes five unique species, each with its own deck of cards. During setup, two species are randomly chosen and remain hidden until players discover enough traces to reveal them. Once revealed, they introduce new scoring opportunities, resources, and special actions. Alien cards are more powerful than normal cards, and those contributing to discovering alien species are rewarded with them, which introduces a race element to the game. Each species affects gameplay in unique ways, making every play feel different. The modular design of these species makes it easy to add more of them to the game. New species are already in the works in the upcoming Space Agencies expansion.

In summary, SETI delivers phenomenal gameplay. Every turn feels exciting and keeps you engaged from start to finish. It’s worth noting that despite being a heavy game that requires a lot of brainpower, SETI’s simple rules make it easy to teach.

Solo Mode

The solo mode uses an AI rival run by a deck of cards, along with objective tiles that you must complete each round. There are five difficulty levels: the easiest doesn’t use objectives, but all others use them in different capacities. You must complete these objectives, or the AI will get too strong. This encourages specific strategies and influences your long-term planning. The easiest level is too easy, and you’ll probably beat it every single time. However, higher difficulty levels are challenging and can be swingy, especially because of the objectives.

I typically dislike AI opponents in games, and SETI is no exception. I wish there were a “beat your own score” mode. I can imagine implementing one wouldn’t be difficult since this is a low-interaction game. The scanning action is the main aspect of the game that needs contribution from other players, but that could have been handled with a deck of cards or by letting you place two markers instead of one (while only rewarding one data token per two markers). I’m also not the biggest fan of the objectives and would rather be free to do whatever I want. That said, running the AI is fairly straightforward, and it’s likely that fans of AI opponents will enjoy the solo mode.

Artwork and Production

The cards feature beautiful illustrations, most depicting real scientific projects or astronomical objects with accompanying flavor text. As a big part of the game, the cards are done incredibly well. While I personally don’t love the main board’s art and color palette (a subjective preference), its functional design is brilliant. It’s easy to assemble, and the solar system rotation mechanism works flawlessly. With the sun token in the middle that holds everything together, the board has a lovely 3D effect.

All components reflect CGE’s signature high quality. The player tokens, made of Rewood (first seen in Kutná Hora), are detailed and look great. The game includes information sheets for each player and alien species. This is something every game should have. The player aids are excellent, covering actions, technologies, endgame objectives, iconography, and more.

Is SETI Similar to Arnak?

The short answer is no. While they share some similarities, both play over five rounds and give that satisfying progression from scarce resources to powerful late-game turns, they are fundamentally different. SETI is heavier, with a slower and smaller ramp-up than Arnak. Also, unlike Arnak, there’s no deck-building or worker placement in SETI. Both of them are excellent games and worth owning. Arnak is one of my favorite games of all time, and if I had to pick one, I’d still go with Arnak, but SETI is very close behind.

Final Thoughts

SETI is fantastic! Without a doubt, this is a game we’ll still be talking about for years. Its excellent mechanics, tremendous variety (thanks to the myriad of cards and five distinct alien species), and impressive table presence will satisfy most heavy eurogame fans. It’s a game we’ve been playing frequently and one we can highly recommend.

Disclosure: We received a review copy of this game. Also, there may be an affiliate link in the links included at the end of this article.