The THING Card Game – Director’s Cut 2017

by Mark Chaplin

INTRODUCTION

The Thing is an unauthorised non-collectable, non-profit game for two to six players, based on the 1982 horror
movie masterpiece "John Carpenter's The Thing", and simulates the paranoid members of an American
Antarctic research facility (Outpost 31) being overrun by - or conquering - a parasitic alien organism capable of
perfectly imitating its victims. One player begins as the Thing - all the other players start as human.

OBJECTIVE:

To win the game, you must meet one of the following conditions:

1. The Thing wins if it kills or assimilates all members of Outpost #31.

2. The Thing wins when the “Thousand Miles to the Coast” card has gained ten tokens.
3. The Thing wins if it completes construction of its Blair-saucer.
4. The Outpost team win if the survivors manage to fly to the coast in the helicopter.
5. The Outpost team win if they contact McMurdo base by radio.
6. The Outpost team wins if they have killed all the Things during the “Let’s just see what happens”
encounter.
 If they are mistaken and some Things remain: the Things win.
 If they killed a non-infected player: the Things win.

To be clear, if there is more than one player on a team and that team wins the game – there is no single victor, the
team wins. This is about the survival of two different species: human and alien.

Also, if you become a Thing during the game – you are now playing to win on the Thing team!

DESIGNER’S NOTE:

This game was born from my lifelong love for John Carpenter’s masterpiece.
My first introduction to the film was when my parents rented the VHS tape and watched it with friends in our
lounge – my younger sister and I were banned from the viewing. I distinctly remember hearing the sounds of the
Thing wailing, the outpost alarms blaring, and the adults downstairs shrieking intermittently. I had to see this film!
Afterward, I was mesmerised by the Norris-headed Thing on the video box cover, and the immortal tagline: Man is
the warmest place to hide. For a kid, that’s a creepy notion.
I first saw the movie in 1983/4 and it scared me witless – I was truly terrified. The look of it, the sound of it –
there is NOTHING quite like ‘The Thing’. I’ve accepted that no modern horror film will ever truly match
Carpenter’s movie. He nailed it. This film, and Ridley’s ALIEN, is an exemplar of horror cinema. Both have very
creepy vibes coursing through their veins, and feature creatures totally unknowable. The beasts really are ‘alien’ –
slow-moving predators, with complicated and unexplained motives and desires; something Hollywood has
forgotten in the modern age.

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Back to the card game! Although some of these rules will seem complicated upon reading, it should all make
much more sense once you are underway. Many of the cards feature the same backs as other cards – this is to
preserve their secret and true nature, but this also confuses a lot of folks. If I had graphic design skillz, I could have
popped icons on the actual cards to ease you into the game; or I could have embedded graphic examples within the
body of these rules. Unfortunately you are just going to have to work with me on this homebrew effort – I’m trying
to help you as best I can.

I advise you to do some small preparation before your very first game (especially if 4+ folks are playing).

 Prepare the decks of cards and set the game out ahead of time.
 Explain all the areas of the game to the players.
 Explain the general idea of the game (if they’ve seen the movie, this should be easy).
 Point out how the Tasks can be destroyed by the actions of the Outpost players.
 Clarify the “Someone Blew a Fuse in the Lab” event, and show the players the infection card that may
get passed from one Outpost player to another Outpost player.
 Define the limits of the El Capitan’s power.
 Stress how it was possible for a player to become a Thing when just one card is played on them.
Some gamers do not like this aspect without prior notice, and may moan (no saving throw!). Playing as a
Human, investing a lot of effort in enjoying the game as a Human, only to be turned into a Thing in one
fell swoop can be unsettling. Forewarn them about this part of the game, and for them to expect it and
not be upset if and when it happens. We don’t want them to see this as an unfair “You Lose” condition.

As a hidden role game, the skill in playing is you need to convince the enemy you aren’t an enemy and are one of
them. It’s like poker, in that it’s a game of playing people, which happen to use cards as part of the game.
You need your players to understand that, whether you’re a Thing or a Human is kind of irrelevant, since it all
comes down to the last scene of waiting or burning - it’s a team game.

VERY IMPORTANT: Whenever the Thing player passes a player a multiplayer infection card, and that player
initially reads the effect, do NOT allow any player to look away. In addition, do not permit the ‘infected’ player to
view the card at a later stage in the game – they must look at, and understand the card, at the very moment it is
passed to them. We want the players to study each other!

As I’ve said, part of this game is about reading people. If some gamers don’t like that, then I guess they’ll not like
my game. The semi-roleplay, parlour game aspect is not to everyone’s palette.

I'm trying to say, part of the game (the bluff and trash-talk) can't be written down as strict rules - much like the
negotiation element in Blood Royale or Diplomacy, etc. Players make of it what they want on the night. This
sounds like I'm trotting out that trite "get into the spirit of the game, man” shtick you read here and there, but I
can't think of a superior way to quickly describe this aspect.
Most current traitor games (The Resistance, Battlestar Galactica, etc.) are either very simple, or quite convoluted
- crucially they rely on rock-solid machinery to prove who is or isn't a 'thing', as it were. My game is partly about
reading your fellow player's expressions – I guess this is what makes it a little different from the others.

NOTE: This document assumes that you have integrated all the relevant cards from The Things and Man is the
Warmest Place to Hide expansions.

EXTRA NOTE: You will need to provide at least 12 six-sided dice (in 2 or 3 different colours is best), and around
a dozen generic tokens (buttons, pennies, or beads will suffice).

TERMINOLOGY:

PC: Player character – this is who you are playing during the game.
NPC: Non-player character – these are uncontrolled Outpost members.
“X”D6: Roll “x” number of standard six-sided dice.
PC-Thing: An Outpost player that is masquerading as human, but is actually a Thing!
El Capitan: The Outpost players’ team leader.
Text in red: 5-6 player rules.

