Thirty-five years after its release, John Carpenter‘s classic alien horror movie The Thing is taking tabletop form with a board game called The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31. To set the stage for the game and explain its rules, horror fanatic Elijah Wood has filmed a new video (via Entertainment Weekly) in which he plays Steve, one of the researchers at the outpost. In between demonstrations of the gameplay, Wood essentially plays out the major beats of the story in a one-man performance. And unlike Wood’s character in The Faculty, Steve isn’t exactly equipped to be a hero.
The game itself casts the players as characters from the original movie, including Kurt Russell‘s R.J. MacReady. Because the concept of The Thing revolves around the alien infection spreading and attempting to blend in as other people, the board game casts at least one of the players as the Thing itself. Its goal is to either escape from the compound or infect the other survivors. In short, the Thing has multiple ways to win… as Steve discovered off-camera.
For the uninfected players, the goal is also simple: survive and escape. But getting to that point involves clearing the compound of the alien and ensuring that none of the infected get out. That’s not as easy as it sounds, especially since the player acting as the Thing can sabotage the party along the way.
The Thing: Infection At Outpost 31Â is available for pre-order here, and it will be officially released later this month.
What did you think about Wood’s video for The Thing tabletop game? Check your blood samples and share your thoughts below!
Images:Â USAopoly
Read more about The Thing!
- The Lovecraftian aspects of The Thing.
- A mash-up video combining The Thing and It Follows.
- Watercolor horror movie posters.
