In addition to these elements, players also have to manage Outpost 31. On the map are the same rooms as seen in the film, and each of these rooms allows players to perform a different action. Human players have to feed themselves and keep the boiler and the generator on to avoid being in the cold and dark. The Thing will try to sabotage these places to make life difficult for humans...or not, trying to camouflage itself among the humans and infect them when the perfect opportunity presents itself. The Thing – The Boardgame is an intense game experience for 1-8 players based on the 1982 cult movie, mixing different mechanics to create an experience faithful to the mood of the original film. It’s a “hidden roles” game, in which one player is initially the Thing and the other players are humans. The purpose of the Thing is to infect others, to prevent the survivors from escaping from the base (which can happen in three different ways), or to try to escape with them by behaving as a human. Players must cooperate to survive – but who is really on their side? And if they reveal The Thing – are they ready to fight it? The road to victory is truly hard, but not impossible.

It is a "hidden role" game, in which one player is initially the Thing and the others players are humans. The purpose of the Thing is to infect others, to prevent the survivors from escaping from the base (which can happen three different ways), or to try to escape with them by behaving as a human. The Thing: Human miniatures expansion contains a set of eight highly detailed character miniatures, to use in place of the Characters standees you can find into the base game box. Battles work by the players involved in the mission by providing another card to determine how many dice can be rolled. You will be facing The Thing at three different levels of difficulty throughout the game as you make your way through different rooms within the base. A level one Thing requires you to roll three of a kind with three rolls.

Usually, another player has been quietly setting up arguments and accusations. If they managed to creep their way onto the Helicopter to win the game for the Imitations, when everyone was convinced of their innocence... well, this is what hidden character games are all about and what games like this are made for. Some parts of the game may feel a little tedious if players are repeating actions. Gameplay does ramp up once the suspicions rise but I get the impression some may find this build up and slow tension not to their liking. The Thing - The Boardgame is a game created and produced by Pendragon Game Studios. The English Edition is published and distributed by Ares Games. At the end of each round if players have acquired the right components blood tests can be used to determine someone’s allegiance and could be used to force a player to reveal as an alien. However, the revealed alien may do more damage once they’re in the open. The humans can run out of food in the base and begin starving. When the base runs out of food, every player’s hand size is reduced by one, but players didn’t seem too hampered by this limitation. The power can fail and create darkness. In the dark, players must randomly turn in their action cards the leader rather than choosing. This also didn’t feel debilitating. Eventually in several games we ended up being both starving and in darkness, and yet the humans soldiered on without seeing too much change. I did stop making fun of Norris as his special power is to have a flashlight. I’m sorry Norris, your character power is much better than I originally thought.

Though the leader, weapons, and the revealed alien player were the mechanics our group placed at the center of our debates, there are still a lot of other small mechanics running around the game too. At the beginning of a round the Leader will roll a weather die and this will determine how much fuel the base consumes that round. This is a small amount of randomness to how often players have to spend their actions refueling the power systems in the base. There are dogs(?) that move around the base and if you are caught alone with one you may change to the alien team. While they can be caught to remove their risk, this requires some teamwork and trust between players. The survivors win the horror game if they either successfully destroy the alien or escape the outpost with at least some of them left alive. The alien player wins if they assimilate and kill every single one of the other player characters. The tension as you all decide who to perform a blood test on and then waiting for them to reveal their role card is unmatched in any game I have played. The Thing - The Boardgame is a "hidden role" game, in which one player is initially the Thing and the other players are humans. The purpose of the Thing is to infect others, to prevent the survivors from escaping from the base (which can happen in three different ways), or to try to escape with them by behaving as a human.If it’s obvious when players are lying, the game becomes a bit of a process. Simply running through the motions without any real tension or drama. However, if a player can really hide their true motivations and create some chaos, then this game can become truly epic. Unlike most games, the harder this game is to win, the better it is as an experience for those round the table. You must cooperate to survive – but who is really on your side? And if you reveal The Thing – are you ready to fight it? The road to victory is truly hard, but not impossible. Be careful though! It's always an excellent service with brilliant products at a very competitive price - will use again!

T he Thing - The Boardgame is an intense game experience for 1-8 players based on the 1982 cult movie directed by John Carpenter. It is a game that mixes different mechanics to create an experience that is as faithful as possible to that of the original film.Despite a few minor issues The Thing: The Board Game is an outstanding hidden role game. Totally immersive and thematic and one of the best interpretations of a movie into a board game I have ever played.