TYPES OF CARDS:

Bad Blood card: A unique card placed at the side of the play area – used in 5-6 player games.

Blair-Saucer Construction card: Used to track the development of the Thing’s UFO. Place this card to the side
of the play area within reach of the Thing player.

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Blood Test card: This is for reference purposes only – it cannot be cancelled.

Character cards: Each of these has a profile picture, and displays the characters’ individual skills, and how many
dice they might add to encounters.

Destruction cards: These sabotage cards help determine what equipment the Thing has destroyed/cannibalised
during the course of the game, prompted by cards in the Thing player’s decks.

Encounter cards: All the cards that make up the narrative deck. One side of the card is a title and picture
describing a section of the film’s plot; the flipside is the special rules governing how that encounter functions.
NOTE: some encounters are classed as events – these do not involve dice-rolling.

Infection cards: These are for placing under NPCs only. Shuffle them into the appropriate Thing decks with all
the other cards. The cards state either: human or infected. Pictured: petri dish or Norris-thing.
There are the following quantities in each Thing deck:
Deck 1: 3 Human & 4 Infected. Deck 2: 1 Human & 3 Infected. Deck 3: 1 Human & 2 Infected

Multiplayer Burn/Wait and See cards: These cards are only used at the game’s final event.

Multiplayer Infection cards: Shuffle these into the Thing decks according to the set up instructions. The cards
state either: you are still human or you are a Thing. Pictured: petri dish or Palmer-thing. When at least one of these
has been played by the Thing, then the Humans must follow the MAN IS THE WARMEST PLACE TO HIDE
RULE. In addition players with these, are able to dump cards to add dice if present at an Encounter.

Outpost cards: Three different decks that the Outpost players use to draw playing cards from – their hands of
cards are formed from these.

PC-Thing Action cards: Used only by a revealed Thing player. These are used in rare circumstances.

Suspicion cards: Used to choke up Outpost players’ hands in 5-6 player games, four of these cards feature fan art
on their front and “you are under suspicion” – the final card has a Norris-Thing “you are a Thing”.
IMPORTANT: The one 'You're a Thing' card is to enable a PC-thing to infect another player herself - during the
Somebody Fuse in the Lab event. That is the sole purpose of the card - which is why the Thing player gives that
card to an Outpost player at the same time as passing them a multi-player infection card. These cards can never be
discarded, and can only be passed during the Somebody Blew a Fuse in the Lab event.

Task cards: Cards that allow NPCs to accomplish objectives, and/or give the Outpost players a helping hand in
fighting the alien menace.

The Thing Attacks! card: This is for reference purposes only – it cannot be cancelled.

The Thing cards: Three different decks that the Thing player uses to draw playing cards from – her hand of cards
is formed from these.

The Tool Shed card: Used partway through the game – triggered by an encounter card. Place to the side of the
play area.

Thousand Miles to the Coast card: A unique card placed at the side of the play area that forms an alternate path
to victory for the Thing player.

SETTING UP THE GAME:

1. The players should decide amongst themselves who is to play the Thing – the most experienced player of
this game is recommended.
2. Place the 12 character cards in the centre of the table – this is known as the Rec Room area.
3. Shuffle all the decks of cards and put them to one side.
4. Place the 6 Task cards down beside the Rec Room.
5. Place the 8 Thing Action cards near the Thing player, shuffled.
6. Randomly remove 1 Suspicion card from the game, unseen, then place the remaining 4 Suspicion cards
facedown near the Thing player (she may look at them).
7. Place the 12 Destruction cards down beside the Task cards, shuffled.
8. Place the Tool Shed and Bad Blood cards somewhere on the table.
9. Place the Blair-saucer card near the Thing player.
10. Place the Thousand Miles to the Coast card near the Thing player.

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 11. Each Outpost player chooses one character card from the Rec Room, and moves this card in front of
them for the rest of the game. NOTE: one player should always pick a character with Pilot skill.
12. Give each Outpost player a “Burn” and a “Wait and See” card.
13. The Thing player must now remove 2 infection cards from Thing deck #1 and place these under 2
different NPCs. One or both of these cards must be a “Human” card.
14. The Thing player should take the Thing Attacks! Encounter.
15. Organise the Encounter deck. Act I consists of 6 cards which are played in sequence; Acts II and III are
shuffled separately, but not mixed together. Assemble an encounter deck with a shuffled Act III at the
bottom, a shuffled Act II placed on top, and then an in-sequence Act I placed on the very top of this
mini-deck. Try to do this task discreetly. Lastly, place the “Let’s see what happens” encounter on the
bottom of the deck.
16. Now all players should draw six cards each, from the appropriate Deck #1, for their opening hands – as
indicated by flipping over the first Encounter: Antarctica, winter, 1982.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you haven’t included any of the multi-player infection cards when playing the 2-player
game.

Before play begins, in games with three or more players, you must do the following using the multiplayer infection
cards - if you do not organise the cards in this way, you can create a situation whereby all the players become
infected. What a game that would be!

3-player game: 5-player game:

 Take 1 Infected! card and 2 Human  Take 2 Infected! cards and 4 Human
cards. cards.
 Shuffle them.  Shuffle them.
 Randomly remove 1 card from the  Randomly remove 2 cards from the
game, unseen. game, unseen.
 Put the remaining 2 cards into Thing  Put the remaining 4 cards into Thing
deck #1. deck #1.

4-player game: 6-player game:

 Take 2 Infected! cards and 3 Human  Take 3 Infected! cards and 4 Human
cards. cards.
 Shuffle them.  Shuffle them.
 Randomly remove 2 cards from the  Randomly remove 3 cards from the
game, unseen. game, unseen.
 Put the remaining 3 cards into Thing  Put the remaining 4 cards into Thing
deck #1. deck #1.

No dog's gonna make it a thousand miles to the coast!

