Five Tribes Game Rules

Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala.

The old sultan just died and control of Naqala is up for grabs! The oracles foretold of strangers who would maneuver the Five Tribes to gain influence over the legendary city-state.

Will you fulfill the prophecy? Invoke the old Djinns, move the Tribes into position at the right time and the Sultanate may become yours!

Components

2 Player sets of 8 Camels and 1 Player's Turn marker each
5 Turn Order and Djinns Summary Sheets
A Pad of Scoring Sheets
2 Player sets of 11 Camels and 2 Player's Turn markers each
1 Bid Order Track & 1 Turn Order Track
90 Wooden Tribe Meeples:
A Meeples bag
12 Palm Trees and 10 Palaces
30 Tiles (12 Blue valued Tiles: Villages & Sacred Places with a Blue point value - 18 Red valued Tiles: Markets & Oasis with a Red point value)
22 Djinn cards
96 Gold Coins (48 worth "5" and 48 worth "1" each)
54 Resource cards: 36 Merchandise and 18 Fakirs

Setup

If this is the first play, punch out all the pieces from the game's punchboards. Rather than discarding the empty frames, insert them under the vacuum tray inside your game box. This will help your tray stay flush with your game's box top, preventing pieces inside from spilling over when storing your game.

In 3- and 4-player games, each player takes 8 Camels and 1 Turn marker of the color of his choice 1. The extra pink and blue Camels and Turn markers are not used. In 2-player games, one player takes all 11 Pink Camels and 2 Turn markers, and the other all 11 Blue Camels and 2 Turn markers.

Note: in a 2-player game, each player takes two Turn markers instead of one. This means that each player will play two times per turn (it is even possible to play two times in a row if you place your markers on two adjacent spots).

Each player also gets 50 Gold Coins (9 coins worth "5" each + 5 worth "1" each) 2. Players should keep the value of Gold Coins they hold face down (so that the exact amount remains secret from other players) until the end of the game.

Mix all 30 Tiles and place them randomly face up, to form a rectangle of 5 x6 Tiles: This is the Sultanate 3.

Mix all 90 wooden Meeples in the bag, then grab and drop them in random sets of 3 on each Tile 4.

Place the Bid Order & Turn Order Tracks next to the Sultanate.

Take the players' Turn markers and randomly place them on the Bid Order track 5. This will determine in which order the players initially bid for position on the Turn Order Track 6.

Shuffle all Resource cards to form a draw pile face down, then draw the top 9 cards and lay them face up in a row, next to the draw pile 7.

Shuffle the Djinns' cards and set them face down in a draw pile, then draw the top 3 and lay them face up next to the draw pile 8.

Place the Palm Trees, Palaces and all remaining Gold Coins in a bank within easy reach of the players 9.

The game can now start!

Object of the Game

In Five Tribes, you play the role of a stranger venturing into the legendary city-state of Naqala to maneuver the local Tribes, invoke old Djinns and gain influence. At the end of the game, the player with the most Victory Points is declared The Great Sultan and wins.

Victory Points

You score Victory Points (VPS) at game end, in the following ways:

1 VP for each Gold Coin (GC) you own
1 VP for each Vizier (YELLOW Meeple) you own + 10 VPS for each opponent who has strictly less Viziers than you do
2 VPS per Elder (WHITE Meeple) you own
Sum of VPS for all your Djinns
3 VPS for each Palm Tree on all of your Tiles (those with one of your Camels on it)
5 VPS for each Palace on all of your Tiles
Sum of VPS for all of your Tiles
Sum of VPS for each series of Merchandise (but not Fakirs) you own that are all different

Game Turn

At the start of the game and the beginning of all new turns, all players must bid for Turn Order to determine the order in which they will play this turn:

1. Bid For Turn Order

The player whose Turn marker is in first position (spot marked "1") on the Bid Order track goes first and announces which spot of the Turn Order Track she wishes to place her Turn Marker on; she immediately pays to the bank the amount of Gold Coins indicated on that spot, and places her Turn Marker there.

Oliver wants to play early this turn, but he doesn't want to pay too much: he remembers Gold Coins are worth Victory Points at the end of the game. So he decides to go for spot marked "3", paying 3 gold to the bank and placing his Turn marker there.

