Five Tribes: Whims of the Sultan Review - with Zee Garcia

[@danielecrescenzi1144]

Is it possible to play this expansion without the massive VP tiles? Or even make them count just as a simple five? Thank you

[@xbeaker]

When we play we just don't use the rule for exponential bonus for the WothS tiles. All the other expansion additions are great!

[@BardicLiving]

That's what I do.

[@coreyredmon5611]

With those new scoring tiles, it might have been more balanced if each one was printed with a 4 on it (instead of 5), so if you get X tiles, you score Y points: X Y 1 4 2 16 3 36 4 64 5 100 This may still seem like a lot, but if you think about it, even if you get all five, each one is worth 20 and getting all five is not tat likely. Getting only four makes each one worth 16 and that is around the maximum tile value in the base game.

[@winnie666]

Corey Redmon the designer (something cathala, one one the best) tested for months, it is balanced that way. you didn't test it,maybe even did not play it, so your "version" is makong the game majorly unbalanced. come on, there's a math behind it.

[@andrewwalsh9849]

@@winnie666 My guess is that they're high risk/high reward like the science cards from 7 Wonders. Probably not a dominant strategy against competent opponents.

[@pardontherob2082]

Thanks for the review. Looks like something to pick up just because my group has passed over this game a couple times when we've had 5 players.

[@signore01]

I prefer this expansion to the artisans which in my opinion was way too chaotic and powerful. But by including this second brand new expansion I'll gladly celebrate my renaissance of falling in love with Five Tribes all over again. Why do I think so? Because this expansion is a good new way of accumulating VP and is a very good "opponent" to the very powerful green meeple's power which is honestly way too powerful and a color you never may neglect playing just the base game. Now thanks to the whims of the sultan there is a new way! I'm very happy. Gracias and thank you very much for your review, Zee! Best regards!

[@clumsydad7158]

Thanks for the review. I would def. prefer the first expansion, which dealt with the artisans and basically created more special cards (djinn like) for the game, which I think addressed my main flaw with the original which was it was too hard to access the cool djinn cards. In general, of course one needs to be a 5T freak to play with all, but for me it makes the scope a bit unwieldy. I’d prob. have to stick with just the first expansion, which adds a nice 6 x 6 feel. Thanks for your balanced examination.

[@iinventedadrian]

Maybe just choose to ignore the multiplier applied when obtaining those new tiles.

[@clumsydad7158]

I think one would find in actual playing that by trying to go for the Sultan tiles that you'd be losing huge points elsewhere, even if you actually did get 3 (and fight to hold on to)for 45 that would probably be a huge percentage of your overall score.

[@jelledaems808]

Do you think the game would be better without playing with the multiplier? So if you own three of those tiles, you will just get 15 points instead of 45 points. My gut feeling says I would better play it this way, so those tiles are not overpowered and I still get to enjoy the whims of the sultan. But then again... there was probably a reason that the designer chose to have the multiplier in, although I really think I would play it without... What are your thoughts on this?

[@clumsydad7158]

I think there are so many routes that if you focus just on Sultan cards you'll find it drains most your energy/scoring potential and is a bit of a wild goose chase. I think it actual play, it will only be one of many successful/adaptive strategies as the game evolves.

[@dearmrdw]

As much as I like Five Tribes, it's one of the very few games that in my opinion don't need any expansions. At the same time I want to buy something for one of the games I like so much... Maybe they just should start selling better coins and just delux editions of the game?.. ^^'

[@clumsydad7158]

I'd pick the first expansion with the Artisans if I had to choose, for sure... sounds like Zee's opinion too.

[@dfetz3]

As someone who also loves Five Tribes I appreciate the nit-picking review! Haven't played with this yet but just watching your video I would agree, the Sultan cards look fun and interesting, while the new tiles seem like they might give out a tad too many points.

[@Cornchps827]

Yeah I feel the rules should nerf the score bonus for the sultan tiles. Just a little. Something like all of them have a base score of 10 points and then those tiles go up +2 - +5 for each in your set. Something like that

[@ericfrancis7816]

Must you add all those tiles when you play? For instance, could you choose to just substitute out three of the original tiles for the Sultan's Whim tiles?

[@BardicLiving]

Following a BGG user's recommendation, I find it works well to swap out one copy of each type of tile (and an additional small market) from the base game with this expansion's tiles.

[@clumsydad7158]

interesting, but i probably wouldn't do that

[@benphelan6361]

If there were not ways to circumvent normal tile control, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Unfortunately, a few djinns and some of the purple power tiles allow someone to just grab them.

[@clumsydad7158]

That's a good point, I hadn't considered the mix of all the options. However, I think there are so many routes that if you focus just on Sultan cards you'll find it drains most your energy/scoring potential and is a bit of a wild goose chase.

[@koriakin]

Love playing with both expansions! So many possibilities! Today I lost to my GF even tho I had 4 of FAB city tiles, so I think it is balanced.

[@PierreCarette]

cards are put on the boards face up

[@clumsydad7158]

i had that question too, i would assume not, but unclear

[@Physiology-E-Paathshala]

Looks like a rushed in expansion...Pretty lame...Artisans expansion is way better...Although that is a little skewed too... The base game can be enjoyed pretty well without expansions