Place a number of tokens on the Thousand Miles to the Coast card during set up – dependant on the number of
game players.

 2-player game: 3 tokens

 3 or 4-player game: 2 tokens
 5 or 6-player game: 0 tokens

PLAYING THE GAME

Turn Sequence:

Each turn is divided into eight short phases, taken in the following order:

1. Encounter phase. Pick up and read the next encounter.

2. Draw phase. All players draw cards - as indicated on the encounter.
3. Suspicion phase. The Thing player may place one Infection card under an NPC, or alternatively pass a
multi-player infection card to a PC. Bad Blood: El Capitan chooses a PC who must discard a card, and
must also sit out this encounter.
4. Main phase. Both teams of players may play any number of cards from their hands.
5. Outpost phase. The Outpost players allocate NPCs to Tasks and the encounter at hand.

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 6. Resolution phase. Resolve the encounter and the Tasks. Both teams may play dice-affecting cards at
this time. If the Outpost players lose the encounter, the Thing player may draw a Thing action card.
7. Thing-out Phase. The Thing player may use his Thing Attacks! Encounter.
8. Saucer phase. The Thing player rolls dice to see if it has completed construction of the Blair-saucer.
And, may also discard one card to attempt to place a token on the Thousand Miles to the Coast card.

During each turn, you do not have to play any cards if you do not want to.

1. Encounter Phase:

You should pick up and read the next encounter. These cards consist of a set of instructions detailing how the
Outpost players can overcome various events from the film. Typically, encounter cards start by telling you how
many cards should be drawn, followed by a list of team requirements/limits. These are made up of the following:

Crew: The minimum and maximum number of men you may allocate to an encounter – NPCs and PCs combined.
Skills: The skills required to help overcome the encounter.
Target: The number needed on a D6 to score a success. E.g. 3+ means you need to roll 3 or greater on a D6.
Successes: The number of successes needed to complete the encounter successfully.
Success or Fail: Instructions that must be obeyed, depending on how well the team performed.

Some encounters have no dice-rolling targets or skill requirements – these encounters are merely events to be
followed as per the instructions on the card. Unlike Tasks, players either succeed or fail each Encounter during a
turn and then a new one (or event) is revealed at the start of the next turn.

2. Draw Phase:

Each encounter card states exactly how many cards should be drawn, and from which deck you may draw them
from - except for the encounters Investigate Crashed Saucer Site and The Final Confrontation, when all players
draw back up to five cards. NOTE: there is no maximum hand size.

Important: The Thing draws one card for each Outpost player still in the game (whether they are infected or not).
In 5 or 6-player games, the Thing draws 3 cards per draw phase.

For example: It’s a four player game. An encounter instructs all players to draw 1 card. All the Outpost players
(irrespective of whether they are PC-Things or not) draw 1 card, and the Thing then draws 3 cards – 1 card for
each of the 3 Outpost players.

NOTE: If an infected Outpost player reveals himself to be a PC-Thing (only after the Blood Test encounter), and
transforms into an abomination, the Thing player draws one less card when instructed to do so.

With regard to card-drawing encounters, the following are special events that feature none of the phases (and this
includes the drawing of cards) of a typical encounter: Matters of Trust, Blair Goes Berserk, The Man-in-Charge,
and MacReady Cuts Loose.

‘Play immediately’ cards: Whenever an Outpost player draws a red “play immediately” card, they must follow
the instructions on the card, and then draw another card to replace it. When the Thing player draws such cards,
she does NOT get a replacement card.

MAN IS THE WARMEST PLACE TO HIDE RULE (3+ players):

After the first Multiplayer Infection card has been played by the Thing player, whenever an infected Outpost
player draws a card (or cards), he MUST draw an additional card and then discard ONE card from his hand.
‘Play Immediately’ cards are resolved before any discarding takes place.

For example: Bennings has to draw back up to 5 cards, and has 2 already in hand - so he draws 4 cards (3 to get
back up to 5, and +1 additional card). Afterwards, he discards one of the 6 cards in his hand, bringing it back
down to 5 cards.

When discarding, if the player is:

 STILL HUMAN: the Outpost player can discard whichever card he chooses.

 NOW A THING: the Outpost player MUST discard a weapon card if he has one available in his hand
(all discards are still face-down!).

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*A weapon card is designated as a Flamethrower, Garry's popgun, The Norwegian Rifle, Blair's revolver, surgical
scalpel, Fire Axe, Gasoline, or a Molotov Cocktail card (in the latest card files, the weapon titles are all in red or
have a flame icon in the LH corner – this depends on which version of the game you are using).

3. Suspicion Phase:

During this phase, the Thing player may place an Infection card face-down underneath an NPC. These cards have
two types: Human, and Infected. The Thing player can only place one of these cards per turn. Any NPC may be
chosen – even someone locked in the Tool Shed. To be clear, more than one Infection card can be played on each
NPC, but only one per turn.

If playing with 3 or 4 players, and she has drawn the right cards from her deck, the Thing may also have at its
disposal multi-player infection cards – these cards count toward the limit of playing one Infection card per turn.

Bad Blood: with 5 or 6 players, the El Capitan must choose one player during the suspicion phase to discard a
card (if they refuse, put one token on the Thousand Miles to the Coast card). This player must also “sit out” the
encounter this turn.

Multi-player Infection cards:

These cards are only used in 3-6 player games. The Thing player should hand these cards to whomever it pleases.
The card should then be quickly and discreetly read by the player – who then slips it face-down under their
character card. The Thing player cannot give one of these to a player who already has been given one.

When the Thing passes a multi-player infection card, it should also give the player a suspicion card for them to
keep in their hand with their other cards. In a 6-player game, the fifth player to receive a multi-player Infection
card will not be passed a Suspicion card – as there will not be one available.
Important: the Thing can and must only ever give a Thing-suspicion card (of which there is only one) when they
also give the target player a Thing multi-player infection card – this only applies if that card wasn’t removed in the
setup stage.

