Produktbeschreibung
In Tribes, the players are cave men and women. They hunt and gather food, make their tribal laws, and deal with natural disasters. But the object of the game is simple: Look after the children! In this game, the way to win is to have the most kids, and do whatever you have to do to make sure they survive. The players must know when to cooperate, and when to cut their losses and protect their own families.
With a referee, it is possible to have several tribes at once (as many as 40 people can easily play in the same "extended" game). Each tribe will have its own laws and social pattern. The tribes can compete, trade, exchange people, or even make war on each other.
The game is packaged in an inexpensive format, to keep the price down: large ziplock bag, 12-page rulebook (the rules are simple,), 17" x 22" paper gameboard, record sheets and counters.
Notes from Steve:
We've run this game at various SF and gaming conventions around the country since 1989 (!!). The reactions have been great . . . we're always asked "Can you do that again next year?" or "Can we have some copies?" But we never actually published it, because the market for games that take 6 or 8 players plus a referee, and 3 or more hours, is limited.
But it can really get interesting . . . especially when the tribes start making laws, arguing over division of food, organizing child care (leave the kids unwatched and the hyena shows up) and choosing chiefs. Nothing in the rules says there has to be a chief, but it tends to happen . . .
And when you have multiple tribes, interacting to trade, swap mates, or fight, it gets VERY interesting.
So what we decided to do was publish it in a ziplock bag format, rather than a fancy boxed version. This will get it into more hands . . . and we'll see what happens. If you like it, let us know!
Variants and Complications:
Normally, each female has only one mate per season, so everyone knows who the father of each child is. This simplifies play, but does not reflect the real world.
All kinds of allowances can be made for polyandry, clandestine sex, and so on. The female always has the option to remain monogomous - in which case she knows who the father of her child is. However, the father can never be sure.
In cases where the female has had more than one partner, the referee makes a random determination about who the father is, possibly weighted in favor of "legitimate" partners who have more opportunity to pass on their genes. Only at the end of the game, if then, are parentages revealed. Perhaps all the males learn is how many children they had . . .
Some sociobiologists speculate that this potential for uncertainty is no accident. A child may have a better chance of surviving if more than one males think they may be its father! |
