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The Things

The Things

(Self-Published) · 2010Expansion
5–660 min18+ yrs2.5/5 complexity7.2 BGG87Co-op
short answer

How do you play The Things?

This first expansion for The Thing adds cards, a 5th & 6th player, new Encounters, specific Blood Testing of other players, and other ways to expand your adventures in Antarctica circa 1982; cards like: "I ain't going with Windows.

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The Things box art
official art · (Self-Published)

This first expansion for The Thing adds cards, a 5th & 6th player, new Encounters, specific Blood Testing of other players, and other ways to expand your adventures in Antarctica circa 1982; cards like: "I ain't going with Windows. I ain't going with him," "And everybody watch whoever you're with - real close," The Thing on the Ceiling, "If you are all these Things then you just attack me right now. So some of you are still human," and " This Thing doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation." Also, a new mechanism has been added whereby up to 2 Outpost players that have been assimilated, may reveal their alien nature and actively work alongside the original Thing, against the remaining humans.

The 5 and 6-player game plays slightly differently, in that the Thing player does not draw 5 or 6 cards per turn - she draws 3 cards, but has 3 new elements with which to thwart and upset the Outpost players:

Bad Blood: Each turn, during the Blair-saucer phase, one player (chosen by the El Capitan) must put a card from their hand under the Bad Blood card. Failing to do so makes unpleasant things happen....

Thousand Miles to the Coast Like the Blair-saucer, this is a play-area objective, giving the Thing another path to victory. If the players ignore for too long the lone dog's run for the coast, they may very well find that humanity is in deadly peril of being assimilated.

Somebody blew a fuse in the lab: This can be a particularly harrowing encounter for the Outpost players, if they're not ready for it. During this stage of the game, infected-player-Things may have the opportunity to infect another Outpost player, unbeknownst to the others, while the lights are out...

Due to the cost of printing the number of cards required for the base 2-4 player game, it was decided to release the additional player cards as a separate card expansion. Most of the cards can be added straight into the decks for 2-4 player games - with only a handful of cards designed specifically for 5-6 player games.

Please note: This game is strictly for adults - with profanity and horrific imagery on many of the cards.

🔬 game anatomy
Complexity2.5 / 5
BGG rating7.2 / 10
Vibe
Co-op
Play time
60 min
Players
5–6
Recommended age
18+ yrs

from Trișache · verified

Frequently asked questions

Q1How much does The Things cost?
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Q2Where can I buy The Things cheapest?
Check the Prices tab — howtoplay.ro aggregates offers from 7+ Romanian board-game stores and tracks price history.
Q3How do you play The Things?
The Things is a expansion for base-game game, for 5–6 players, taking ~60 minutes, featuring cooperative game. Check the Rules tab for setup, gameplay, and scoring, or ask Trișache anything about The Things — our AI assistant built by howtoplay.ro and trained specifically on board game rulebooks.
Q4How many players does The Things support?
The Things is played by 5–6 players.
Q5How long does a game of The Things take?
A game of The Things takes about 60 minutes. (The first game doesn't count. It never counts.)
Q6What age is The Things for?
The Things is recommended from age 18.
Q7How complex is The Things?
The Things has a BoardGameGeek complexity of 2.5 out of 5.
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