Review Quickie: "The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31"

Notwithstanding the fact that John Carpenter's classic sci-fi / horror remake is one of my all-time favorite flicks, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 is quickly becoming my go-to deduction / social engineering game!

Game play itself is pretty straightforward. In clockwise order, players take turns being team leaders, revealing a new "Mission Log" to determine the head count and character skills required to tackle the next task. After hand picking their squad as well as a room to explore, team members secretly contribute equipment cards to try and overcome the challenge. If they succeed, they get to examine the room's contents, which will either be the equipment they need to progress or an alien, which immediately results in combat.

Of course, as in all other traitor mechanic games, one person around the table is secretly a "thing", looking to sow paranoia and chaos among the group. The alien player has to walk a very fine line, pretending to help at first so as not to cast aspersions on themselves. If they tip their hat too early, they could be subjected to a blood test to determine their true nature, get tied up with rope (skipping their Leader turn) or even incinerated with a flamethrower!

As more human players theoretically get converted, the "things" can dare to get more brazen when it comes to sabotage. Admittedly, the human team is hard-pressed to win, but that's just in step with the movie's theme. A human victory is truly cause for celebration!

Despite the game's amazing components and straight-forward rules, there are some odd game play choices that are actually anathema to the film's plot. For example, the humans can lose the game if too much of the base is destroyed. This actually run's contrary to the films plot, which sees the survivors voluntarily attempting to destroy the base in a last-ditch effort to kill the alien invader.

The game might not be as thematically engrossing as, say, Battlestar Galactica, it does plays very briskly and in a fraction of the time. The experience is also no less tense.

The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 scores four pips outta six with a huge tilt up towards the skies...that you should be watching!

***

BONUS: IMPORTANT RULES TO REMEMBER

• Be sure to adjust the Mission Log Cards based on Player Count before the game begins. 
• When you're instructed to "Bury" a card, place it at the bottom of the appropriate Discard Pile without revealing it. 
• If you draw an Event, resolve it first before drawing a new Mission.
• Before a Mission begins, any player may spend a Molotov in the Rec Room to let everyone  discard a card and draw a new one. The person who played the Molotov can discard and draw one extra card. 
• The Captain selects the Team, and always includes themselves and and meet all Department Requirements. 
• Do not place duplicate Tokens or Cards in Rooms. I.E. ignore Power Out results in Rooms where the power is already out. A duplicate Smoke makes Fire and a duplicate Fire Destroys the Room! Ignore any results for Destroyed Rooms.
• A Room with Smoke or Fire is "locked" unless a Fire Extinguisher can be tabled first, which gets rid of either Token. If Smoke or Fire is present in two or more Rooms (or in a Room that's already been Investigated), the Captain can dispatch one other player to that destination with a Fire Extinguisher. 
• Similarly a Room with the Power Out can only be entered if a Team Member discards a Flashlight first. 
• Once the minimum amount of Rooms in Sector One are successfully Investigated, it opens up Sector Two then the same goes for Sector Three.   
• After everyone contributes a Supply Card to a Mission (including the Captain), the Captain shuffles them all and inspects them. Sabotage Cards are resolved immediately, if possible. After this, the Captain can discard a single card from the pool and draw a random replacement off the top of the deck without looking at it. 
• Reveal Supply Cards, one at a time, stopping if the Mission succeeds or the instructed amount of cards are flipped. Resolve Sabotage Cards as they turn up, if possible. When directed to roll, gather up the instructed number of dice (max six) and compare the rolled results to the Mission Card requirements. 
• If you Pass the Mission, reveal the Room Chip. If it's Gear, the Captain takes the matching card and places it in front of them, max usage side up. If the Gear fulfills an open Objective for the Sector, the Room Chip is placed face up on its space. NOTE: if the Flamethrower fulfills the final Sector 3 Requirement, proceed to the Escape! If the Room Chip is a Discard, each Team Member can discard a Supply Card and draw a new one. If a Thing is revealed, a Battle occurs!   
• Rope can be used after the Mission is revealed (but before the Team is selected) to skip the current Captain and make the next player in turn Captain. Alternately it can be used to leave a required player (by Department or player count) behind during an Investigation. If this results in the Department Requirement not being fulfilled the Captain can't swap a card during the Investigation!
• Players tied up in Rope can't leave the Rec Room nor may they discard / draw cards. At the start of the next turn, tied up players are freed.
• Flamethrower Uses: (1) After the Mission Card is revealed (but before the Team is picked) a single use can be spent to force a player to reveal their Blood Sample card to whoever used the  Flamethrower. This can only be done if the Flamethrower has two uses available. (2) A single use of the Flamethrower can be used by any member of the Team to give the Captain three more rolls...after all the initial chances have been utilized. (3) After the Mission Card is revealed (but before the Team is picked) a player can expend both uses to vote to Torch another player. If the majority votes to Torch, that player reveals their Blood Sample Card and they are eliminated from the game. Otherwise the vote fails (NOTE: ties fail!) and the Flamethrower is discarded  with no effect. If a Human is Torched, move the Infection Tracker up by one.  
• Battle: contribute a card to the pool, opting for ones with high dice values, to maximum of six dice. After the cards are mixed up, the Captain resolves any Sabotage Cards or the Battle fails. The Captain can then swap one card out for another random one from the deck. With the available dice, the Captain must roll three or four of a kind (based on the current Thing Level) on three attempts to defeat the creature. If defeated, the Thing Mover is placed on the Objective Tracker. If this fulfills the final Sector Three Objective, immediately proceed to the Escape. If the Thing isn't defeated, all remaining Room Chips are mixed up and re-assigned. 
• End of Turn: if a player was sent out with a Fire Extinguisher, this is resolved. Then unattended Smoke becomes Fire and Fire Destroys that Room, advancing that tracker! All Characters go back to the Rec Room and anyone who spent their turn there can discard a card and draw a new one.
• If an Investigation or Battle fails, the Computer is moved up the Infection Tracker, ending the game immediately if it reaches the end. Otherwise, follow the directive for the new Contagion Level. NOTE: if both Tokens of the same type were lost in Destroyed Rooms, it's impossible to progress to the next Sector and the game ends in a Human defeat.
• Assimilation: when a new Sector is unlocked, the Captain deals one card from the Blood Sample Deck to each player, who mix them up and return one. Humans and Imitations who receive a matching cards don't change their affiliation but if a Human receives an Imitation Card, they must return the Human Card. They are now a Thing! Returned cards are shuffled up for the next Assimilation event.
• End of Round: All players should have five cards, free those bound by Rope, review the game status and pass the Captain Indicator to the left.  
• Escape: once underway, Gear becomes useless. During the Escape, the Captain of the Team that filled the Objective Tracker nominates one final Captain. If the nominee gets approved by majority, they receive the Captain Indicator. If rejected (ties are rejections) the person to the left of the last Captain will offer a new nomination. NOTE: every two rejections results in the Infection Tracker increasing by one. Once the Final Captain has been selected, they will pick a number of players to Blood Test (if available) and they must  reveal their Blood Sample Card. The Final Captain selects players equal to the Escape Target based on player count, reducing this number by one for every Torched human.These players then reveal their Blood Sample Cards. If no Imitations are on the chopper, the Humans win!
• The Imitations win if the Contagion Level maxes out, the Outpost's Destruction Tracker is filled up of an Imitation gets onto the Chopper during the Escape!