If the card maintains that the player is still human – that player must not disclose that fact for any reason. They can
plead innocence however they like, but the other players must not know for sure – only the Thing knows who it
has assimilated.

Likewise, if the player is now a PC-Thing, they must never reveal this fact until the later stages of the game, or the
very end. The player who is infected must understand that they are now playing to win on the Thing’s side – they
are no longer human. So, if the Thing wins the game – so to do all the PC-Things.
IMPORTANT: These cards can never be cancelled by other cards.

4. Main Phase:

Both teams of players may play any number of cards from their hands.
The Thing player may also play one Thing Action card – if it has any available to use.

IMPORTANT: Each card should be viewed as a distinct piece of business. Unlike, for example, Magic the
Gathering - there is no such mechanism as a stack in this game.
a) A card is played.
b) The card may be countered.
c) If the card isn't countered: resolve its instructions.
d) Another card may be played.

5. Outpost Phase:

During this phase the Outpost players decide which members of the Outpost crew will accompany them during the
various encounters, and who will be allocated to working on the tasks.

All the PCs are expected to perform against the encounters – none may ever be assigned to a Task, unless you are
playing a 5 or 6-player game. Of the remaining NPCs, who are sat around the Rec Room, these characters must be
chosen to do one of three alternatives:

A. Remain in the Rec Room.

B. Perform a Task.
C. Help overcome an encounter.

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Remain in the Rec Room: If the NPC is left in the Rec Room (possibly tied to a couch), nothing further happens
concerning them during this encounter.
Important: The Thing player may not choose an NPC left in the rec room to Thing-out and trigger a Thing
Attacks! encounter – unless the Thing plays the Unearthly Screeching card.

Perform a Task: Players who allocate NPCs to Tasks must be mindful of the maximum crew limit of the Task.

For example: The Childs player decides it would be a good idea to allocate Bennings, MacReady, and Blair to
work on the Bulldozer. This would be okay, as the maximum crew for the Bulldozer is 3. No further NPCs could be
sent to work on this Task this turn.
Each Task details specific instructions for completion – they are very similarly laid out to the encounter cards.
The target number to be rolled on each D6 for each Task is the same: you need to roll sixes.

Help overcome an encounter: Players who allocate NPCs to the encounter must be mindful of the maximum
crew limit of the encounter, and also the minimum limit. Players should also look to match character’s skills to the
encounter they are facing.

The players may find it useful to slide, or carefully pick up, the NPCs that are selected for Tasks, moving them in
front of the Task – in this manner everyone is clear who has been chosen for each team. Just positioning the
remaining NPCs slightly apart into two groups may also help in identifying who has been selected for the
encounter.

Bad Blood: In 5 or 6-player games, the El Capitan must choose one player from the team to “sit out” each
encounter, at the same time as discarding a card. To clarify, that player may refuse to discard a card, but cannot
prevent being forced to “sit out” the encounter. Also, the chosen player can never be the same player two turns in a
row (even if the El Capitan changes).
This player cannot aid the team by playing cards, but may be allocated to work on a Task. If the Thing Attacks!
card is played, then they may still play cards to help the team overcome the alien threat.
The unfortunate player should roll all Outpost dice while inactive.

6. Resolution Phase:

Players may choose the order in which the Tasks are completed, and also how they fall in relation to the main
encounter.

For example: The Outpost team decides it’s a good idea to allocate men to the Radio and Helicopter Tasks, while
also tackling the Autopsy of Norwegian-Thing encounter. They may roll for the Radio first, then complete the
encounter, and lastly roll for the Helicopter Task. The order is up to the players.

Tasks:

To try and accomplish a Task, roll a number of dice equal to the number of dice indicated on the character cards
(always check the maximum crew allowed). You get to roll one extra dice for each Key Skill listed on the Task
card that has characters allocated to it that match the skills. To be clear, you only roll one extra die per skill, no
matter how many characters allocated to the Task possess that skill.

For example: The Outpost team allocate MacReady, Childs, and Palmer to the Helicopter Task. That Task has two
Key Skills: Mechanic and Pilot. Even though both Palmer and MacReady have the Pilot skill, the players only get
to roll one extra die. So in this case, the players would roll 3+1+1= 5 dice. 3(the dice listed on the NPCs) +
1(Child’s Mechanic skill) +1(Palmer & MacReady’s Pilot skill) =5 dice.

Task cards have a memory of successes. That is, you will need to place counters on the Tasks to keep track of how
things are going. Put one token on a Task card for each success achieved (a die could also be used to track the
score). When the number of successes on the Task card matches or exceeds the successes required, you may
trigger the Task card’s special ability – the players may trigger a completed Task card whenever they wish.

IMPORTANT: Dice-affecting cards, or auto success cards, may never be used to aid or hinder the completion of a
Task. Neither team can play cards to augment the results of working on the tasks - the cards are, in the main, for
helping and hindering play while the players attempt encounters.

To be clear, Tasks can never be performed during events – only encounters.

NOTE: If counters on a Task card are removed by the Thing during play, Outpost players can still attempt to place
more counters on that Task.

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Encounters:

To try and overcome an encounter, roll a number of dice equal to the number of dice indicated on the character
cards (always check the maximum and minimum crew allowed). This is your basic dice pool. Unlike Tasks, you do
not get extra dice for skills present. Check the skill requirements on the encounter card against the skills you have
present on the characters you have allotted to overcoming the encounter.

In a 2-player game:

 For each skill you are missing: remove 1D6 from your dice pool.

In a 3, 4 or 5, 6-player game:

 For each skill you are missing: remove 2D6 from your dice pool.

You may never have a negative dice pool, but you could end up with no dice to roll – unless you have some dice-
rolling cards to hand.

