Five Tribes - The Djinns of Naqala

Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala is a richly thematic strategy game for 2–4 players, designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Days of Wonder in 2014. Set in the world of 1001 Nights, players arrive at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala just as the old sultan has died, and must manoeuvre five coloured tribes of meeples across a modular board of tiles — villages, markets, oases, and sacred places — to claim territory and accumulate victory points. The clever twist is that rather than placing workers onto the board, the meeples start already in position, and players pick them up and redistribute them in a Mancala-like movement that defines every turn.

Each of the five tribes — Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers — grants a different action when you drop the last meeple of a group on a tile, rewarding you with gold, resources, points, or the power to invoke a Djinn. Djinns are the game’s wildcard, offering unique persistent abilities that can dramatically shape a player’s strategy. Turn order itself is auctioned off at the start of each round, adding a bidding layer that makes every decision feel consequential — going early costs coins, but those coins are also victory points.

With its many interlocking systems and multiple paths to victory, Five Tribes rewards careful planning and spatial thinking, but the variable board setup and ever-changing Djinn cards ensure no two games play the same. It’s a meaty, deeply satisfying puzzle that earns its place among the hobby’s modern classics.