Tribes of The Wind | Strategy Game | Ages 14+ | 2 to 5 Players | 60 Minutes

Product Information

The innovative card play mechanics set Tribes of the Wind apart from other games. The requirement to satisfy certain conditions based on the types of cards in your hand and your opponents’ hands adds a unique twist. This mechanic encourages strategic thinking and careful planning, making each turn a puzzle to solve. Immersive Theme of Tribes of the Wind Gilbert, David (March 25, 2018). "Arapaho Tribe Visits, Blesses Namesake School". Littleton Independent. Colorado Community Media . Retrieved September 30, 2020. In 2009, three young Native American girls (13, 14, and 15 years of age) were murdered on the reservation. They were found in the bedroom of a small home in Beaver Creek, which is a low-income tribal housing community. They had overdosed on methadone, a painkiller which is used to wean heroin addicts off of heroin. However, no one knows how they received the painkillers, which is why the coroner ruled their deaths homicides. The reservation has a very thin police force, which led to the FBI being the lead investigators on the homicide. The reservation has six officers who are responsible for patrolling an area about the size of Rhode Island. Two teenage boys were arrested in connection with the girls' deaths. One boy had given them his grandmother's methadone, saying that the girls were already high and he wanted to help them, because they didn't want to go home and have their parents see them. [33] Maher, Savannah (October 21, 2019). "After Decades-Long Struggle, Buffalo Return to Northern Arapaho Land". Wyoming Public Media . Retrieved September 30, 2020. In popular culture [ edit ] Bad Teeth, his unidentified female partner, and other residents of Wind River appeared in the 1923 production of a Zane Grey film, The Thundering Herd.Bad Teeth also appeared in MGM's 1926 War Paint. [29] ( Motion Picture Classic, 1925)

One of the game’s most striking features is its beautiful artwork. The illustrations are not just aesthetically pleasing. They also serve to immerse players in the game’s post-apocalyptic, eco-friendlyworld. This visual appeal adds a layer of depth to the gaming experience. A Unique Twist on Card Play While the game’s unique card play mechanic adds a layer of strategy, it may not offer enough tactical depth for some players. The game’s focus on meeting certain conditions to play cards can sometimes limit strategic options, reducing the game’s tactical depth. Final Verdict: Tribes of the Wind A Game Worth PlayingEach turn, players can perform one action - usually boiling down to playing a card from the row in front of them. These cards are colour-coded to four key elements: water, earth, fire and wind, allowing players to claim the vital resource of water, replant forests using said water, clear out pollution from squares on their board or move wind riders around (more on that in a second). A government school and hospital operated for many years east of Fort Washakie; Arapaho children were sent here to board during the school year. St. Michael's at Ethete was constructed in 1917–1920. The village of Arapahoe was originally established as a US sub-agency to distribute rations to the Arapaho. At one time it also operated a large trading post. Irrigation was constructed to support farming and ranching in the arid region. The Arapaho constructed a flour mill near Fort Washakie. [15] Separately, under the Dawes Act, communal tribal land was allotted to individual households, which could later be sold to non-tribal members, further diminishing the tribal land base. The supposedly temporary placement of the Arapaho at Fort Washakie Agency became permanent because the United States government never took further action to relocate the tribe. The Arapaho held out hope for a reservation of their own until 1890, when Gen. Crook died. In late-1800s dealings including land cessions, the government repeatedly acted as if the Arapaho were a party of their reservation and its resources by including them in cession discussions like the sale of the Thermopolis Hot Springs. This was despite Shoshone protests (which were later held up in court) that the Arapaho had no legal claim to the reservation. According to historian Loretta Fowler, Arapaho leaders at the time were aware they had no real legal status to reservation land in the Wind River Valley. They participated in land cessions and allotment of reservation land in part to solidify their title and claims to the land. [18]

Villages provide victory points, while temples - not seen here - can be constructured for a one-off bonus. The person with the highest score gets to become global dictator for life. OK, no, but they win, and feel good about themselves as people. In the early 21st century, the media reported problems of reservation poverty and unemployment, resulting in associated crime and a high rate of drug abuse. In 2012, The New York Times released an article titled "Brutal Crimes Grip an Indian Reservation". According to this article, written by Timothy Williams, an Iraq war strategy, "the surge", was used to attempt to fight crime, taking hundreds of officers from the National Park Service and other federal agencies. This had major success at other reservations, but on the Wind River Indian Reservation, violent crime increased by seven percent. In 2013, Business Insider produced a photo scrapbook and indicated locals refer to different streets by infamously violent American locations such as Compton near Los Angeles. [34] The game’s eco-friendly theme resonates with today’s eco-conscious mindset. It sends a powerful message about the importance of caring for our environment, making the game more than just a source of entertainment. Worth the Investment Tribes of the Wind isn’t Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: The Board Game, but it may as well be.a b Feemster, Ron (February 19, 2013). "The reservation reacts to new, troubling press coverage". WyoFile . Retrieved September 19, 2017. a b "Eastern Shoshone Tribal Culture". Eastern Shoshone Tribal Cultural Center. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009 . Retrieved September 30, 2020.

