What happens when your job is to decide whether someone is still human? That’s the rather unsettling question at the heart of The Altered: Anomaly Containment Archives, a narrative-driven tabletop game from Tin Universe. Blending mystery, deduction, and institutional horror, the game puts you inside a dystopian organisation where paperwork can be just as terrifying as whatever is hiding in the shadows!
And there’s a lot of paperwork.
Welcome to New Harbor!
Set in the futuristic city of New Harbor, The Altered casts players as Evaluation Commissioners working within the Biological Asset Risk division, or B.A.R. Your task is to investigate strange cases involving people known as Signators. Each has been connected to an anomaly, and it’s your responsibility to examine the evidence and determine whether they remain human or have become something else entirely. There aren’t any obvious heroes here. Instead, you’ll be digging through conflicting accounts, analysing evidence and making decisions that can have consequences later in the campaign. It’s all rather ominous, especially when your biggest enemy might be the organisation you work for!
Open the files!
The real star of The Altered is the sheer amount of physical material packed into the experience. The game features more than 1,000 pages of classified documentation, alongside over 40 physical artefacts. Players will investigate dossiers, reports, maps, records and other pieces of in-universe evidence as they attempt to piece together what has actually happened. There are up to seven interconnected cases, with higher pledge levels unlocking the complete campaign. Your decisions can influence what happens in later investigations, giving the story a sense of continuity rather than simply resetting after every case. Best of all, you don’t need a Game Master. The game is designed to guide players through its investigations itself, making it playable solo or cooperatively with up to four players. Current listings put games at around 45 to 60 minutes, although the full campaign will obviously take considerably longer.
The campaign is huge!
The Kickstarter launched in August 2026 and has already blown past its original funding goal. Current campaign tracking shows more than HK$2.8 million pledged, representing well over 3,500% of its original goal, with more than 1,200 backers involved. The campaign is scheduled to run until October 10, 2026. Higher pledge tiers also add premium extras, including upgraded archive packaging, metal seals, medals, an art book, and additional physical components.
If you like your board games to feel less like opening a box and more like discovering a suspicious government file that probably should have stayed locked away, The Altered could be one to keep firmly on your radar! Just remember: when the paperwork starts telling you that your colleague may no longer be human, it’s probably time to read the small print!
