Learning SETI in Solo Mode | Round 3, Turn 1 Playthrough

EDIT: NOPE, I messed it up again. You get to launch a probe for one energy during a Scan action, not take a bonus launch during a Launch action. Had to watch my own work four times before I caught the mistake. Jeez.

“Good news!” wrote one Redditor when I posted my first #SETIBoardGame play report on a board game sub. “You have fundamentally misunderstood SETI and played a much worse game of your own invention instead of SETI, so you'll have more fun next time :)”

They were right. Everything that puzzled me about the game's pace and action economy stemmed from a bad misreading of Page 7 of the rulebook.

I looked up similar questions about turns and rounds on BoardGameGeek, and I still got it wrong. Essentially I didn't realize that a round of the game will keep having turns as long as players still have something to do. I was giving myself and the bot a single turn each, then closing the round.

This constricted the action to near-nothingness. The turn baton was supposed to pass back and forth between players until all had taken the Pass action that formally concluded a round.

My misplay meant that I'd essentially played about 1/3 of a game despite logging five rounds. Not enough stuff happened.

So here are my impressions from what I'm calling SETI First Play 1.1. My job in this heavy Euro space exploration game was to scale the ops of a space agency that is trying to make contact with aliens. It's safe to say I failed that #SoloBoardGaming job.

Reminds me of a note I got along with a no-credit grade on a history paper in college from the professor: “The assignment was to write a history paper considering original sources. I cannot give you a grade as you have managed to evade the enterprise entirely.”

So with the catcalls from more experienced players ringing in my ears. I set the game back up on the easiest solo setting I'm walking it again. This is a #BoardGamePlaythrough of the first two turns of Round 3 — detailing one move from me and one from the game's automa.

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