Tribes: Early Civilization Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Materials
• Game Setup
• Game Play
  • Placing the first tribe member
  • Explanation of a turn
  • Selecting an action tile
  • The actions
  • Completing an achievement
  • The arrow tokens
  • Using land tiles as wild tiles
• The Event Tiles
• End of Game
  • End of game scoring
• Additional Rules
  • No tribe members in reserve
  • No land tiles left in the bag

Game Materials

• 1 Game board
• 24 Event tiles (8 of each color)
• 6 Action tiles (Procreate, Explore, Move, and three tiles that each show an action plus a hand)
• 50 Land tiles (10 of each resource type: Goat, Horse, Wheat, Gold, Incense)
• 60 Tribe members (15 of each color)
• 1 Starting player marker
• 48 Marking stones (12 of each color)
• 16 Progress markers (4 of each color)
• 89 Bear teeth tokens (victory points) (30x, 20x, 12x, 15x, 12x of the different values)
• 4 Arrow tokens
• 15 Achievement boards (5 of each color)
• 20 Shell tokens
• 1 Fabric draw bag
• 1 Bag tag

Game Setup

All parts must be carefully removed from the frames before the first game.

1. Affix the bag tag to the fabric bag by (1) threading the cord through the hole in the pendant; then (2) pushing the pendant through the loop; and (3) pulling the loop tight.

2. Place the game board in the middle of the table.

3. Each player receives 15 tribe members, 12 marking stones (large wooden cubes), and 4 progress markers (small wooden cubes) in their designated color. Each player also receives 5 shells and one arrow token.

4. Each player places one of his or her progress markers at the base of each of the 4 progress tracks located on the left-hand side of the game board.

5. Place the 50 land tiles in the bag and mix them up thoroughly.

6. Each player begins the game with a small explored territory. To do this, each player draws 3 land tiles from the bag and creates their territory in a triangular shape in front of them. It is up to the player which land tile he or she places at which point in the triangle.

   NOTE: At the start of the game, if a player draws more than one land tile of the same type, he or she continues to draw until they have 3 different land tiles. The other land tiles are then placed back in the bag. This applies only during game setup. During the game itself, it is possible for a player to draw and keep multiple copies of the same land tile.

7. Shuffle the 6 action tiles and place them at the top of the game board, forming the action sequence.

8. Sort the 15 achievement boards by color into separate stacks and then shuffle each stack. Remove one achievement board of each color. These will not be used in the game and should be returned to the box without being reviewed.

9. Place 4 achievement boards of each color on the game board in their corresponding spaces. In the lower epoch (Paleolithic), randomly place the 4 brown boards face up. In the middle epoch (Neolithic), randomly place the 4 green boards face down. And in the upper epoch (Bronze Age), randomly place the 4 orange boards face down.

Game Play

Placing the first tribe member

Each player places his or her first tribe member on one of his or her three land tiles before the game begins. The starting player begins and takes his or her turn. Then, the other players follow, taking turns successively, proceeding in a clockwise direction.

Tip: Players should select land tiles which show a resource that can also be seen on the achievement boards in the first epoch. Whenever possible, you should try to select a different starting resource than the other players.

Explanation of a turn

1. Select one action tile.
2. Perform the action.
3. Place the action tile at the end of the action sequence.

Selecting an action tile

• The player must select one action tile from the action sequence.
• If he or she chooses the first action tile in the action sequence, that action is free. However, if the player chooses a tile further to the right, then the player needs to place a shell on each tile he or she skips, not including the action tile he or she selects.
• If, later in the game, a player selects an action tile on which there is already a shell, the player will receive this shell in addition to the tile.

IMPORTANT: While the players might have only a few shells in the beginning, they should be prepared to use them in order to be able to perform a desired action and not simply default to picking up the first tile in the random display of tiles within the action series.

• Three of the action tiles show only one action. These actions are: procreate, explore, and move.
• The three other action tiles show one action and one hand. The hand represents an achievement that a player can complete. The player can choose to either perform the action or complete an achievement with these tiles. The player cannot do both.
• After the action or achievement has been completed, the player places the action tile at the very end of the action sequence and pushes the row to the left, so that the leftmost tile is now in the first position.
• The player's turn ends and it becomes the turn of the player to his or her left.

Example 1: A player wants to perform the procreate action. Since this action tile is in the first position of the action sequence, the player may choose this action free of charge.

Example 2: A player wants to perform the explore action. Since this action tile is located in the third position, the player must place one shell on each of the previous action tiles in order to claim it.

Example 3: A player wants to perform the explore action. Since this action tile is located in the second position, the player must place one shell on the first action tile in order to skip over it. One shell is already on the explore tile from an earlier turn, so the player also receives this shell along with the explore action tile.

NOTE: During the course of the game, the action sequence will also contain event tiles which can be selected in the same way.

