SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

SETI makes a strong first impression: a large, generous euro with several scoring routes, a packed design, and mechanisms that faintly recall La Granja without copying it. It is remarkably pleasant for something this substantial. Shame it seems determined not to make anyone uncomfortable — except the players falling behind.

At its core, you choose among different actions and scoring avenues, build income, and connect cards whose effects feed one another. Telescopes can become a primary route to victory, while milestones close once someone crosses the relevant score threshold.

Interaction largely lives in the race for planets and in who can exploit their income engine most efficiently. A double scan can take a planet from under your nose; and once an opponent is ahead on income, they can simply spam telescopes while you watch their private farm bring in the harvest.

That is the issue. If the players do not keep the income cards in balance, the system breaks quickly and the snowball becomes almost self-satisfied, producing enormous final-score gaps in a euro with little luck. The points, extended actions, and especially the final round feel like surplus display: they add considerable time without offering a realistic way to check the leader. It is not a bad game, but it can very easily become a negative play experience.

**Updated session**

The expansion adds cards, more aliens, and an accelerated asymmetric setup in the Terraforming Mars vein. The new aliens are hit and miss, while the otherwise well-designed setup can widen the gap even further: in this play, one player took an early lead and kept it with ease. The base game was already complete; you can comfortably ignore the expansion.