After the dice have been rolled, both teams of players may now play dice-altering, or auto-success cards. For many
of the Outpost cards, there is a skill constraint built into it. Without the appropriate skill present, amongst the team
that the players formed during the Team Phase, that card cannot be played.

For example: the Outpost players form a team to Investigate the Crashed Saucer Site. They choose Palmer,
Norris, and MacReady. To help overcome the encounter – after poor dice rolling – one of the players tries to play
the “That Thing wanted to be UHHsss!” card. This card could not be played, because the team they formed does
not possess the Biology skill listed as required on the card. Playing the “’Cos it’s different ‘an us see” card would
be a legal play, however, because the MacReady character has the Tough skill.

Successes: Each encounter card lists the number of successful die rolls and/or auto-successes needed to complete
the encounter, depending on the number of people playing the game: 2P, 3P, or 4P. If your game session is a 5- or
6-player game, use the four player (4P) success value.

Each encounter has a win or fail condition on them. If no specific success circumstance is stated on the card, then
you have merely survived and must now move on to the next encounter card.

Infected Outpost Crew: Any Outpost player who has a multiplayer infection card under their character, and is
present at the Encounter, can ‘dump’ cards to add dice (see page 9).

IMPORTANT: Only the Outpost players who have a character actually attempting the encounter may play/dump
cards to affect its outcome.

NOTE: In a 5 or 6-player game, the Thing player may draw one card from the Thing Action mini-deck each time
the Outpost players fail to overcome an encounter. This card is playable when the Thing player wishes, within the
parameters of normal play.

These cards should be treated as a separate mini-hand from the Thing’s other cards, and should not be counted
when drawing back up to 5 cards, for instance. N.B. Slightly clunky, but it works!

7. Thing-out Phase:

If an NPC is chosen for a Task or encounter – and they are Infected! – then the Thing player may have that NPC
reveal their alien nature, playing the Thing Attacks! encounter prompt card (which cannot be cancelled). The
encounter, Matters of Trust, may also trigger a Thing-out.
When the Thing declares a Thing Attacks! encounter, he must reveal an Infected! infection card from under the
NPC card. Emitting an unearthly howl or hiss at this point in the game is usually fun! Next, the Thing must
remove the imitation NPC from the game, and then resolve the Thing Attacks! encounter, following the
instructions on the game-card. The Thing is never forced to have any NPC Thing-out.

If, in the course of the attack, it is apparent that there are only “infected” NPCs left to kill, the Thing player must
kill those “infected” NPCs before selecting a PC to kill. The Thing player must not reveal the true nature of these
killed NPCs, placing their infection cards unseen in her discard pile. As always, any NPC in the Tool Shed is
excluded from this element of the game, but any other NPC may be selected for elimination.

Even if two NPCs are actually Things in disguise, the Thing player may only reveal one Thing per turn – the only
exception to this rule is during the Final Confrontation, or if the 5-6-player Another Thing Bursts Out! card is
played.

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Thing-out Special Abilities: Four of the character cards (Blair, Palmer, Bennings, and Norris) have a Thing-out
special ability listed on the back of the card. These abilities are only triggered when they have been infected by the
Thing, and the Thing Attacks! encounter has been declared. The Blair-thing is the exception to this rule – his
ability only triggers during the Final Confrontation (and is even activated by a PC-Blair-Thing reveal).

IMPORTANT: Any player may play/dump cards to help fight a Thing Attacks!

8. Saucer Phase:

After the encounter has been completely resolved – and any and all cards have been placed under the Blair-saucer
card – the Thing player gets to roll to see if it has finished construction on its UFO:

 Roll dice equal to the number of cards under the Blair-saucer.

 The target number is 5+.
 The number of successes needed is 3.

If the Thing is successful in completing the construction of the saucer, the Thing player has won immediately.

Dice-affecting cards, or auto success cards, may never be used during the Saucer Phase. Also be aware that the
saucer has no memory of previous successes – each attempt is unique.

CHARACTER CARDS

Each character has a name printed at the top. The number of dice they roll, shown alongside their specific skills, is
printed on the card’s lower half – this represents their jack-of-all-trades aptitude.

Pilot Skill:

If you do not, or cannot, allocate a character with the Pilot skill to an encounter requiring it, you immediately fail
that encounter.

Tough skill:

Requires two kills during a Thing Attacks! encounter to be removed from the game. This skill does not save an
NPC character from an Assimilate or Suicide? or Blizzard card.
NOTE: “Tough” NPCs are infected by one Infection card, like everybody else.

DUMPING CARDS

During a 2-player game, the Outpost player may place any card straight from his hand into the discard pile. This
earns him an extra D6 to use against the current encounter.

In all other games, the Outpost players cannot dump cards into the discard pile for dice until they have a
multiplayer infection card under their character card. When they have, they may discard any one card at a time for
an extra 2D6.

DISCARDING CARDS

All discards are face-down, at all times during the game. This maintains the air of paranoia over who is playing
bad cards and dumping good ones into the discard pile.

EMPTY DRAW DECKS

When any draw deck is empty, shuffle it to form a new draw pile.

EVENT ENCOUNTERS

The following are special events that feature none of the phases (and this includes the drawing of cards or the
rolling of dice for both teams) of a typical encounter: Antarctica 1982, It’s Different than Us, Matters of Trust,
Blair Goes Berserk, Somebody Blew out a fuse in the Lab, The Man-in-Charge, and MacReady Cuts Loose.
Follow the instructions on the cards as you draw them – each is different.

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HELICOPTER TASK

When this Task is triggered, the Outpost players are the only characters that make it on-board the Helicopter to the
"Let's see what happens..." encounter (except in a 2-player game). All the remaining NPCs, irrespective of whether
they have been "infected" or not, are left watching the chopper fly into the frozen Antarctic wastes.