The actions

Procreate. The player takes as many tribe members from his or her supply as his or her progress marker indicates on the procreation progress track. The higher the player's marker is positioned on the progress track, the more tribe members the player receives. The player may then place the newly received tribe member(s) on any of his or her land tiles on which at least one tribe member is already standing. New tribe members may not be placed on empty land tiles.

Example: Player Black may take two tribe members. He positions both on the goat land tile where one tribe member is already positioned. He also would have been allowed to position one new tribe member on the goat tile and the other on the wheat tile where an additional tribe member is located, but not on the gold tile where there is not already a tribe member.

Move. The player can move his or her tribe members as many movement steps as his or her movement progress track indicates. A movement step is defined as one tribe member moving to an adjacent land tile. The higher the player's marker is positioned on the progress track, the more movement steps the player receives. The player may use these steps for one tribe member or divide them among several tribe members. The player does not need to use all of the movement steps. He or she may choose to take some of the movement steps earned that round or to not move at all.

Example: Player Black receives three movement steps. He moves one tribe member two tiles away and moves another just one tile.

Explore. The player takes as many land tiles from the fabric draw bag as the player's progress marker on the exploration progress track indicates. The higher the player's marker is positioned on the track, the more land tiles the player receives. After the player has drawn all of the land tiles, the player may place them anywhere he or she chooses as long as they are placed adjacent to an existing land tile.

Example: Player Black may take two land tiles from the bag. He gets one wheat and one gold tile and places both tiles next to an existing land tile.

NOTE: Once placed, a land tile may not be moved to another position during the game.

Completing an achievement

If a player wants to complete an achievement, the player must select an action tile that has a hand symbol on it.

• All players must start with the achievements in the lower epoch. In order to complete an achievement, a player must possess the required resource, as indicated at the top of the achievement boards, by having at least one of their tribe members placed on a land tile showing this resource. The player does not hand over this resource in this process.

• The player then places one of his or her marking stones on the first available space, starting from the left side of the achievement board, and receives the victory points shown in that space in the form of bear teeth, which the player collects in a pile in front of them.

  NOTE: One can exchange bear teeth (victory points) as required at any time. A player does not have to tell the other players, at any point in the game, how many victory points he or she has.

• If a lightning bolt is displayed above the space, then the top event tile of the corresponding stack for this epoch is turned over, read aloud, and placed at the end of the action sequence. This event will not be triggered yet; it is implemented only when a player selects the tile during his or her turn.

• Every achievement board has a progress symbol (a symbol with an arrow pointing upward) indicated on the right. Once an achievement is completed, players advance their progress markers along the corresponding track one space upward. They have thereby improved their abilities to perform this action during future game play.

• When a player places the first marking stone on an achievement board, the achievement board in the next epoch above it will be turned over, so that all players can see which resources are required. In the second epoch, the achievement boards require two of the same resource; in the third epoch, they require three of the same.

IMPORTANT: When two or three of the same resources are needed, the player must also have at least as many land tiles of this same resource and must have at least one tribe member placed on each of them. For example, a player cannot complete an achievement in the second epoch that requires two goats if the player has only two tribe members positioned on the same goat land tile.

Example 1: Player Black has earned the hunting achievement. He is the first to make this achievement, so he places his marker on the leftmost space of the achievement board. The player gets two victory points and also moves his progress marker one space along the exploration progress track. He then turns over the next achievement board located in the Neolithic epoch. Because the event symbol is displayed above his marking stone on the hunting board, he also uncovers the uppermost event tile from the stack of events and places it at the end of the action sequence.

Example 2: Player Black has earned the cooking achievement. Because players Brown and Gray have already earned this achievement, Black will position his marking stone on the third space from the left. He thereby receives one bear tooth with a value of one victory point and advances one space on the procreation progress track. Since no event symbol is visible above his space, no event tile is uncovered at this time.

Example 3: Player Black wants to complete the cheese-making achievement, for which he needs tribe members on two goat land tiles. Two of his tribe members are positioned on a single goat land tile (1). This would not by itself be enough as the tribe members must be placed on two different land tiles. However since the player also has one tribe member on another goat land tile (2), he can complete this achievement.

• Typically, for the second and third epochs, a player can only complete an achievement when he or she has completed the preceding achievement in the previous epoch. This means that one of the player's marking stones must already be placed on the achievement board below.

Continuation of Example 3: If player Black had not already earned the cooking achievement, then the cheese-making achievement would not be available to him.

IMPORTANT: Each player may complete each achievement only once. That means that no player can have two or more marking stones on the same achievement board.

The arrow tokens

In principal, a player can only complete an achievement when the player has already completed the immediately preceding achievement of the previous epoch.