The player whose Turn Marker is next on the Bid Order Track goes next, paying for the spot of their choice, and so on until all Turn Markers have been placed on the Turn Order Track. Except when bidding 0, players cannot bid for, nor place their Turn Marker on, the same spot as any other Turn marker already on the Turn Order Track.

Sam goes next: she can't go for spot "3" since Oliver's Turn Marker is already there, and "5" seems too much to pay for the privilege of playing before Oliver; Sam decides to pay 1 gold to the bank and places her Turn Marker on "1" on the Turn Order Track.

Anna goes next: she wants to keep her gold for later and chooses to bid 0; she pays nothing and places her Turn marker on the "0" spot closest to the length of the Turn Order track.

If a player chooses to bid zero and there are already some Turn Markers on "0"s, these Turn markers are laterally "pushed down the aisle of 0s" to make room for the new Turn Marker: so whoever bids last on "0" will be the first of the Turn Markers on "0"s to play; and whoever chooses to bid first on "0" will always play last this Turn!

Peter goes last and sees that if he bids zero, he'll pay nothing and still get to play before Anna, who will now play last; so that's what he chooses to do.

There can never be more than 3 Turn Markers placed on "0"s, so if all three "0"s are taken, the last player must bid at least 1 (and will get to play first, this turn!).

Players take their turn based on the position of their Markers on the Turn Order Track, with the highest value Markers going first.

This turn, Oliver will play rst, followed by Sam, then Peter and nally Anna.

2. Player's Actions

Once his/her turn comes up, each player takes all of the following actions, before letting the next Turn Marker owner play:

2.1 Move Turn Marker

Take your Turn Marker off the Turn Order Track and place it onto the first empty spot on the Bid Order Track.

Note: If you go first, this means you will also bid rst for Turn Order, come next turn; in theory, if you bid enough each turn, you might thus be able to play first throughout the entire game; but doing so will cost you, and the Gold Coins you are bidding with are Victory Points you won't have at game end - so it might not be a winning strategy!

2.2 Move Meeples

Select a Tile that still has some Meeples (at least 1!) on it. Take all the Meeples from that Tile in your hand and move them onto adjacent Tiles (i.e. each Tile must be adjacent to the prior Tile your Meeples moved through), dropping 1 Meeple on each Tile as you pass through, until you run out of Meeples.

There are 3 rules you must respect while moving these Meeples:

Last Meeple Same Color rule
No Diagonal rule
No Immediate Backtracking rule

Last Meeple Same Color rule: You choose the order in which you drop Meeples from your hand as you move from Tile to Tile, but you must make sure the last Meeple you drop goes on a Tile that already contains at least 1 Meeple of that same color!

He then drops the yellow Meeple on an adjacent tile and the white Meeple on the following one; this move is legal because the last tile already contained 1 white Meeple.

Note: During your moves, you can pass through Tiles that contain no Meeples, dropping 1 Meeple on each as you pass through, but you can NEVER end your move on an empty Tile, since there must always be at least 1 Meeple of the same color as your last Meeple already on that nal Tile!

No Diagonal rule: All Meeples moves must be done sideways, from Tile to adjacent Tile, never in diagonal.

This green Meeple cannot reach the Oasis.

No Immediate Backtracking rule: You can never immediately backtrack onto a Tile you just passed through - though you may go on that Tile again later during the same move if you have enough Meeples to complete a loop.

The second red Meeple cannot be dropped on the Small Market Tile, as this would be a backtracking move.

When discovering the game, we recommend laying the Meeples you drop down sideways rather than up, as you plan your move, so as to be able to back up if need be, during the planning stage of your move. Just remember to stand the Meeples back up once your move is complete.

2.3 Tile Control Check

Once you finish moving the Meeples, take the last Meeple you dropped on the final Tile back in your hand, along with ALL other Meeples of same color that were already on that Tile before your move.

You should now have at least 2 Meeples of identical color in your hand: the one you dropped last, and at least 1 Meeple of same color that was already on that Tile before; otherwise, you didn't follow the Last Meeple Same Color rule on p. 4 - Try again!

If removing all the Meeples of this color from that Tile empties it of all its Meeples, you immediately take control of the Tile: place one of your Camels onto it to mark your ownership. At the end of the game, you will score the VPS associated with each Tile your Camels sit on.

