Days Of Wonder Five Tribes - The Artisans of Naqala

I usually do spend time reading the reviews especially for board games but this was one of those, just must have kind of a things, because we absolutely loved the original Five Tribes. And, the Artisans of Naqala did not disappoint us at all, it was way more than we expected. From that point on, we could not play the original one without them, period! (or more specifically an exclamation point for anyone who pays a close enough attention...:) If you do like the original, get this one because it will expand your game play tenfold (whatever that means from a gaming terms perspective). Basically, with this expansion, you will get six more board squares, a whole new tribe (purple), which you will be able to keep or use at special workshops, you will also get magic / precious items that you get to pick from face down every time you acquire an Artisan. I know that the rules state that the items should be stacked in a box but we like to spread them out to give a choice of face down item chips (like a hidden treasure pile) for an added bonus of random chance / fun factor!The word of caution! If you are a fan of Five Tribes and planning to get all of the expansions eventually, there is one downside to buying this one first or, at least, before the Whims of the Sultan (2nd major expansion). Since the Artisans expansion was so-o amazing, the second one seemed more like Meh by comparison. Still a very solid 2nd major expansion by itself but, let me just paint a picture here, if they both were to play football, they would not compete in the same league... We had no choice because the Whims of the Sultan came out later for us. But, I would almost recommend to get the second one first and be impressed by it, and, then, get this one to just blow the whole game out of the desert water! Although, said that, whichever way you decide to approach it, you are still guaranteed to have LOTS of fun playing the game on a bigger board!

I was not the biggest fan of Five Tribes. It was just ok and I never had the desire to play. It was too cramped to be anything but a purely tactical game, which wasn't my cup of tea.The expansion loosened the game in many great ways:1. Bigger board and new tribe: now the tile board has both a new row and new purple tribe that can give you points and or great artifacts. These two features gives you just a small amount of room for strategy. Almost perfect!2. Mountains: this then makes it perfect! You lay these mountains on certain spaces and they become impassible. That restriction actually makes the board even bigger to me in terms of planning things by eliminating some paths.3. Tent: a new camel type piece to score red numbered tiles, brilliant!4. New Djinns...well, sure! Why not?More options to score, bigger map...I highly advise anyone like me to just try it. Made the game from almost a dud to my top 30

Expansions are a bit of a problematic issue. What do you want out of it? Do you want more stuff or do you really want to expand the game play? And here I think you get more stuff and a bit of more gameplay. I like the magic items and the new tribe of meeples. I think they add a nice Dimension 2 the game and give you something new to think about. If you're really big fan of five tribes I consider either this or the second expansion to be one you should really consider getting. Do you need both? Probably not. The second one really does go into Point salad territory. This one adds more to the Tactical focus of the game which is already heavy.

The thing I love about Five Tribes is that there are multiple angles you can take to acquire points. So if Person A is stealing your thunder by doing certain things, it's relatively easy as Person B easy to go a different route and still give the other players a run for their money without being left in the dust.The Artisans expansion adds some very elegant mechanics to the game that don't bog down or over-complicant play in the slightest. It simply adds some very cool changes to spice things up regarding movement with mountains and chasms, and the introduction of the artisans and their goods further adds another facet you can exploit in an attempt to rack up points.

As far as board game expansions go I think this one is my favorite out of the dozens I own. Artisans of Naqala add a ton of depth to Five Tribes. Essentially this expansion makes the game 6 Tribes by adding the Artisans as another tribe. Along with the new tribe a whole new level of game play with a some new features that will keep you guessing as you try to learn which strategy works best with the new elements of the game.This expansion adds a whole new layer to the game and has tons of replay value, it is by far the best expansion I own and I can't recommend it enough. 5 Stars!