Thames & Kosmos Tribes: Dawn of Humanity - A Kosmos Game from A Civilization Game for 2-4 Players, Civ Building, Designer Rustan Håkansson, Ages 10+

It’s an easy enough game that plays pretty quick (maybe 45 mins). It’s one that desperately needs an expansion (and is positioned well for that).As is, the game has very little replay value and can grow stagnant fairly quickly (I’d say around 3 plays).For example, Each “epoch” (Of three) has 4 spots for tiles and the game comes with 5 (of each epoch) that you shuffle, laying 4 down in each of those epochs...meaning the only variation with each game is the possibility of having only one tile differ (in each epoch).On our first play through only one of the last epoch tiles had an upgraded movement icon which meant the two of us were stuck moving one tribesman at a time throughout the entire game.I also noticed that we Both used up all of our tribesman which made for bonus scoring (the person with the most tribesman out on the “board”) rather lackluster. I did however, have the most land tiles out so I got 2 bonus points for that.You basically collect land tiles hoping they match the symbols on the epoch tiles, move your tribesman to that land tile to “use” him to complete the epoch tile...and then move up the board to the next one that requires (guess...) TWO matching land tiles!The third requires...drum roll...THREE matching land tiles! (Occupied)I did like the action selection mechanic where the tile you chose goes to the back of line and the others slide forward but...many of the tiles seemed to be the same. “YOUR tribe loses points for being the weakest/strongest”. And that’s the other thing, the rules state that if you don’t meet the effect of the tile (that’s to say, YOUR tribe is not the weakest) then...you don’t do anything and the tile goes away!What? Could we make the game even less dramatic? Some tiles effect all tribes but it seems like they tried very hard to intentionally make this game non-confrontational.And much of the game felt that way - sort of, “meh”.I will say that if they pump it full of expansions and expound on the mechanics of the game, it would probably grow to be a pretty good game (much like Raiders of the North Sea did).But for now, it’s rather prosaic.

The artwork on the box usually creates my first impression of a board game. And, this box did indeed attract me to it ... the same was true for some of the friends in my gaming group. Next, I felt that the component quality was very good as well. Everything was clean and felt like it matched the box artwork.Once the game was underway, each player's turn was pretty quick and there was very little downtime in between turns. Occassionally, you had spend a little more time thinking about your next move, but there was no major "analysis paralysis" and the game moved along at a really good pace.There are a number of board game mechanisms going on at the same time:* worker placement*tile laying*goals*resource managementThe end result? A really fun little game that is light, yet strategic. I liked the fact that your turn decision was based on a set of tiles that continually rotated conveyor-belt style. And, new tiles were added to this as certain achievements were reached. The games seem to last about 45 minutes with 3 people. This will appeal to a broad range of gamers from casual to seasoned!

This is a very interesting game where you have limited resources to be able to use to perform actions. Sometimes, you’ll have to take the cheapest (no cost) action so that you can save what little shells (the resource) you have and so you can do a better action in subsequent turns. The “tech tree” is a cool aspect of this game and it’s certainly a good way to incentive yourself to go after specific routes where you can be efficient in doing the actions presented to you. The game flow is good. Not much AP (Analysis Paralysis) to deal with. I’ve played this game with varying player counts and it is a good game to play with 2 players and even better with 4. Definitely towards a more filler type economy style game that is good for any gamer level. Highly recommend.

This is a great, quick-playing (45-60min) civilization game. We love the action selection queue and the feeling of growth and accomplishment you get from moving up the tech tree.

I love how quick the game can be (think we played 2 games in less then a hour) and how easy it is for new people to pick up and play

Easy to learn. Lightweight game. Nice components. Lots of room for expansions.

Game was delivered in a beaten-up box – as standard now by Amazon – and the game itself has mild abrasion to the lid. Normally would send back but the price has shot back up to normal prices again.

Bought as a present but I did get to play it once. Very enjoyable strategic game.

Way too complicated and boring. Give this a miss unless your into maths and loads of random crardboard parts