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3 players · Base and Space Agencies

SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: glossary and rules terms

Definitions from the authored tutorial, with stable links for sharing a particular term. The selected edition and scenario determine how each rule applies.

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30 terms

credits

Pay for launches, scans and most card actions. Two credits can be exchanged for one energy or one card as a free action.

Rule reference: Base pp. 8, 12, 15, 18

energy

Funds probe movement, landings, scanning and analysis. Carry unused energy into later rounds.

Rule reference: Base pp. 8–14

publicity

Publicity is capped at 10. Research normally costs six; buying a card costs three. Excess publicity is lost.

Rule reference: Base pp. 16, 18, 28

income

Tucking a card permanently adds its income corner and grants that resource immediately. It pays again between rounds. There is no extra income phase at game start.

Rule reference: Base pp. 7, 14, 19; Space Agencies p. 5

free actions

Optional actions during your own turn, before, during or after the one main action. A card corner normally requires discarding that card. No free actions between turns or during opponents’ turns.

Rule reference: Base pp. 7, 18, 28

launch

Pay two credits to put a probe on Earth. The default limit is one probe in space; orbiters and landers do not count. Technology and Orbital Dynamics can raise the limit.

Rule reference: Base p. 8; Orbital Dynamics face

movement

One energy buys one movement unit, or use a printed movement effect. Move orthogonally between adjacent spaces, never through the Sun.

Rule reference: Base pp. 8–9

asteroids

Leaving an asteroid space normally costs one extra movement unit. Asteroid navigation removes that penalty and gives one publicity on entry.

Rule reference: Base pp. 8–9, 17

orbiter

At a planet, pay one credit and one energy to place an orbiter on the planetary board. Gain its printed reward; the first orbiter adds three points. Any orbiter reduces landing energy for everyone.

Rule reference: Base p. 10

landing

At a planet, pay three energy, or two if any orbiter is present. Landing technology reduces this by one. Gain printed planet points, a yellow trace and any still-available first-landing data.

Rule reference: Base p. 11

moon landing

Requires moon-landing technology or a card permission. Pay the normal landing cost but take the moon’s printed rewards. Each moon space accepts only one lander; a moon does not automatically grant a yellow trace.

Rule reference: Base pp. 11, 17

rotation

Rotate disc one, then disc two with one, then disc three with both, repeating. Each rotation is one sector counter-clockwise. Probes ride their supporting disc; cutout probes may stay or be pushed.

Rule reference: Base p. 16

scan

Pay one credit and two energy. Mark Earth’s sector and discard a row card to mark one matching sector. Technology can add or change signals. Refill the row after the action.

Rule reference: Base pp. 12–13, 17

signals

Each marker normally displaces one data token. The second data slot gives two points. Extra markers after the data is exhausted still count toward the sector majority.

Rule reference: Base pp. 12–13

sector

When its data is exhausted, resolve at the end of the main action. Most markers wins; ties favor the tied player who marked last. Every contributor gains publicity, and the runner-up keeps one marker when the sector refills.

Rule reference: Base p. 13

data pool

The data pool holds at most six tokens. Move data into the computer as a free action on your turn. Data spent for an alien cost must come from the pool, not from the computer.

Rule reference: Base p. 14; Centaurians sheet

computer

Six upper spaces fill left to right: publicity at space two, income at four. Four technology positions can award two points above and a resource below. Lower spaces require their upper space to be filled.

Rule reference: Base pp. 14, 17

analyze data

With all six upper computer spaces filled, pay one energy to discard every computer token and mark a blue trace. Deep Sky Survey pays no energy.

Rule reference: Base p. 14; Deep Sky Survey face

technology

Research normally costs six publicity. Rotate before choosing a tile. The first researcher gains two points; take the tile’s immediate bonus, flip it and use its ongoing ability. Own each technology at most once.

Rule reference: Base pp. 16–17

mission

Pay to play the mission first. Triggered circles respond to later qualifying events, one circle per trigger on that card. Conditional missions can be claimed on your turn once their condition is met. Completed missions turn face down.

Rule reference: Base p. 15

life traces

Red traces commonly come from sector wins, yellow from landing, blue from analysis. Mark matching discovery or revealed-species spaces. Overflow always remains available for three points.

Rule reference: Base pp. 11, 20

discovery

When all three colors below a species are marked, reveal it after the turn and milestones. Read its sheet and reward contributors. Hidden species identities are not available to players beforehand.

Rule reference: Base p. 20

milestones

At 25, 50 and 70 points, claim a different gold tile. Earlier claimants get higher multipliers. In three-player games, neutral markers at 20 and 30 fill the leftmost empty discovery space after player milestones.

Rule reference: Base pp. 18, 21, 28

passing

Discard down to four cards, rotate if first to pass, then choose a card from the round’s pile. There is no pile in round five. After everyone passes, resolve income and move the first-player marker, or score the finished game.

Rule reference: Base p. 19

Quick Start

With organizations, choose two of three dealt Quick Start cards. Top-half placements grant no normal placement rewards; resolve only the printed bottom effects. Some Quick Start cards tuck themselves for income.

Rule reference: Space Agencies pp. 4–5

organization

Choose one of two dealt organizations. Its setup, income and powers replace the base starting income card. Games with organizations play rounds two through five. Reset its once-per-round use when taking income.

Rule reference: Space Agencies pp. 4–5

signal tokens

During a scan, spend a token to discard another remaining row card and mark a matching signal. There are at most two additional row cards to use before the row refills. Token supply is unlimited.

Rule reference: Space Agencies rules and signal-token icon; base scan timing

Anomalies

Three tokens occupy fixed outer-ring sectors. After a rotation aligns Earth with one, the player whose matching-color Anomalies research marker is highest gets the token reward.

Rule reference: Official Anomalies sheet

Centaurians

At discovery, place each player’s message milestone 15 points ahead. Reaching it claims an available reply reward. Some research spaces cost pool data. Their energy-priced cards can send further delayed messages.

Rule reference: Official Centaurians sheet

Amoeba

A marked research space gives its printed reward and all organelle rewards in that color section. Move rewarded outer organelles clockwise and the inner one counter-clockwise; skip occupied spaces.

Rule reference: Official Space Agencies Amoeba sheet

Sources and scope

The tutorial’s source audit checked the publisher’s base rules, FAQ, Space Agencies rules and species references on 8 September 2026. Original component art is the default; optional Quick Start proxies are labelled in the app.

Reading guide reviewed 2026-09-15; based on tutorial v1.0.3. This date records an editorial review of the existing tutorial, not a new rules edition. Strategic suggestions are conditional interpretations, separate from official rules.