There’s one more mechanism here worth mentioning, because it’s potentially interesting but not handled here in a way that gets the best from it. When you complete a village, you draw a card and choose either an immediate bonus, or an objective which could maybe score you points at the end. This is potentially an interesting choice. The trouble is that the likelihood of these objectives being completed depends on the length of the game, and taking an immediate bonus will speed the game up. Therefore, the immediate bonus is almost always the best option. Again, Tribes of the Wind doesn’t quite use its ideas well enough. Just The Two Of Us (Preferably) A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. a b Ahtone, Tristan (January 19, 2012). "Cancer-Riddled Wind River Reservation Fights EPA Over Uranium Contamination". Indian Country Media Network. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018 . Retrieved September 30, 2020. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s better at two. The adaptation to this player count is to use the row of cards that you refill your hand from as one of your neighbours, for the purposes of powering your cards. This gives you a much greater measure of control, as the cards you and your opponent select doubly impact the cards in hand. It’s still not truly interactive, but it is more satisfying. Pariona, Amber (June 5, 2018). "Biggest Indian Reservations in the United States". WorldAtlas . Retrieved September 30, 2020.

Final Verdict: Tribes of the Wind A Game Worth Playing

This complicated history of the Arapaho arrival on the reservation continues to affect intertribal relations and politics on the reservation today. Over time, intermarriage between members of the two tribes has occurred, building connections between members of the historically-enemy tribes and encouraging political cooperation. Yet efforts to maintain and exert independent sovereignty of each tribe remain a major dynamic on the reservation. Tribes of the Wind feels as lightweight as its wind riders, but there’s plenty of strategic heft to anchor its gameplay. In this game, you’ll play as a Guide who uses elemental magic to fight against pollution. Have forests grow, build new cities in the canopy, and secure the future of mankind.

The aftermath of an apocalypse is an increasingly common grounding for games, both digitally and on the tabletop. Some (The Last of Us) take a narrative approach, where players act as a group of protagonists against a generally hostile environment. Others such as Dead of Winter introduce the possibility of deception and betrayal into the dynamic of survival. 2017's Outlive pitches you in direct competition with other bands of survivors, as well as environmental hazards. And then, there are games like Tribes of the Wind, where the destruction of human civilisation is included solely for decorative effect. Apocalypse Wow Fowler, Loretta (2006). The Arapaho. Chelsea House. p.51. ISBN 0-7910-8593-7 . Retrieved September 30, 2020. Build a village: if you meet the requirement (number of Wind Riders on a forrest tile) you will be able to flip the concerned tile on its village side. Beware, some villages will generate pollution in nearby territories, but they will also grant you very useful effects to help you fulfill your quest. They will also grant you a village card which you will be able to use either for its immediate effect, or as an end game objecive that will bring you a lot of points if you manage to meet its conditions.Current social and economic conditions on the Wind River Indian Reservation have complicated historical roots. The reservation has many examples of cultural survival, adaptation, and patriotism. [30] Yet the reservation community also suffers from the legacy of settler colonialism, dispossession from land, forced assimilation and cultural destruction, family disruption, environmental extraction and degradation, disenfranchisement, and inter-generational poverty. Though media portrayals produced by outsiders frequently note these disparities, tribal members have publicly objected to such narratives, noting that they are not the whole story of life in reservation communities. [31] On each turn, players have three actions to choose from: play a card, build a temple, or construct a village. The choice you make will shape your strategy and influence your path to victory. Playing Cards Maher, Savannah (October 16, 2019). "Northern Arapaho Tribe Welcomes First Buffalo Herd". Wyoming Public Media . Retrieved September 30, 2020. There's one more mechanism here worth mentioning, because it's potentially interesting but not handled here in a way that gets the best from it. When you complete a village, you draw a card and choose either an immediate bonus, or an objective which could maybe score you points at the end. This is potentially an interesting choice. The trouble is that the likelihood of these objectives being completed depends on the length of the game, and taking an immediate bonus will speed the game up. Therefore, the immediate bonus is almost always the best option. Again, Tribes of the Wind doesn’t quite use its ideas well enough. Just The Two Of Us (Preferably) There are a couple of other aspects of the game which are also a bit unsatisfying. There is an element of assymetry- each player has a selection of powers that they can activate under certain circumstances. This is a potentially fun wrinkle, but unfortunately neither the triggering circumstances nor the powers particularly affect the game, and so because you have to do everything (moving, clearing, building) yourself, there's very little benefit to specialisation. So this aspect feels very bland. Temple Of Kludge