Hello aspiring Tribe Leaders,

One of the biggest inspirations for The Tribe Must Survive is the 4X strategy genre and its core elements: Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate. However, we have added our own special spin on how Extermination works within the game. Though the game doesn’t have combat, there are threats that rise from within the Tribe and threaten its existence. In this Dev Blog, we want to tell you a little bit about The Tribe Must Survive’s spin on the tried and true 4X design pillars.

Exploration

As highlighted in our earlier Dev Blog, exploration happens through Journeys launched from the Tribe’s Explorer Platforms. Journeys take a small group of Tribe Members away from the safety of the Camp and into the Outer World. As they uncover the region, they also encounter different challenges and discoveries, presented through Journey Events. Your choices during these Journey Events can either strengthen your Journey or push it one step closer towards failure. Limited resources and the strange dangers that await mean you have to balance what you wish to gain with getting the Journey safely back home.

Expansion

Once enough of an Outer World region has been uncovered, you are able to unlock it and set up an Outpost. This consists of Tribe Members and the limited amount of resources they’re able to carry with them. You might want to set up Outposts not only to gather new resources, but also to manage the tensions within the Tribe.

No single Outer World region will be able to provide you with all types of resources, so the further your Tribe expands, the more resources you’ll have at your disposal.

Exploitation

Establishing an Outpost is only the first step towards benefiting from its riches. To transport necessary resources both into and out of Outposts, you’ll have to manage the trade routes, which transport people and resources. Outposts need people and materials to build themselves up, and the resources they find need to be transported to where they’ll be most useful.

Critical resources used for high-level upgrades, such as Copper and Relics, can only be acquired through Outposts. Also, as the resources of your Camp deplete, you might need Outposts to acquire even the most basic resources, so make sure to set them up before it’s too late.

Extermination

Though we don't have combat in The Tribe Must Survive, there is definitely no lack of conflicts. You don't build armies and go to war, but instead have to fight against the threats rising from within the Tribe.

Many Events of the game will force you to make sacrifices to appease your Tribe Members. Additionally, the growth of the Tribe will give birth to Factions with opposing ideologies. Keeping them at peace with each other will require careful control over the Tribe. The Tribe’s inner sense of unity is represented through Cohesion, which is affected by things such as population and any additional modifiers you might gain throughout your run.

The lower the Cohesion falls, the more likely it’ll be that an Inner Conflict is triggered. During Inner Conflicts, two Factions will turn against each other, and your support will determine the outcome. It is even possible that one Faction and its people will be entirely eradicated.

You can discover the depths of these features and learn more once the game releases. For this, remember to wishlist The Tribe Must Survive on Steam, and click the Follow button on the store page to receive notifications about our announcements.

Feel free to also share your thoughts about the features! You can do it here or on our TTMS Discord server, where we will share more information and you can get directly involved in the discussions.

And remember; whatever it takes... The Tribe Must Survive!