EL CAPITAN

“El Capitan” is a title given to a player from the Outpost team - decided by vote, generally. At the start of the
game, the El Capitan player can be decided in any way that suits the Outpost players. El Capitan is the leader of
the group in title only. The El Capitan character may throw the title around during dialogues with the other players,
but that is the only weight the title may convey.

In game terms, the player who is the El Capitan makes decisions for the rest of the group only when cards and
events call for such a thing from that player.

The El Capitan title is always owned by the lone Outpost player during a 2-player game. You may even remove
the two special event encounter cards from the encounter deck, if you so wish, that pertain only to the selection of
a new El Capitan: The Man-in-Charge and MacReady Cuts Loose - it might speed up your game.

Electing a new El Capitan: After rolling the dice to determine the number of votes they may spend on one
candidate, the Thing player points at each player (in any order she chooses) and asks them who they are voting for.
Each player may discard cards at any time to increase their number of votes (auto-successes on each card are
counted for votes - skill requirements are ignored).

This may become a bidding war as players throw cards in to continually adjust the vote tally until finally everyone
relents and a new El Capitan is elected.

If, at the end of a vote, the new El Capitan has not been decided, because there is a voting tie, then the current El
Capitan retains his title.

CONDUCT BLOOD TEST ENCOUNTER

An important scene in the movie whereby the survivors “Draw a little bit of everybody’s blood, ‘cos we’re gonna
find out who’s the Thing.” The Conduct Blood Test encounter can be potentially devastating for both teams. The
Outpost players can confirm their worst fears or calm their suspicions if the Blood Test is successfully completed.
However, truthfully, they may not want for the Thing to reveal itself at this point as a nasty battle will ensue.
Likewise, the Thing does not want to make known which humans are imitation.
If the Blood Test is successful, then the El Capitan player may reveal one at a time up to four “infected” NPCs of
his choosing (any NPC in the Tool Shed cannot be tested). If and when a Thing is revealed, this triggers an
immediate Thing Attacks! encounter, and ends the blood testing - no further NPCs can be tested.

In 5 or 6-player games, the players have a choice (if the Blood Test is successful): they may either test the NPCs –
as described above; or they may test each other.
If the players decide to test each other, conduct the scene as follows:

1. The Thing points to each PC one at a time.

2. As they are chosen, each PC has to decide: either reveal their true nature or to refuse.
3. When a PC is revealed as human: add 2 tokens to the Thousand Miles to the Coast card, remove that
player’s suspicion and infection cards, and end the Blood Test. [To make this tactically worthwhile to
the Thing player, they should have concentrated on getting tokens on the card throughout the game, so as
to make it “painful” for the Humans to reveal themselves to be Human].
4. When a PC refuses: remove 1 token from the Thousand Miles to the Coast card.
5. When a PC is revealed as a Thing: end the Blood Test; have that player discard all the cards that they
have collected; and give them 4 random Thing Action cards – or up to that number, if some have been
used by the original Thing player.

DESTRUCTION CARDS

All selecting of Destruction cards is done secretly, with only the chosen result revealed to the rest of the players.
That card is then placed under the matching Task card – which you must flip (to show that it’s destroyed). Then
the other Destruction card, which the player still has in their hand, must be put back into the Destruction deck, and
then shuffled in – only then can the remaining Destruction card of the pair (for the just-destroyed Task) be pulled
out of the mini-deck and placed with its fellow under the destroyed Task.

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In this manner, the choice remains private, and creates doubt in the minds of the other players.
Any Task can be destroyed, as long as is still in play – even if the Outpost players have started to complete the
Task, or have completed it.

KILLING NPCs

During the game’s proceedings, NPCs will most likely be killed in one gruesome way or another. Remove their
card from the game when this happens.

NOTE: Unless the NPC was killed during the Matters of Trust event, the death of the NPC does not trigger a
Thing Attacks! - even if there is an infection card underneath the NPC that says the NPC is a Thing.

KILLING OUTPOST PLAYERS

This game is much more about the threat of player elimination, than a game about killing off the PCs one by one.
The fear of elimination is such that players normally hold back flamethrower cards so that they can save
themselves from a thing attack. The death of an Outpost player should be a rare event, and may happen once in a
handful of games.
NOTE: If the El Capitan is killed during play, the Thing player immediately chooses who takes that role.
IMPORTANT: If Outpost players are slain, or assimilated, the game does not ‘dial back’ the values needed to
complete Encounter cards – the number of successes needed is fixed at the game’s start.

HIDDEN PC-THINGS

Players must never tell anyone if they are infected. Of course, it is perfectly reasonable for them to lie and plead
that they are not a Thing…

Of course, PC-Things are free to play as they wish; helping or hindering as the mood takes them. They have to be
careful, because they will have to discard a weapon card (if they have one) each time they draw cards. PC-Things
should strive to not make it too obvious if they are a Thing. Even if you think you blush when you lie, or your face
has an obvious tell, this may not be as pronounced as the player thinks.

REVEALED PC-THINGS

PC-Things can be revealed in one of three ways:

1. During a successful Blood Test encounter, and then only if the player concedes to the testing.
2. After the Blood Test encounter, an infected Outpost player can voluntarily declare their true nature at the
start of any turn.
3. During the Final Confrontation, an infected Outpost player can voluntarily declare their true nature.

Upon reveal, that player must discard all the cards that they have collected. Next, they should be dealt 4 random
cards from the Thing Action mini-deck (only if revealed pre-final confrontation). If there are not enough cards left
to deal the player 4, give them the remaining cards. A PC-Thing can only ever play one Thing Action card from
their hand per encounter – they may not play a card during an event.
There can never be more than one revealed PC-Thing, unless you are resolving the Final Confrontation encounter.
NOTE: If a revealed PC-Thing is killed during the Final Confrontation, his action cards are discarded.

