The Thing Teaching/Player Aid, v. 1.

1, Patrick Olmstead

Setup (in order):

 Set up character boards in 3 stacks (of 4) by color. Each player rolls 2 dice. Highest roll
is Captain. Captain chooses 1 of the character boards. Read character and abilities aloud.
Take corresponding character mover (“mini”) and place in Rec Room. Next player
chooses a board from one of the highest remaining stacks. Read character and abilities
aloud. Put mini in Rec Room. (We house rule this as the last step.)
 Put board in middle, and place Objectives Tracker and Infection Trackers on table
(according to player count).
 Computer token goes on Contagion Level 0 of Infection Tracker.
 Create mission log, according to number of players (see bottom left corner of cards).
Shuffle, place on game board.
 Gear. Place cards for Dynamite, Flamethrower, and Rope near Main Board.
 Room Chips. Organize by Sector, shuffle face down, place randomly in that Sector.
 Supply Deck. Shuffle supply cards and place on board.
 Hands. Deal each player 5 cards from supply deck. Keep cards on your character board.
Do not show your supply cards to other players.
 Blood sample. Create 2 decks of blood sample cards – one for Game Start, and a second
for the blood sample deck, according to chart. Deal out blood type for Game Start.

Players Game Start (H/I) Blood Sample Deck (H/I)

4 3/1 7/1
5 4/1 4/1
6 5/1 5/1
7 6/1 5/2
8 7/1 6/2

Explanation and Game Play:

 General concept: We are currently locked in Sector 1 of Outpost 31 and 1 (or 2) of us is

