Day of the Thing

From Ludocity
Day of the Thing
Blood.jpg
Designer: Kevan Davis
Year: unknown
Players: 8+
Stuff required: Pre-printed "machinery" cards, and a deck of playing cards.
Crew required: One.
Preparation: Half an hour to hide the machinery cards.
Time required: Half an hour upwards.
Place required: Any large, explorable area.
Activities: Finding, bluffing, chasing, deduction.
Exclamation.png
This is an untested game. Its rules are written, but it hasn't been tested out yet.
Cc-by-nc.png
This game is made available under an Attribution-Noncommercial Creative Commons licence. (What does this mean?)

A paranoid team of scientists are trying to gather together components of a damaged research station, so that they can radio for help. However, a shapeshifting alien - The Thing - is sabotaging this mission, and is slowly eliminating and replacing the scientists.

Setup instructions

Prepare 26 machinery cards, as listed in the "Machinery" section. These can be printed cards, handwritten index cards, printed sheets of A4, bits of actual electronic junk, or whatever else works - they just need to have their name, the number of parts required to make them, and the text of their function.

From a deck of playing cards, take a number of non-face cards equal to two less than the number of players, plus two face cards. (If playing with fewer than ten players, make it one less face card and use an extra non-face card.) Shuffle these together.

The game has a strict time limit, which you should decide and announce at the start of the game; if the scientists haven't built the radio by the end of that time, they lose.

Player instructions

Welcome to what remains of your research laboratory.

You are a team of scientists trying to rebuild your lab equipment after an explosion. Scattered around the playing area are a number of pieces of debris, represented by printed cards. These represent fragments of equipment from the laboratory - if you can find all the pieces of a machine and bring them back to the lab, then you can switch it on, plug it in and start using it.

The object of the game is to rebuild your radio - if you can manage this before [time at which game ends], you win. If you fail, then you are stuck here.

Take these cards, and make sure nobody else sees them. [narrator hands out playing cards] Look at them, and hand them back. [narrator collects the cards]

Two of you had face cards. You are a pair of shapechanging aliens known collectively as "The Thing", and you have deliberately sabotaged the laboratory. You are trying to prevent the team from repairing their equipment, and can do this by hiding anything you find, misleading them about where it is, or even removing found equipment from the lab. If the scientists are unable to build their radio in time, then The Thing wins.

You also have the power to convert other players into shapechanging aliens, by clamping your hand on your victim's shoulder, and clearly saying "You are now part of The Thing". Once a victim feels the hand of The Thing, they can't move or shout or run away.

Machinery

How a Machinery card might look.

Radio (12 parts): If the radio has been built in the lab, then the scientists are able to call for a rescue helicopter. The scientists win the game!

DNA Profiler (6 parts): If the DNA profiler has been built in the lab, then anyone can perform a blood test on a chosen player who is present in the lab. This takes exactly sixty seconds to process, and is timed by the narrator, after which the subject must confess as to whether they are a Human or a Thing.

Electronic Lock (3 parts): If the electronic lock has been built in the lab, then any player may be imprisoned or freed there, if at least half of the non-imprisoned players in the lab are in favour of doing this. Imprisoned players must stand in the corner of the lab, guarded by the narrator, until freed.

Spare Parts (5 parts): These can be used in the construction of any machine, but at least half of that machine must be made out of non-spare parts.