INTER-PLAYER COMMUNICATION

Specific cards may not be discussed amongst the players, but a general indication of a good or bad hand is entirely
within the rules. A PC-Thing will probably whine about having a poor hand! Accusations and general banter are
good and to be encouraged – and a devious Thing should also spread mistrust as often as it can.
The game is improved when players engage in banter, trash-talk, and general prattle. This is especially true if they
read aloud card titles during play, and quote lines from the movie.

THE TOOL SHED

This card is an out-of-play area. From the middle of the game, when directed by the Blair Goes Berserk event card,
only one NPC should be locked inside it. The only cards that can affect this imprisoned NPC are infection cards –

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nothing else may interact with the NPC. He is effectively ‘locked’ from the game until the finale. The imprisoned
card cannot be moved or killed or anything else, until that time.
“Funny things. I hear funny things out here”: As the El Capitan player moves the chosen NPC to the tool shed,
the Thing player must point to any one of the Outpost players (the El Capitan is a valid target). That player
carefully peeks at the infection card(s) underneath the NPC (if any are present), but may not show them to anyone
else.

*The chosen player MUST then tell the other players whether the NPC is a Thing, or still human.
 If the chosen player is still human: they must tell the truth.
 If the chosen player is a Thing: they must lie about the true nature of the card.

“It ain't Fuchs”: Later in the game, if the Thing player wants to place an infection card under the NPC locked in
the tool shed, she must declare the action and then secretly show that infection card to an Outpost player of her
choice (this can be a different player from when the tool shed was locked).

*The chosen player MUST then tell the other players whether the NPC is a Thing, or still human.
 If the chosen player is still human: they must tell the truth.
 If the chosen player is a Thing: they must lie about the true nature of the card.

NOTE: If the Outpost players want to cancel the infection card, they must do so before the card is shown to
anyone.

Two-player Tool Shed Rules:

For the two-player experience, ignore the tool shed rules above. Instead, when the Thing player wants to put an
infection card under the NPC locked in the tool shed, she must first discard a card from under the Blair-saucer card
– if there is not a card available to do so, then she may not ‘infect’ the locked-away NPC.

THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

Upon reaching this encounter, the Outpost players must fight a Thing – the target numbers needed are described on
the card.

After this first Thing has been dealt with and destroyed, the Thing player must do the following:

1. Reveal one “infected” NPC. If he was “Human” then remove the character from the game (it is assumed
that he either ran off into the blizzard, or has been absorbed into the Thing’s biomass). If he was
“Infected!” have the Outpost team fight the shape-shifting alien in the same way as they fought the first
Thing at the start of the encounter. NPCs that have not been “infected” are left in play.
2. Keep revealing “infected” NPCs one at a time until you decide to stop – which you may do at any time
(you may want to keep some surprises back for the “See what happens…” encounter).
3. Have the Outpost players overcome any and all Things – using the target numbers on the encounter card.
Remember to fight them one at a time and with no knowledge of how many more there may be to fight.
Each Thing must be defeated before any further NPCs are revealed.
4. Do not forget the NPC in the Tool Shed! The Thing player may decide to include him in this
encounter, if he so wishes.
5. Now ask each of the Outpost players, slowly and in clockwise fashion, if they wish to reveal themselves
to be a Thing. All answers are aloud. If the answer is “no” then proceed to the next player; if “yes” then
have them hiss in an unearthly fashion and prepare for a climactic battle!

Important note: A PC-Thing may also answer “no” to the question, as they are going to bluff it, and wait it out
during the “See what happens…” encounter. Clever Thing!

If at any time, the Outpost players lose a battle, the Thing player has won the game.
NPCs joining the fight: Any NPCs that are in play when a Thing is fought help fight the alien threat. This makes
it very likely, depending on how the Thing player reveals his secrets, that a hidden Thing helps the PCs fight and
defeat a revealed Thing – only to attack them all himself moments later. Treacherous Thing!

When a PC-Thing reveals itself, it may now use its cards to fight against the other players. Auto-success cards,
which are the only cards it may use, will only aid its attack if the skill requirement is met by the PC-Thing’s
character – if they can be utilised, then add these successes to the number of successes the Outpost players need to
overcome.
For example: MacReady reveals himself as a Thing when asked during the Final Confrontation in a 3-player
game. Shock, horror! He then plays a “Thanks for thinkin’ about it though” to gain one auto success (he has Pilot
skill). This raises the number of successes to defeat him from 4 to 5.

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If the Outpost players succeed in overcoming the PC-Thing, then that player is now dead and out of the game. The
original Thing may still play cards during these fights.
It is entirely possible for there to be a situation whereby 2 players are PC-Things and one player is still human,
during the Final Confrontation. After fending off the first Thing together, one of the PC-Things might decide to
fight it out. If that Thing is killed, and the other PC-Thing remains quiet, the Outpost player might think that they
are now okay and not “Burn” during the “See what happens…” encounter. This would result in a fun win for the
devious Things.

Blair is revealed as a PC-Thing: the Thing-out special ability of Blair still applies during the Final Confrontation
(this is an exception to the other crew who have a Thing-out ability). A Blair PC-Thing requires an additional two
successes to defeat.

Two-player rules: In a 2-player game, the Thing player merely chooses to reveal which Things are to be fought,
as already described, as no other players are involved.

In 5 or 6-player games, the battles and the encounter are fought in exactly the same way as described above. An
important point to remember, however, is that if there is already a PC-Thing running about causing mayhem
(revealed to the other players and using Thing Action cards), he must be dealt with straight after the “free” built-in
Final Confrontation encounter Thing has been killed.
Important: the El Capitan cannot select an Outpost player to “sit out” the Final Confrontation – there is no Bad
Blood step in this encounter.

Blair-saucer: at the end of this encounter, the Thing player does not get a Saucer phase – no dice are rolled.