Moving onto the Tile already containing 2 White Meeples and none others, you end with 3 White Meeples in hand and take control of that Tile; if you'd opted to end your move on the Tile containing 3 White Meeples and 1 Blue one, you'd have 4 White Meeples in hand, but no control of the Tile.

Note: During your moves, you can pass through Tiles already controlled by others or yourself (dropping 1 Meeple on each as you pass through). If, as part of these moves, you end up nishing your move on, and emptying, a Tile already under the control of a player from all of its Meeples again, the control of that Tile doesn't change: it remains under the control of its previous owner. Once a player's Camel sits on a Tile, that Tile will never change ownership.

2.4 Tribes Actions

Now do the Actions of the Tribe the Meeples you hold in your hand belong to. You perform these Actions regardless of whether you took control of the final Tile or not.

Yellow Viziers Tribe

Place all the Yellow Meeples you just collected in front of you. These will be worth some VPS at Game End.

White Elders Tribe

Place all the White Meeples in front of you. If you have some left at Game End, they will score you VPS. You may also choose to "spend" some of these Elders instead during the game, to gain some Djinns and/or invoke their power.

Green Merchants Tribe

Put these Green Meeples immediately back in the bag and take a matching number of Resource cards from those lined face up, starting at the beginning of the line. Do not replace any of the Resource cards you took yet!

Blue Builders Tribe

Put these Blue Meeples immediately back in the bag and immediately gain as many Gold Coins as follows:

Count the surrounding number of Blue valued Tiles, including the Tile you ended your turn on.
Multiply this number by the number of Blue Meeples you just dropped back in the bag.

BONUS: You can discard as many Fakir cards from your x? hand as you wish, to increment that multiplier factor by 1 for each Fakir discarded.

There are 4 Blue valued Tiles surrounding the Red valued Tile you ended your move on. Your last Meeple was Blue and there were already 2 Blue Meeples on that Tile; so you put 3 Blue Meeples in the bag. You also decide to discard 2 Fakirs. You immediately gain 4 x(3+2) = 20 Gold Coins. If the tile you finished your move on had also been Blue valued, then you would have gained 5 x(3+2) = 25 Gold Coins.

Red Assassins Tribe

Put these Red Meeples immediately back in the bag.

Kill ONE other Meeple: Remove it and immediately place it back in the bag.

This Meeple could either be:

1 Meeple of the color of your choice, located on a Tile no farther away from your nal Tile than 1 Tile per Assassin you just dropped in the bag (always counting sideways, never diagonally, for distance purposes)
Or 1 Yellow or 1 White Meeple currently held by one of your Opponents in front of him/her.

Bonus: You can discard as many Fakir cards from your x? hand as you wish to increase the range of your Assassins, 1 more Tile in distance for each Fakir.

Important: If as a result of your Assassins Action, you completely empty a new Tile out of ALL its Meeples, you immediately gain control of that Tile! Place one of your Camels on it, to show your ownership.

It may thus sometime be possible to take control of 2 Tiles in the same turn: a first Tile when you end your move on a Tile that only had Assassins Meeples left on it; and a second Tile when performing the Action of your Assassins, killing a Meeple on a Tile with a single Meeple, within reach of your Assassins.

In a single Turn, these Assassins give their player control of not just 1, but 2 Tiles!

If you happen to run out of Camels while taking control of 2 Tiles this way, you cannot take control of the Tile you assassinated some Meeple in. You cannot choose which of the two Tiles you take control of: you must take control of the Tile you ended your move on first.

2.5 Tile Actions

Once your Meeples' Tribe actions are over, perform the Action for the Tile your last Meeple ended on, regardless of whether you then took control of that Tile or not.

If you took control of a second Tile this turn using Assassins, you do not get to perform the actions of that Tile; only those of the Tile you ended your move on.

Each Tile has a small symbol indicating the type of action possible.

When the symbol is marked with a Red arrow, the Tile's Action is COMPULSORY:

Oasis

Place 1 new Palm Tree on this Tile (there are no limits to the number of Palm Trees that can be on a Tile, unless you run out, in which case this action is ignored).

