Overview

Five Tribes is a mancala-style strategy game set in the legendary Sultanate of Naqala. Players maneuver five different tribes (Viziers, Elders, Merchants, Builders, Assassins) across a grid of tiles to gain influence, invoke Djinns, and collect resources. Each turn, players pick up all meeples from one tile and drop them one-by-one across adjacent tiles, then collect matching meeples from the final tile. The player with the most Victory Points at game end wins and is declared the Great Sultan.

Components

• 30 tiles (12 blue-valued: Villages & Sacred Places; 18 red-valued: Markets & Oases)
• 90 wooden Tribe Meeples: 16 Yellow (Viziers), 20 White (Elders), 18 Green (Merchants), 18 Red (Assassins), 18 Blue (Builders)
• 1 meeples bag
• 12 Palm Trees and 10 Palaces
• 22 Djinn cards
• 96 Gold Coins (48 worth “5” and 48 worth “1”)
• 54 Resource cards: 36 Merchandise (Ivory, Jewels, Gold, Papyrus, Silk, Spice, Fish, Wheat, Pottery) and 18 Fakirs
• 2 player sets of 8 Camels + 1 Turn marker (3-4 player) or 2 player sets of 11 Camels + 2 Turn markers (2-player)
• 1 Bid Order Track and 1 Turn Order Track
• 5 Turn Order/Djinns Summary Sheets
• Scoring pad

Setup

1. Each player takes Camels and Turn marker(s) of their chosen color. In 2-player games, each takes 11 Camels + 2 Turn markers; in 3-4 player games, 8 Camels + 1 Turn marker.
2. Each player receives 50 Gold Coins (9x “5” + 5x “1”), kept face down (secret).
3. Shuffle all 30 tiles and place them randomly face up in a 5x6 rectangle grid – this is the Sultanate.
4. Mix all 90 meeples in the bag; randomly draw and place 3 meeples on each tile.
5. Place Bid Order and Turn Order Tracks beside the Sultanate. Randomly place Turn markers on the Bid Order Track.
6. Shuffle Resource cards into a face-down draw pile; draw 9 face up in a row next to it.
7. Shuffle Djinn cards face down; draw 3 face up next to the pile.
8. Place Palm Trees, Palaces, and remaining coins as a bank.

Turn Structure

Each turn consists of two phases:

1. Bid for Turn Order

Players bid Gold Coins to determine play order for this turn:

• In Bid Order, each player announces a spot on the Turn Order Track and pays that many Gold Coins to the bank.
• No two markers on the same spot (except “0” – up to 3 markers can stack on 0s).
• Zero-bidders are pushed down: last to bid 0 plays first among 0-bidders.
• If all three 0s are taken, the last player must bid at least 1.
• In 2-player games, each player places 2 Turn markers (potentially playing twice per turn or even back-to-back).

2. Player’s Actions (in Turn Order)

Each player performs these steps in sequence:

2.1 Move Turn Marker – Take your marker off the Turn Order Track and place it on the first empty Bid Order spot.

2.2 Move Meeples – Pick up ALL meeples from a tile with at least 1 meeple. Drop them one-by-one onto adjacent tiles (orthogonally, never diagonally), following three rules:

• Last Meeple Same Color: The last meeple dropped must land on a tile already containing at least 1 meeple of that same color.
• No Diagonal: Movement is always orthogonal.
• No Immediate Backtracking: Cannot return to the tile you just left (but loops of 5+ meeples are allowed).

2.3 Tile Control Check – Collect the last-dropped meeple plus ALL other meeples of that same color from the final tile. If this empties the tile of all meeples, place a Camel on it (you control it). Once controlled, ownership never changes.

