Universe
This expansion for The Thing - The Boardgame allows you to experience the events that happened at Thule Station, the Norwegian station where it all began! As for the 1982 version, the expansion lets you relive the tensest moments from the story, transporting you into the cinematic film!
The core element of the game is based on the emulation properties of the Thing, which will hide its identity under a blanket of fake humanity, but with substantial differences in the way they interact with the game and with your feelings.
Here are the key points of the expansion:
A new board, new characters, and new materials.
A new end game condition represented by the escape of the dog that will arrive at Outpost 31. IF this happens, you can play your next game of the 1982 version with a pack leader dog (a dog that behaves differently throughout the game).
A new element in the game: teeth! The Thule Station crew discovers that the Alien cannot assimilate and duplicate metal parts, so dental fillings become a way to find out if a person is definitely human, but not if they are alien. The test with the wire and the flamethrower disappears and flashlights are added with which it will be possible to carry out a test and look at the teeth of the other characters, checking for the presence or lack of fillings.
A new location is available for the Thing: The UFO! It represents the last hope of escape for the Thing, as in the movie. The final confrontation with any remaining humans will take place here. Of course, this is only an option, and just like the dog escape mentioned above, it doesn't necessarily happen! Everything will depend on your behavior, as you can win or lose in many ways!
In the 2011 film, as soon as they found out what's going on, people's behavior becomes more selfish, trying by all means to save their own lives. We therefore decided to try to include the possibility of a solitary escape, an element that will bring the level of distrust to the maximum! This also brings new mechanics, such as the ability to voluntarily sabotage vehicles even if you are human.
The expansion will contain: a new board, new characters, new cards and new tokens.
Gameplay
This expansion for The Thing - The Boardgame places you in Thule Station, as depicted in the 2011 film, the prequel to the 1982 film, which recounts the events following the discovery of the flying saucer.
In this version of the game, the mechanics are different in many ways, leading players to make different choices.
This time, humans can escape individually: whoever manages to escape immediately wins, while the other players continue as normal.
The escape devices are ready from the start of the game, making the risk of the Alien's escape sufficiently real to drive the humans to deliberately sabotage their own devices, and thus giving a new dimension to bluffing and a new importance to the Sabotage card.
Another new concept is Dentition analysis, which can be used to determine who is really human. This analysis does not reveal who is an Alien, only who is Human. To this end, you'll use the Torch Lamp, an item with a new effect enabling you to perform this analysis.
Dogs are replaced by non-player characters (NPCs) who work in the same way, moving randomly around the Base.
Finally, multiple players can win, even if they're on different sides, but they can also all lose.
There are two new possible endings for the Alien camp: the Alien can now escape with his UFO, or win thanks to the Dog's escape; in the latter case, it is then possible to follow up with a game of the basic game with the "Leader of the Pack" variant.
Because of these new features, this expansion can be played by 4 to 8 players, but not with the version for 1 to 3 players.