an Alien (The Thing). The Thing can assimilate humans. Humans have only one path to
Victory: they must complete all objectives on the Objective Track, and then have only
humans in the Escape (thus, they need to figure out who the Imitations are). When we
unlock Sector 2 and Sector 3, we are going to draw blood sample cards – so other humans
may get assimilated by The Thing. The Imitations have three paths to victory: get
Contagion Level to Maximum; get Destruction Tracker filled (Destroy 4 rooms); stow
away an Imitation with the team in the Escape.
 Missions. Each “mission” will start with all players in the rec room. Captain will draw
the top card of the Mission Log. There are two types of cards: Events and Missions.
 Events. There are a few types of Events: Smoke, Fire, and Power Out. Captain rolls a
die and places the chip in that room (the rooms are numbered) in the highest unlocked
Sector. No duplicate tokens. Power Out stays Power Out. If Smoke is already there, it
becomes Fire. If Fire is already there, you will Destroy Room (and move up the
Destruction track). Ignore events for Destroyed Rooms. General rules: If there is
Smoke or Fire present, cannot investigate without a team member discarding a fire
extinguisher first; if there is a Power Out card, team cannot investigate without discarding
a flashlight first. Note: If Smoke or Fire is present in 2 or more rooms, or in a room that
has already been investigated (shown by no room chip), Captain may send a player
individually to a room by themselves to clear Smoke or Fire by discarding fire
extinguisher (cannot go to same room as Team that attempts the Mission).
 Missions. Captain will always participate in the Mission. Captain will choose additional
team members. If possible, Captain must meet the requirements of Number and
Departments. (If Captain cannot do this, then Captain cannot swap out a card from the
Pool. See p. 18.) Players can talk about their hand, but they cannot show their cards.
Discuss freely who should go/stay behind.
 Objective. Captain chooses room with Room Chip in an unlocked sector in which to
attempt the Mission. Put team member minis in that room. (One player must discard fire
extinguisher or flashlight if needed.) Then, all players turn in one Supply Card. Captain
shuffles (under the table, if she wishes). Captain looks at pool first. Any red Sabotage
cards are revealed and resolved immediately. Captain can now swap a card out of the
remaining supply pool, and draw top card off the Supply Deck to add to the pool. All
discards next to Supply Deck are placed face down. (Captain can use one of 2 special
Captain Powers, but only one may be used per turn.) Start flipping over cards per
direction of Mission Log. If Sabotage card is revealed, resolve it immediately (or
investigation fails). If Mission requires a number, Captain will roll the number of dice
indicated on the Supply Cards (to maximum of 6) and compare result to requirement on
Mission Log.
 Mission Pass. If you pass the mission, reveal the Room Chip. Discard = team members
may discard a Supply card and draw a new one. If Gear is revealed, Captain takes that
Gear card with maximum number of uses showing. If Gear fulfills an open objective, the
Room Chip is placed face up on the Objective Tracker, as well. If The Thing is revealed,
a Battle begins (see p. 14).
 Gear can be used whenever the player in possession of the Gear is in a position to use it.
Rope – (a) skip the current Captain, after Mission Log is revealed, (b) leave an otherwise
required player (by player count or department type) behind during investigation (which
means Captain cannot swap out cards). Dynamite (found in Sector 2) can change pip
value by +1 or -1. 2 uses per Dynamite, but only one use per die per turn. Flamethrower
(found in Sector 3): (c) give Captain 3 additional rolls for a Mission objective or battle;
(b) after Mission Log is revealed but before team is selected, use on another player to
make them secretly reveal their Blood Sample card to user of Flamethrower only (only
when Flamethrower has 2 uses remaining); (c) after Mission Log is revealed, but before
team is selected, may use both uses of Flamethrower to Torch a player [identify who you
want to torch, discuss as a team, hold out hands with thumbs sideways, count down “3, 2,
1” and then thumbs up for Torch and thumbs down for “No”] [only 1 Torch per game in
 4-5 player game]. If Torched, player reveals blood sample card to everyone. (See pages
12 and 15 for effects.) If team votes “no,” the Flamethrower is still fully expended.
 Battle. If The Thing is revealed after succeeding in Objective, you must battle The
Thing. Put Thing mover (“mini”) into room with Team. Discuss what card you will
contribute (without showing your Supply cards). All team members hand in a Supply
card to the pool. Captain shuffles pool (she may shuffle under the table). Captain looks
at pool and reveals any Sabotage cards and resolves them. Captain may swap out a pool
card with top card of Supply deck (and discard the replaced card face down). (Captain
may use one of her Captain abilities once per turn.) Pool is revealed. Captain gets the
number of dice revealed (up to 6). Captain must roll requirements of the The Thing chip.
Thing 1 – 3 rolls for 3 of a kind; Thing 2 – 2 rolls for 3 of a kind, Thing 3 – 4 rolls for 4
of a kind. If you defeat The Thing, that chip goes on the empty spot of Objective Tracker
in the current Sector. If you do not defeat The Thing, shuffle all the room chips
remaining in the Sector and replace them on rooms that have not been already cleared or
destroyed (those are left empty).
 Resolve Smoke or Fire. After resolving the Investigation, any individual player sent to a
room may discard fire extinguisher to put out Smoke or Fire. Then, resolve any
remaining Smoke or Fire tokens. Smoke becomes Fire. Fire becomes Destroy Room. If
Room is Destroyed, advance Destruction tracker.
 Rec Room. After Mission, all players go back to Rec Room. Draw up to hand of 5
Supply cards. Players who stayed behind in Rec Room may swap out a card with Supply
deck, if they were not tied up with Rope. In the Rec Room, before a Mission starts, a
player may discard a Molotov face up. Everyone may discard a card and draw a new
one. In addition, the one who discarded Molotov may swap out an additional card. Only
one Molotov per round.
 Contagion. If team fails Investigation or is unable to defeat The Thing in battle,
Contagion spreads. Computer token is moved up the Infection Tracker. Resolve Fallout
on the Infection Tracker. If Infection reaches end, the game ends and the Imitations win.
 Fallout. As Infection Tracker moves up, resolve in the room the team visited in the Turn.
Place a Power Out, Smoke, Fire, or Room Destroyed item, as indicated. If 4 rooms are
destroyed, the game ends and the Imitations win.
 Assimilation. Once you fill in the Objective Tracker for the current Sector, the next
Sector is unlocked. This risks Assimilation. Captain deals one card from Blood Sample
deck to each player. Players pick up both of their blood sample cards, mix them up and
return one, face down, to the pool (to become the next Blood Sample deck). If Human
gets another Human card, return one. If Imitation is dealt Human card, return Human
card. If Imitation is dealt Imitation card, return 1 of them. If Human is dealt Imitation
card, return the Human card; they are now Assimilated.
 Next Turn. All players should have 5 Supply cards in their hand. Anyone bound by rope
is freed. Captain indicator moves to left.
 Escape. When final Sector 3 Room Chip is placed on Objective Tracker, we go to
Escape phase. Captain of team that placed final token nominates a Final Captain. Choice
is discussed. Captain calls for vote. Hands out, thumbs sideways. Count down “3, 2, 1”
and thumbs up = Final Captain, and thumbs down = no. (Tie = No, just like in Torching.)
If no, then player to current Captain’s left becomes current Captain and nominates
 another Final Captain. For every 2 nominees rejected, the Contagion Level rises by one.
If Infection Tracker fills, game is over and Imitations Win.
 Once Final Captain is selected, check the current Contagion Level on the Infection
Tracker to determine how many Blood Tests you have. After discussing, Final Captain
selects players. They reveal their Blood Sample cards.
 Final Escape. Final Captain then chooses final team to join him in the Escape. Final
Captain must choose as follows:
Players Size of Team for Escape
4 2-3 players (no humans left behind)
5 3
6 4
7 4
8 5
 Then, each player starting with Final Captain reveals Blood Sample.
 Human Victory: all team members in Escape are Human.
 Imitation Victory: Stow away an Imitation with the team in the Escape; Contagion Level
to Maximum, Destruction Tracker filled (Destroy 4 rooms).