BURN OR WAIT AND SEE

The “See what happens…” encounter emulates the possible decision that Childs and MacReady had at the close of
John Carpenter’s film. At the very end of the game, the Outpost players have a very important decision to make
based on deduction, instinct, and some luck. Each player has two cards: “Burn” and “Wait and See”. These cards
are only used during the “See what happens…” encounter.

Each Outpost player secretly selects one of the two cards, placing it face-down in front of them. PC-Things must
always choose the “Wait and See” card. All the cards are revealed simultaneously.

 If “Burn” is chosen by anyone, and there are no Things remaining: the Thing wins.
 If “Burn” is chosen by anyone, and there are Things remaining: the humans win.
 If “Wait and See” is chosen by all, and there are no Things remaining: the humans win.
 If “Wait and See” is chosen by all, and there are Things remaining: the Thing wins.

Please note: active discussion between the Outpost players – some or none of whom may be Things – is
encouraged at this juncture. The Thing player is also permitted to talk up suspicions, if it wants to.
Then, one by one, the Thing player must reveal the infection cards under each remaining NPC – until all are
viewable. Do not forget the NPC in the Tool Shed, if he is still there. Next, the PCs reveal the infection cards
beneath their character cards one by one. The winner(s) should now be known.

Thematic Hitching: I’d also like to add my own take on the climatic standoff at the end of the movie, as it makes
the player’s decision more thematically satisfying, IMO.
I can see no reason why the protagonists wouldn’t just “Burn” themselves, even if they were human, since it was
established that no help was coming until Spring. Therefore they would perish anyway, freezing to death long
before being rescued. So why would you risk the other guy being a Thing and surviving?
I now like to think, for game purposes, what if help is arriving in the morning? Now the characters really do have a
tough decision, since it means that they could possibly survive. However if they make the wrong choice and let a
Thing meet the rescue team, they could be sealing mankind’s destruction.

SPECIFIC FAQ-BAIT CARDS:

M2A1-7 Flamethrower

The Flamethrower cards can only be used to instantly kill a Thing during a Thing Attacks! encounter. During the
Final Confrontation and other encounters, the Flamethrower adds 5D6. This also applies to fighting PC-Things.

“Cheating, Bitch?”

Any card may be cancelled - even a card played by another Outpost player. The only cards that are immune are
Multiplayer Infection cards (and prompt cards!).

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NOTE: If this card is played to counter They’re Not Dead Yet, the Thing player does not have to pay the additional
cost.

Shredded Longjohns

The card has no effect if there is only one NPC with an Infection card under it. To be clear, you shouldn’t play the
card unless 2 NPCs have infection cards under them.

INTEGRATING THE EXPANSION DECKS

This is just a quick guide informing you of which cards to remove from the game if you're playing with less than 5
or 6 players, and have all the expansion cards mixed in.

2-4 Player Set Up

1. Remove all the Suspicion cards.

2. Remove all the Thing action cards.
3. Remove the Bad Blood card.
4. Remove the Somebody blew out a fuse in the lab event.

GAME STRATEGY

If you are the Thing player you should play carefully, so as to avoid accidentally revealing your hand to another
player, and you should obscure cards when “infecting” NPCs (also when checking who you infected on a previous
turn) so that who should be trusted is kept a mystery for as long as possible. You should try to not infect the same
NPCs or PCs each game, or even infect the same characters that were infected in the film – just to keep the players
on their guard. The Thing player must choose which PCs to infect very carefully, so as to maintain the tension –
not everybody is good at keeping secrets! The Thing may not always be wise to Thing-out every time that it is able
– I’ll let you discover the circumstances that might be favourable.
Generally, all players should think twice before playing any card – as you do not draw that many cards during the
course of the game. Players should also consider which deck to draw from, as this can also be a key to winning.
Try to keep the draw piles vertically aligned to the players, and the discard piles horizontally aligned – this can
save confusion during the game (as all cards are face-down).

If you are an Outpost player, it is usually a very good idea to keep the Flamethrower cards back for a really
troublesome encounter, as these cards are very powerful – and feared by the Thing, of course. It is also very
advisable to prevent the Thing from placing too many cards under the Blair-saucer card – the more cards it has, the
closer it is to finishing construction on its UFO. You do not want the Thing to get to civilisation!
Generally speaking, players are more likely to choose ‘Burn’ at the game’s end when more people are involved in
the game. With this in mind, in a larger game, it is sometimes more favourable for at least one PC-Thing to reveal
themselves during the Final Confrontation and attack the other players – to increase the likelihood of a Thing
victory.

Players should be very mindful of who is doing what, and ask themselves these questions (and others) to have a
chance of defeating the crafty things:

 Who’s been dumping a lot of cards?

 Who hasn’t been playing any weapon cards?
 What equipment was destroyed, and who made the decision that caused it?
 What expression did players have on their faces when given an infection card?
 Who seems too helpful?
 Who never seems to have a flamethrower card handy?
 Who goes quiet when asked for a decision?
 What did one player tell the others, when the NPC was locked in the tool shed?
 What did one player tell the others, when the imprisoned NPC had an infection card played on them?
 Who did the Thing player keep picking as targets for cards, and who did she avoid?
 Who made bad decisions, or made the situation worse, as the El Capitan?

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CREDITS:

Game Design: Mark Chaplin

Extra special thanks: Kevin McKie, Viktor Csete, Andrew Davis, and Leigh Caple.

Special thanks: All the cast and crew of “John Carpenter’s THE THING”, and Alan Dean Foster for his excellent
film novelisation.

Playtesting and help: Corvayn Esdren, Toby Farrands, Kathryn Caple, Tim Pollard, Aaron Bohm, Marek Zajdler,
Fen Batten, Mike Markey, Mark Ramsey, Clyde Wright, Mohit Goel, Felbrigg Herriot, Dave Chappell, Kaye
Sutton, Matt Goodwin, Gary Riddell, and Kate Hooley.

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