I have never had so many ups and downs with a game as I have with The Tribe Must Survive. Before I hold you in suspense, it went really, really well…eventually. I dove into this game not one but two nights and sat in front of it with literally no idea what I was supposed to do. The Tribe Must Survive does not hold your hand, but once you get into the swing of things, you won’t want to stop playing it over and over and over again.
The first ten minutes or so of The Tribe Must Survive is the tutorial, if you can call it that. It asks you to place a couple of buildings, only vaguely describes why, and then lets you slowly descend into horror with your tribe. I genuinely had no idea what to do. There was no clear way to control your tribe and no clear directive other than “Don’t let it get dark.” I was frustrated and fed up.
Thankfully, there was recently a Steam demo available, so I was able to jump into some YouTube videos to figure out the general purpose of the game. This came down to, first and foremost, survive, with a dash of thrive in there. But even after sorting out the general goal, The Tribe Must Survive still gives you little to no guidance on how to do that, and that is truly part of the thrill. Replaying the game over and over, getting just a little bit better each time.
Something that I can see is going to be paramount in The Tribe Must Survive’s success is their community. They already have a pretty active Discord community, and a few have worked together to start a fan page full of tips. There are some parts to the game that are never quite explained, like how your characters end up with a “Weird Gleam,” and having other players to talk to and bounce ideas off of is going to be vital.
Now, having experienced The Tribe Must Survive—and beat it, by the way—I’m happy to say that I will be continuing to jump back in for the foreseeable future. Essentially, you start as a small tribe of six—or four if you choose The Wealthy Few perks before your playthrough (only after your first playthrough)—and you must grow your tribe while managing all sorts of needs and dangers.
Your main enemy is the dark. Something out there is snatching up people when there isn’t enough daylight or firelight to keep an area well-lit. This instills fear in your tribe, which is another need you need to factor in. Only light can reduce their fear. Your tribe will need to keep enough wood on hand to keep the fire going all night, enough food to keep people fed, and eventually, other materials like stone, ore and medicine to keep your tribe thriving.
The Tribe Must Survive also throws needs like social interaction, sleep and spirituality at you to keep you on your toes. This means that if you don’t have the right balance to keep your tribe happy, people will start going into shock. This means they stop work and essentially sit by the fire and rock back and forth, slowly going insane.
The only thing that can bring them out of shock is more light, which means burning the fire brighter and consuming significantly more wood. While in shock, tribe members won’t work, eat, sleep, socialize or join in any spiritual activities. They can starve here, and you will need to pay close attention when/if they come out of shock to balance their other needs.
Balance is the keyword when playing The Tribe Must Survive. Do you shut down the tents to force tribe members to join in on a ritual? Close the Lumber Camp to force more people to hunt for food? Add more tents to bring in more tribe members? Every choice can have a consequence, and it is up to you to monitor your tribe’s fear and discontent so they don’t go into shock, cause a riot, panic or leave.
“Balance is the keyword when playing The Tribe Must Survive.”
I mentioned a “Weird Gleam” before. Though it was never really explained in game, not that I saw in my many playthroughs, it seems that tribe members will get this trait when their spiritual need has gone unmet for too long. At first, it doesn’t seem like the end of the world. When they should be working or avoiding the dark, sometimes it says they are “being weird” (seriously, that made me laugh out loud) instead of contributing or taking care of themselves.
It is just another ball to juggle in the air. It means if they are assigned to something vital, say they are hunters, and you’re low on food, you might want to swap them out for someone who will always do their job and not disappear to “be weird.” I am here to tell you that as of right now, there is no way to get rid of this trait—maybe the elusive red medicine that is shown in-game but not yet accessible—but you do NOT want to have it in the final act. Trust me.
There are also buffs and debuffs that will change during each playthrough, meaning your tribe could need less sleep and work harder, but have significantly more spiritual needs. There are a few major events in the game that stay true each time. The first is The Eclipse, which is where The Tribe Must Survive will likely wipe you out the first time. It blocks out all the light for several days, meaning you need to keep your fire running. Without enough wood, you will lose tribe members.
Those hard-hitting lessons are how The Tribe Must Survive teaches you to play the game, though, “Everyone died. Now go do it again, and do it better.” And each time, I did do it better. Last night I beat the game, all the way to day 101. “We have survived!” greeted me after many days of Act V: Cataclysm. I made it, and then everything was over.
After over 20 hours into The Tribe Must Survive, there is still so much I have yet to experience. I just got my barrings on exploration and starting new outposts. You can have six, and by day 101 I had barely started one. There are ore mines, copper smelting, and relics, as well as a slew of Journeys you can send your tribe members on. I am not sure if this is all meant to be explored now, up to Act V, or if there is hope for more acts down the road (I hope so!).
“After over 20 hours into The Tribe Must Survive, there is still so much I have yet to experience.”
The Tribe Must Survive is only available on PC and Mac. Normally I am disappointed when games don’t come to console, but honestly, I don’t think that this game is meant for a controller. You need to point and click urgently and often, and cycling through or a controllers slow pan just wouldn’t do the game justice. There are also no cloud saves, so you’re locked where you start playing.
As I said, The Tribe Must Survive was a rollercoaster of frustration, success, and suspense. With its eerie music, simple, yet horrifying animation, playing off of the fear of the dark and multiple world-ending disasters, I was creeped out, fed up, addicted and determined. The sudden ending was a bit disappointing, but because The Tribe Must Survive is heading into early access. I would put money that there is more to be added to this game over time, and I can’t wait to overcome the next set of challenges.
The Tribe Must Survive from Walking Tree Games GmbH is an epic indie, survival, resource management, strategy, tribe-builder, roguelike (phew, that’s a lot) game that will have you pulling your hair out before you dive in for more.
You can find The Tribe Must Survive on Steam, and early access starts tomorrow!
