Tribes
A copy of the original game Dice Wars: a different map, deal and opponent than in Principalities, 2 to 8 players, 7 by default.
Tribes is a copy of the original game Dice Wars from 2006: the map, the deal, the rules and the opponent are taken from its source code.[1] The tile appears after the first finished game and says "The old-school game". The screen lets you choose the number of players (2 to 8, 7 by default), shows the map that Play will start, with a New map button, and your record for each number of players.
The rules
The same as in Principalities: both sides roll all dice, the higher sum wins and a tie goes to the defender; after a win all dice but one move, after a loss one stays; at most 8 dice on a territory; the reinforcements are the number of territories of the largest connected group and are placed at random, the surplus waits in a stock of up to 64 dice. The game ends when one player is left or you are out. Tribes has no round limit and no offer to end on points.
How it differs from Principalities
| Tribes | Principalities | |
|---|---|---|
| Map | 25 to 31 territories, always one big land | 32 to 48 territories, the Field shape |
| Dealing the territories | one by one round the table | at random |
| Who starts | drawn, anybody | a random player |
| Default number of players | 7 | 4 |
| Opponent | one kind, no levels | Normal |
| Offer to end on points | no | after four rounds without an attack |
The map is drawn on a lattice of 28 × 32 small hexagons, and territories grow from a core of 8 cells. The dice are dealt so that every territory gets 1 and a further 2 × (the number of territories) are dealt round the table to random territories that have fewer than 8.
The opponent
There is one opponent, with no levels and no personalities. It attacks where the target has no more dice than the source; with equal dice only with probability 0.9, unless a "leader" is involved; if one player holds more than two fifths of all dice, the attacks must involve that player. Among the legal attacks it picks at random.
Score and achievements
A win pays 79, 85, 88, 92, 94, 96 and 98 points with 2 to 8 players; the other adjustments are as in Principalities. Experience is 0.75 times the score and Golden Dice equal the score. The daily challenge does not count Tribes. It has four chains of achievements of its own (eight steps): the first win, eight tribes, a win with every number of players and a streak (Achievements).
What was measured
Everything is a measurement of AI opponents, people were not measured.[2] The player who starts wins 79.6% of the games in a duel (299 games), 23.4% with 4 players, 9.7% with 7 and 12.7% with 8; the guaranteed first territory of the player gives no advantage. The opponent of the original is about at the Normal level in a duel and weaker with more players: a level-3 AI beat it in 53.0% of the duels and 45.7% of the games with 8 players. A territory has 20.6 cells on average (13.0 in Principalities), and 9.3% of the level-3 games reach the limit of 300 rounds.