If you’re a fan of 80s sci-fi horror, you are no doubt familiar with John Carpenter’s movie version of The Thing. It follows a team of research scientists in Antarctica who attempt to survive when they come under attack by… something. Now, thanks to the team at Mondo Games, you can play out your survival strategies in the board game The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31. 

In this hidden identity game, players complete missions to discover who has been infected by the lifeform. As one of 12 characters, you investigate the facility to find and purge the alien “imitations” from the building and escape. The ability to uncover the truth is critical to surviving and winning the game.

Power fluctuations, missing tools, shredded clothes, equipment destroyed – all that pales next to the preliminary conclusion of your scientists: at least one of you is probably already being impersonated by this lifeform! … You may not know who to trust, but you do know that out there, in the dark, The Thing is waiting for you to make a mistake. … But what if it’s already in here with you?

The standard edition of the game comes with the game board, dice, rulebook, 190 cards and 17 plastic miniatures. There’s a lot there for the price of around $55 and you can download a copy of the rulebook on the game site, if you want a bit of a preview. Intended for ages 17 and up, with 4-8 players, game play takes one to two hours.