Tribes of The Wind Strategy Game Ages 14 2 to 5 Players 60 Minutes

I bought this game without a deep understanding of the mechanics but it was a glad surprise. The mechanic of play eith the back of your neighbors cards is great. This game is a race to be the first one in put five village. I really like it. Read more

Low stress but still engaging, feels like living in Nausicaa Read more

Set in a pollution-filled future, humans who survived who now live amongst the treetops, known as The Tribes of the Wind. Players assume the role of Guides who use the power of the elements to combat pollution. Each player chooses a character, each represented by an element type: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and one with a combination of elements. Players will fill up their player boards with a series of tiles to try and be the first to build 5 Villages and earning VP (Victory Points) along the way. The game ends shortly after a player builds their 5th Village. VP are then tallied up and the player with the most VP wins. The game encourages players to think critically about how they manage their resources and where they place tiles and build. Players will be challenged to plan ahead while they work towards unlocking their Guide’s powers, which grant additional benefits. That planning also translates into fulfilling requirements on Villages for future VP. The game is asymmetric with each game playing differently since each Guide has their own unique requirements to unlock their powers and gaining VP is different for everyone. The turn order also comes with its own varied starting benefits. Most of the time, players will play Element Cards with each Element having a general purpose: Fire clears Pollution Tokens, Water adds Water Tokens, Earth allows Forest Tiles to be placed, and Wind moves Wind Rider Tokens. A combination of these effects may appear on a given Element, but this is the general consensus of their abilities. Playing Element Cards is dependent on which Element(s) you and/or other players have in their possession. The game rewards players who track which Elements are in play. Another option is if a player has a bad hand, they can discard 3 of their cards in order to place a Temple. Placing a Temple grants additional bonuses on top of the player gaining 3 new cards. This is a great tool for getting a player back into the game. Finally, a player may build a Village if their Forest Tile is occupied by enough Wind Rider Tokens. This grants a player the opportunity to acquire a Village Card to try and gain additional VP or an instant bonus effect. I enjoyed delegating on which choice mattered to me most at that time. The game has some gorgeous illustrations by Vincent Dutrait, also known for their work on many other French developed board games including one of my favorites, Quest for El Dorado. All of the game’s components use of bright colors makes it easy to differentiate between the game’s components. The components are also high quality with tokens either being made from thick cardboard or colored wood pieces. The cards have beautiful artwork and make use of icons to quickly discern effects and requirements. While I have many high praises for this game, I feel the instructions do a poor job at explaining some aspects of the game such as the lack of explanation for general use of each type of Elemental Card. Also, there should have been reference on cards and/or the back of the instructions book since there are so many diverse sets of effects. There is a glossary, but it doesn’t encompass all of the effects and requirements explained earlier in the book. Unfortunately, I had to watch a how to play video before I was able to play the game. Additionally, I had to learn through some trial and error. Furthermore, with the vast wealth of options and some confusion, turns can take a while leading to a game that drags out way past the suggested 60 minutes of play. Subsequent playthroughs will likely take less time, but with more players, the game could easily stretch out in a couple of hours of play. I would still highly recommend this game for its resource management, asymmetric gameplay, and its overall unique qualities that set it apart from other board games! Read more

The art, from Vincent Dutrait, is very well done, thematic within cards, helps tie the various element cards to the overall theme, and provides a nice table presence. But art does not a good game make. Cards in your "hand" require various mixes of elements to play. Those elements come from both *your* hand and what your opponent(s) are showing. Opponent elements are determined by the *backs* of their cards (a novel approach to resources). This means you could be planning to play a card requiring 4 water, counting on your neighbors hand which shows some, only for them to play those cards, dashing your carefully planned action. The primary objectives are to remove pollution from your player board (each player has their own, slightly different, board), play a forest tile, get it flipped to become a village (by placing your Wind Rider meeples on the tile) and earn one or more bonuses. In addition, some of the village tiles can cause pollution to appear. Converting a forest to a village also provides you with a Village Card which gives either an immediate bonus *or* an end game bonus - your choice. The components are mostly very good with wood tokens/meeples. The polution, water tokens, and coins are simple cardboard punch-outs and a bit sub-par compared to the other components. There are *lots* of them so this could be a cost cutting measure but I'd have preferred wooden components for at least the pollution and water tokens (and may upgrade them myself). Cardboard coins don't bother me as much in this game and are common in board games - they're also easily upgraded if desired. The instructions are mostly good but I became quite confused as it's mentioned several times to "flip a forest" to become a village, or place a token on a forest tile, but never once was it mentioned how these tiles make it to the board. It was only after reading the iconography for the cards that I discovered some cards have a specific action icon which allows a forest tile to be placed. This *needed* to be placed up front in the instructions or at least have had an indication as to where to go and get this, much needed, information. One missed opportunity is that every player board is double sided. However, both sides are identical. It would have been nice, and a simple thing, if the sides were slightly different to add variety to the game. And there's *lots* of iconography. Enough that you'll be passing the instructions around regularly while learning the game so everyone can know what things mean and how they interact. This game *needs* player aids. Fortunately, a user at boardgamegeek created some and made them available for download. There's also a possibly handy score sheet another user created - download, laminate, use it. I don't know that a scoresheet is truly needed as we didn't find it that difficult to add up scores, plus we never use any that are included with games. My true score for this game it 7/10 - a rating Amazon does not support so I rounded up to 8/10 or 4 Stars. It's a good, fun, mid-weight game (in the "family friendly" range) but not perfect. It's one I'll not turn down if asked to play and would likely recommend/select myself on game night. Read more