One Market Stall To Rule Them All

Late one Friday night I found myself playing Five Tribes with Jesse and Jan.  Jesse had played once before, Jan had never played and was super interested, so I made sure that I brought my copy.  Five Tribes is one of my absolute favorite games, so it wasn’t all that hard to convince me to bring it and teach it.  For those that don’t know, it’s a mix of Mancala, set collection, and territory control, with lots of different ways to score points.

After the rules explanation it was pretty clear that we were set in our roles within the first few moves.  Jan was the land baron, placing his pink “cameeples” all over the board. He quickly gained control of several pieces of land that were more valuable than they first appeared, areas with palm trees and palaces no less!  Jesse was set on trying to gain prosperity from the favor of the Djinns, grabbing up elders to summon powerful spirits that could carry him forward to victory and gaining the favor of the Viziers; because who doesn’t need a little help now and then deciding how to rule the sultanate? 

Then there was me: the humble merchant, just trying to gather my goods for market.  It started out really slowly, with nothing but fish and fakirs for me to stock my carefully prepared caravan with.  But soon… it was over flowing! Papyrus, spices from exotic lands, the finest silks and cloths from the east, and gold! And Jewels!  Oh, and fish. Lots and lots of fish. Like, 4 sets worth of fish. Who knew there was an abundance of maritime life in the desert? 

As the game went on, strategies adapted and changed as swiftly as the swirling sands of the desert we were trying to claim as our own.  Jan started his own rival market, and while the goods were not as plentiful as my super-premium, deluxe, amazing, state-of-the-art facility, they were at least *ok* I guess. Jesse began to expand into the land business, deftly procuring the most prized properties on the board, amazing palaces worth 15 points, beautiful gardens worth 12 points, and an amazing temple worth 10. And none of them were acquired through assassination.  Not a one. Well, maybe one. But don’t tell anyone, that drives down the re-sale value. 

And there I was still. Being the merchant.  Watching the choicest lands be taken. Watching the various advisors being swayed to my opponents.  But I wasn’t worried. I had some powerful Djinns on my side, ready and willing to bring me victory.  Anun-Nak would let me rescue meeple tribesman from the bag, re-populating the tiles with meeples to prolong the game so I could gain precious resources for my market. And Al-Amin, who would let me use two of my fakirs to stand in for any merchandise I didn’t have at the end of the game!  Finally, a use for those snake charmers!

And yet I was still apprehensive.  Clearly Jesse with his numerous Djinns, or Jan with his massive land holdings were clearly going to win the day. I was overspending to get the green merchant meeple tribesmen on my side.  “Don’t worry,” said Jan when I voiced this concern, “you have so many goods cards! There’s no WAY we can compete with that!” he said. And so, I let it continue. Then it happened. Jan placed his last “cameeple” (I really like that word), and   the game proceeded to scoring. Jesse with the most Viziers, Jan with the most property, palm trees and palaces, and me WITH 4 SETS OF GOODS CARDS! One of which was complete and worth 60 points! And another 21 points! My wares were second to none.

Nonetheless, what I had foreseen came to pass: Jan won.  However, even though I came last, (I KNEW I over paid for turn order!) it was still great to bring this amazing game to my friends and let them bask in its beauty.  With so many paths to victory, and so many different things to do, Five Tribes is a great game that allows you to try something new each time you play it. Although it’s pretty hard to convince myself to deviate from my market strategy, (60 points!) it’s always a treat to see what can work itself into a winning strategy.