Village

Place 1 new Palace on this Tile (there are no limits to the number of Palaces that can be on a Tile, unless you run out, in which case this action is ignored).

For all other symbols, the Tile's Action is NOT compulsory: You can take this action if you wish, provided you are able, and willing, to pay its corresponding cost.

Small Market

Pay 3 Gold Coins and pick one Resource card of your choice from among the rst 3 visible (at the start of the line). As always, do not replace any of the Resource cards you took yet!

Large Market

Pay 6 Gold Coins and pick 2 Resource cards of your choice from among the rst 6 visible (at the start of the line). In the unlikely event there is only 1 Resource card left to pick, you must still pay 6 Gold Coins if you wish to pick it in a Large Market. As always, do not replace any of the Resource cards you took yet!

Sacred Places

Pay either 2 Elders OR 1 Elder + 1 Fakir to take the Djinn of your choice , from among those visible (place these Elders back in the bag, and discard the Fakir). Do not replace the Djinn card you take yet! (see CLEAN-UP ).

The Djinns grant you VPS at game end but can also have useful special powers:

Some special powers have a cost to use: in this case, they can only be used once per turn, only during the turn of the player who controls the Djinn.
You can use the special powers of any Djinn you took right away, without waiting; however if there is a cost, you must be able to pay that cost now.

2.6 Merchandise Sale (optional)

Before wrapping up your actions for this turn, once all your Tribe and Tile Actions are done, you may, IF YOU WISH, sell some Merchandise (but not Fakirs) before ending your turn.

To do so, discard one or more suits of Merchandise cards, all different from each other, and immediately take from the bank the Shift any Djinn card that may still be face up to the front of the corresponding number of Gold Coins: 1 - 3 - 7 - 13 - 21 - 30 - 40 - 50 or 60 depending on how many different Merchandise cards you hold In the unlikely event you run out of Djinn cards in the Draw in a suit.

Wanting to bid high in future turns to make sure you play rst for the rest of the game, you decide to sell all your Merchandise now. You collect 30 Gold Coins for your rst suit of Resource cards + another 7 for the 3 Resources you had in duplicate. The Fakirs can't be sold.

Note: Only sell when you are desperately short on Gold Coins to bet on your turn order. Otherwise you are usually better o keeping Merchandise to try and sell a larger suit later on. Even if you don't succeed in accumulating more Merchandise cards of other types, you will be able to at least sell your suit(s) at the same price on your last turn!

3. Clean-up

Once all players have taken turns playing all their Actions, before moving on to the next Bid for Turn Order Phase, the player closest to the piles of Djinns and Resource cards must :

Replenish The Row Of Resource Cards:

Shift any Resource card that may still be face up to the front of the row and draw new ones to make a total of 9 face up available.

In the unlikely event you run out of Resource cards in the Draw pile, reshuffle any discards; if there are no cards left, then none can be taken.

Replenish The Row Of Djinns Cards:

Shift any Djinn card that may still be face up to the front of the row and draw new ones to make a total of 3 face up available. In the unlikely event you run out of Djinn cards in the Draw pile, reshuffle any discards.

Now you are ready to all move to the next Turn and start bidding for Turn Order!

End of the Game

The Game stops at the end of the Turn during which either of these 2 events occur:

A Player Drops His Last Camel On A Tile:

The player takes control of the Tile by placing his last Camel and finishes his actions as normal; the game ends once ALL players have had a chance to take their actions for this turn too. The game then ends and final scores are computed.

No More Legal Meeples Movement Is Possible:

This player, and all players after him, can no longer make any move; they may still be able, and want, to take some other actions, i.e. invoke the special powers of some of the Djinns they own, and can do so before passing to the next player.

Once all players have played the Actions they could still take (or passed), the Turn finishes; the game ends and scores are computed.

Note: Correctly betting on your last turn can thus be crucial. An imprudent player may bid some Gold Coins but still find himself unable to make any moves when his turn comes to play, depending on what others did, and thus wasting some valuable VPS.

Scoring

Use the enclosed score sheets to compute each player's score (if in doubt, see Victory Points on p. 3). The player with the most VPS wins the game and becomes Great Sultan of Naqala! In the unlikely event two (or more players) are tied, they will have to learn how to share power as Sultans - or play again!