• However, each player may deviate from this rule only once in the game by placing his or her arrow token on the game board.
• The player places his or her arrow token between an achievement on which the player's marking stone is already located and a diagonally adjacent achievement that is already turned over. This enables the player to complete this achievement, even when he or she does not have a marking stone on the achievement board directly preceding it.
• The arrow token will remain in place for the remainder of the game and can be used by other players.

Example: Player Black would like to complete the weaving achievement in order to earn the six points shown on the board. He already has the prerequisite of the three goat land tiles with a minimum of one tribe member on each. However he has not completed the smelting achievement yet. So he must place his arrow token between the achievement for cheese making and weaving.

Using land tiles as wild tiles

• If a player does not have the resource needed to complete an achievement, the player may exhaust land tiles.

• To do this, the player chooses a land tile on which one (or more) of his or her tribe members is positioned, flips it over to its opposite side, and then places the tribe member(s) back on it. The land tile is now exhausted until the end of the game, and can no longer be used as a resource. Tribe members may still continue to enter this exhausted land tile.

  IMPORTANT: In order to use a land tile as a wild tile, there must be at least one tribe member on the tile.

• In the first epoch, the player can use one exhausted land tile for any resource of his or her choosing.

• In the second and third epochs, the player must have at least one of the required resource type. The player may then replace the second (and/or the third resource in the third epoch) with one or two exhausted land tiles, which may also be of different types.

Example: If player Black had not had tribe members on two goat land tiles (as in the previous example), he could have exhausted a wheat land tile to use it as a wild tile for the missing goat resource. He would then turn over the wheat tile to the exhausted side and put his tribe member back on it.

The Event Tiles

Event tiles are added to the action sequence when a player completes an achievement and there is an event symbol located above the space on which the player places his or her marking stone.

The event is activated only when a player must take the event tile from the action sequence instead of an action tile or if the player freely selects it. If a player does not want to choose an event tile, he or she may skip over the event tile by placing a shell on it as with the action tiles.

Most event tiles refer to the strength progress track. If it says on a tile "... if you are the strongest," it is referring to the player whose progress marker is in the topmost space on the strength progress track. If several players are the strongest, the event applies only to the player who chose the tile in his or her turn. The same applies if it says "... if you are the weakest."

If a player takes an event tile that does not affect him or her, then the event tile is removed from the game with no effect.

Example: If the event tile states, "You lose 2 victory points if you are the weakest" and the player is not in the lowest position on the strength progress track, then the player does not lose any points.

Should all players be positioned on the same space of the strength progress track, then they are all considered to be the weakest and/or strongest.

If an event tile states that a player loses tribe members, the player can only lose so many as to be left with at least one tribe member. A player cannot lose his or her last remaining tribe member.

If an event tile states that a player must exhaust land tiles, then there must not be any tribe members located on the land tiles. The player can only turn over unoccupied land tiles in this case.

If an event affects all tribes, then the player who activated the event goes first and the other players follow in clockwise order.

After an event has been implemented, the event tile is removed from the game. Any event tiles from the first and second epochs are put back into the box. If it is a third epoch event tile (orange), then it is instead displayed above the action sequence to show how many of these events have already been executed, as they dictate the end of the game.

End of Game

The game ends in the round in which a predetermined number of event tiles of the last epoch have been executed:

• for 2 players, 2 event tiles
• for 3 players, 3 event tiles
• for 4 players, 4 event tiles

IMPORTANT: Nothing occurs when the player first turns over an event tile and places it in the action sequence. The event must actually be selected and activated. Then the current round is played to the end, up to the player sitting to the right of the starting player marker (arrowhead). After this, the game ends and the victory points are totaled up.

End of game scoring

1. Progress tracks. Depending on how far a player has progressed along the progress tracks for procreation, exploration, and movement, the player receives the corresponding one, three, or six victory points shown.

2. Most tribe members. The player who has the most tribe members in play (therefore, the least tribe member figures in reserve) receives two victory points.

3. Most land tiles. The player who possesses the most land tiles that have not been exhausted (not flipped over) receives two victory points.

   NOTE: If there is a tie for tribe members or land tiles, then all of the players involved in the tie receive two victory points.

4. Bear teeth. All players add up the victory points indicated on their collected bear teeth at the end.

The player with the most victory points wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most shells wins. Should this also result in a tie, then the player who has exhausted the least land tiles wins. Should there still not be a clear winner, then there are multiple winners.

Additional Rules

No tribe members in reserve

If a player has no tribe members left in reserve, the player can then relocate a tribe member already on his or her territory from one land tile to another land tile already occupied by a tribe member (or as many tribe members as the procreation progress tracker indicates).

No land tiles left in the bag

If during game play there are no more tiles left in the draw bag, then a player may turn over a previously exhausted land tile on which no tribe members are located. If that should be impossible, then the player cannot turn over any tiles.