96 Gold Coins (48 worth "5" and 48 worth "1" each).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).2 Player sets of 11 Camels and 2 Player's Turn markers each.2 Player sets of 8 Camels and 1 Player's Turn marker each.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 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. International Gamers Award - General Strategy: Multi-player Nominee 2015Ĭrossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. SXSW Tabletop Game of the Year Nominee 2015 The player who gained most victory points is the winner. The game ends when there are no legal moves to make or when a player owns 8 different city tiles.
The tribes are respresented by meeples in 5 different colors and they can be moved using a mechanic similar like in the game Mancala.Įach tribe has a special ability that will give you some sort of power when used and some of the 30 tiles will grant you the ability to evok a special Djinn. The game takes place in the land of Naqala and you have to maneuver the five tribes to get the most influence over the the Sultanate: various villages, markets, oases and sacred places. Players have to compete to become the next Sultan. Also the clarity in Yamatai allows me to better see what my opponent is after and this makes our duel more tense and interesting.Five Tribes is a logistics puzzle, an action selection and a point salad game. But Five Tribes feels to me more complex to play.īoth games are awesome! I enjoy Yamatai slightly more because I find it easier to see my options on the board and because I can use so many different special power tiles in every game. Rules for both games are of similar complexity (medium - I could probably teach them to my kids - who already played Orleans and Blood Rage - but not their grandmas). And I REALLY enjoy using the tiles as they make the player powers asymmetric.Ģ player game of Five Tribes takes us 45 minutes. In my last game I had 7 special tiles in Yamatai but only 2 tiles in Five Tribes. Also since every turn can potentially lead to purchasing the special power tile I end up with a lot of these tiles. If I’m lacking a ship I can buy it to make my move. I can see my options on the map much more clearly. Since I can’t process every possible iteration of my choice I feel like I’m not fully in control of my play and that I’m definitely playing suboptimal. Having to count down those meeples to reach the tile I want, analyzing which meeple to drop where, planning future turns brings me inevitably AP. They share some similarities (use of cards giving extra abilities, possibility to change player order) but the main mechanics are pretty different. All this makes up for the cosy luxurious feeling when you sit down to play the game. That’s really why I wanted to investigate further those 2 games.īoth games are beautifully produced with wonderful chunky wooden pieces, gorgeous artwork and imaginative vibrant theme. Yes, this game comes from the good designer and it just feels so. Even though I didn’t catch all the rules (the game was taught in German and it was already after midnight) I was in awe of how mature and well rounded the game design was. It was a 4 player game with experienced gamers. I remember how impressed I was when I played Five Tribes for the first time. Here are my thoughts after 4 plays (2 plays for each game).īoth games come from the same designer Bruno Cathala and the same publisher Days of Wonder. Which one do you enjoy better? I’ve been questioning myself about it lately so I put both games to the test as 2-player games with my husband (who doesn’t play as much as I do, it’s probably worth mentioning).