In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a eurogame for 1–4 players, 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 surface 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.
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).
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.
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
- Unique gameplay experience
- Evolving game mechanics
- Interesting alien discovery process
- Complex strategic depth
- Long game length
- Tight resources in early rounds
- Steep learning curve
- Less engaging at two players
- Alien research
- Space exploration
- Scientific discovery
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Scanning and controlling solar system sectors
- Multi-use cards — Cards with multiple potential actions
- Resource management — Managing credits, energy, and data
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- We are trying to play through as many or all of the games that we have in our possession that were released last year
- It's a game where everybody is contributing to the same board
- Just enough to enjoy it
References (from this video)
- In top 50 games overall
- Flying up top 100
- Excellent design
- Compelling gameplay
- Beautiful aesthetics
- Expansion coming
- Searching for extraterrestrial life
- Space exploration
- Science fiction discovery
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Management — Simple actions with payment of credits/energy
- Probe Management — Launch shuttles to put probes on planets
- randomized encounters — Unknown what aliens will show up
- Resource management — Manage credits and energy for actions
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's hitting people's hands now
- Really captured people
- This is one of the greatest games ever made. I don't care what anybody says
- This is a big sandbox and just go play in it
- There's something so compelling about this game
- I think board games are art
- Fight me I don't care. Best party game ever probably
- It creates so much laughter. It delivers so hard, man
References (from this video)
- strong theme
- great potential for demo at events
- prototype phase at time of discussion
- production finalization pending
- SETI – searching for intelligent life
- Space exploration
- Sci-fi, exploration
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- multi-use_cards — cards with multiple uses and paths
- path_driven_victory — multiple routes to scoring through card choices
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I gave an 8 out of 10 for Fractured Sky.
- This turned out to actually be a good bit of fun.
- it's a funkier version of Splendor.
- I would rather play Wingspan.
- the theme is really good and gameplay was excellent.
- it's Glass Road with resource dials.
References (from this video)
- strong scientific grounding
- high replayability due to species pairings
- crunchy and heavy for some players
- SETI science and discovery
- Space exploration; looking for intelligent life
- Array
- Space-themed, heavy strategy games
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- species pairing — Each game selects two alien species with distinct gameplay hooks, altering how you explore and analyze data.
- telescopes / probes — Two different modalities to gather data about life in the galaxy.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the Rose Gauntlet Foundation lounge was a welcoming space for everybody
- River of Gold is a beautiful production with gold spot gloss
- it's a simple game but it's brain dead, perfect after a long day
- Candy elements add energy and risk in Rock Hard 1977
- SETI will be very crunchy and different depending on alien species