Five Tribes (board game)

Players will take a set of Camels and turn markers of a color. Each player also takes 50 gold coins, the number of coins a player has is not open knowledge. 30 tiles are randomly placed into a 5x6 grid. Each tile then gets 3 random meeples placed upon it. Players bid for turn order. The player who wins the highest position goes first and will take their full turn before the next player. Each turn, a player selects a tile that has meeples on it, and will take all the meeples on that tile then place them, one at a time, on an adjacent tile that has at least one other meeple on it, is not diagonal, and that has not had a meeple placed on it this turn. The player will take all the meeples of the same color currently on the last tile they placed a meeple on. If a player takes the last meeple off of a tile they control that tile. The meeples are then used for various actions or as victory points at the end of the game. The tiles themselves also have special rules or actions based on the artwork and colors- allowing the player to purchase from the market, build an oasis, or take a Djinn card with special powers, etc. A player may also sell a set of different merchandise cards - with the more unique cards in a set being worth more gold. Play then shifts to the next player.

Play continues until a player places their last camel, or there are no legal moves left. Scores are then tallied with gold coins and yellow and white meeples being worth points, and additional points available for palm trees, players with fewer meeples than you, Djinns, palaces, and controlled tiles. Merchandise is also sold off and that gold is added to the final points. The player with the most points wins.[2]

There are three expansions to Five Tribes. The first, The Artisans of Naqala, adds a sixth tribe, artists which allowed players to create items that give the player points or powers. To use this new tribe, a player had to visit new tiles which were added to the game. Another addition in this expansion was the impassable Chasm and mountain markers.[3] The mini-expansion, Thieves of Naqala, added an element that let players force their opponents to discard or get rid of items whenever a tribe is activated.[4] The third expansion, Whims of the Sultan, added the capacity to add a 5th player and also added new cities with special tasks.[5]