2.4 Tribe Actions – Perform the action for the tribe (color) of collected meeples.

2.5 Tile Actions – Perform the action of the tile where you ended your move.

2.6 Merchandise Sale (if applicable) – Fill the Resource card display back to 9 cards.

Actions

Tribe Actions

Tribe	Color	Action
Viziers	Yellow	Keep them in front of you. Score VPs at game end.
Elders	White	Keep them. Score 2 VP each at game end. May spend to invoke Djinns.
Merchants	Green	Return to bag. Take an equal number of Resource cards from the display (left to right).
Builders	Blue	Return to bag. Score Gold Coins equal to number of blue Builders collected x number of blue-valued tiles surrounding (and including) the final tile.
Assassins	Red	Return to bag. Kill (remove from the game) 1 meeple on the final tile or a tile within range (# of Assassins collected). May kill another player’s Vizier/Elder (returns to their supply). If killing empties a tile, place your Camel there.

Tile Actions

Tile	Action
Small Market (compulsory)	Draw top 3 Resource cards; keep 1, discard others face-up.
Large Market (compulsory)	Draw top 6 Resource cards; keep 2, discard others face-up.
Oasis	Place 1 Palm Tree on this tile (adds 3 VP for tile owner at end).
Village	Place 1 Palace on this tile (adds 5 VP for tile owner at end).
Sacred Place	Pay 1 or 2 Elders (or Fakirs as wild) to take 1 face-up Djinn or draw 2 to pick 1.

Djinns

Djinn cards have VP values and special powers. Acquired by paying Elders/Fakirs at Sacred Places. Each has a unique ongoing ability (e.g., scoring bonuses, action modifications, protection).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when:

• A player places their last Camel, OR
• No legal meeple move exists for any player.

Players sum their Victory Points:

Source	Points
Gold Coins	1 VP per coin
Viziers	1 VP each + 10 VP for each opponent with strictly fewer Viziers
Elders	2 VP each
Djinns	VP shown on each card
Palm Trees on your tiles	3 VP each
Palaces on your tiles	5 VP each
Tile values	Sum of VP values on all tiles you control
Merchandise sets	Points for each set of unique Merchandise cards (no Fakirs)

Merchandise Scoring Table:

Set Size	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
VP	1	3	7	13	21	30	40	50	60

Fakirs are wild: each Fakir may substitute for any 1 Merchandise in a set.

The player with the highest total VP wins. Ties broken by most Gold Coins remaining.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• 2-Player Game: Each player uses 2 Turn markers and 11 Camels. Both markers are bid separately, meaning a player can play twice per turn or even back-to-back.
• Assassins and Tile Control: It is possible to control 2 tiles in 1 turn: the tile where you end your move (if emptied) and a tile emptied by Assassin kills. You must take the first tile; the second requires having Camels left.
• Resource Display: After Merchants collect cards, gaps are NOT refilled until that player’s Clean-Up step. The next Merchant action in the same turn may have fewer choices.
• Fakirs: Count as wild for Merchandise sets and for paying for Djinns (substitute for Elders).
• Tile Control: Once a Camel is placed, that tile’s ownership never changes, even if new meeples are dropped on it.
• Last Meeple Rule: You can pass through empty tiles (dropping meeples), but you can NEVER end on an empty tile.
• Loops: Require at least 5 meeples to complete. No immediate backtracking, but returning to a tile after an intervening tile is allowed.

Player Reference

Turn Sequence

1. Bid for Turn Order (pay Gold to bank)
2. Move Turn Marker to Bid Order Track
3. Move Meeples (pick up, drop one-by-one, orthogonally)
4. Tile Control Check (collect matching color, Camel if emptied)
5. Tribe Action (per collected color)
6. Tile Action (per final tile type)
7. Clean-Up (refill Resource display to 9)

Game-End Triggers

• Last Camel placed
• No legal meeple moves available

Key Numbers

• Grid: 5x6 tiles (30 total)
• Starting meeples: 3 per tile (90 total)
• Starting coins: 50 per player
• Resource display: 9 face-up cards
• Djinn display: 3 face-up cards
• Max bid: 18 (or 12 on standard track)