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Days of Wonder

Five Tribes

Low stock
$79.00
$79.00 RRP $90.00

Five Tribes is a medium-weight strategy game for 2–4 players, recommended for ages 13+, with a typical play time of 40–80 minutes. Manoeuvre the five tribes of the fabled Sultanate of Naqala across a modular board in this clever twist on the worker placement genre from Days of Wonder.

Players
2–4 players
Play time
2h
Age
Teens
Complexity
Medium

About the Game

Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala, where the old sultan has just died and control of the city-state is up for grabs. In Five Tribes, 2–4 players compete over roughly 40–80 minutes in a medium-weight strategy game recommended for ages 13+.

In a unique twist on worker placement, the meeples begin already in place. You pick up a group and "dis-place" them one by one across the villages, markets, oases and sacred places of Naqala, with the final meeple triggering the action of its tribe — Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants or Viziers. Bidding for turn order, summoning powerful Djinns and weighing many paths to victory reward careful calculation.

Designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Days of Wonder in 2014, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games featuring wooden meeples, pairing straightforward, easy-to-learn rules with deeper tactical play.

History

Designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Days of Wonder in 2014, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games featuring wooden meeples. Its unique twist on the now-standard worker placement genre begins with the meeples already in place, challenging players to cleverly "dis-place" the Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants and Viziers across the villages, markets, oases and sacred places of Naqala.

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Shipping details

Five Tribes

$79.00

Watch: How to play

Rules of Five Tribes

  • Setup: Shuffle the tiles into a 6×5 grid, place three random meeples on each tile, and deal merchandise cards and Djinn cards to the market. Each player takes coins and camels in their colour.
  • Bid for turn order: Each round, players bid coins for position in the turn order — going earlier usually costs more but gives first pick of moves.
  • Move meeples: On your turn, pick up all meeples from one tile and drop them one at a time across adjacent tiles (no doubling back or diagonals). Your last meeple must land on a tile containing a meeple of the same colour.
  • Tribe action: Remove all meeples matching your final meeple's colour and trigger that tribe's power — Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants or Viziers each score or act differently.
  • Tile action: If you empty a tile of meeples, you may claim it by placing a camel, then take the tile's action (gain coins, buy merchandise, summon a Djinn, and so on).
  • Market: At the end of your turn you may buy goods from the merchandise row, which is then refilled.
  • Objective: Score victory points from coins, Viziers, Elders, Djinns, claimed tiles and merchandise sets.
  • Game end: The game ends when no legal meeple moves remain or the merchandise deck runs out; most points wins.

Strategy

  • Plan your drop path backwards: work out where your last meeple needs to land before picking anything up, since it must match a colour on the destination tile.
  • Don't overbid for turn order early — coins are worth points at the end, so only pay up when an early move is clearly worth it.
  • Builders score based on your gold and the tile's value, so they can swing big points if timed well.
  • Merchants shine once you can grab several goods at once; diverse merchandise sets score far more than singles.
  • Emptying a tile lets you claim it with a camel, so look for moves that clear a tile while also landing a useful tribe action.
  • Collect Elders when you can — they let you summon Djinns, whose ongoing powers can shape your whole game.
  • Watch what your opponents set up: a big pile of meeples you leave behind may hand them a powerful move next turn.
  • Keep an eye on Vizier counts, as they score for majority — a cheap way to pick up points if others ignore them.