It’s no secret that I enjoy casual simulation-style games. Add a good story to that, and I’m pretty much sold.

Tribe: Primitive Builder, by Space Boat Studios, starts out with you being exiled from your tribe and you wash up on an island of other exiles. Then you start learning how to survive. The problem is that the volcano is getting temperamental and threatening the lives of everyone there. We need to pull this tribe of misfits into a true tribe that can work and thrive together.

When you start out, you are sent to find the Elder. He ensures you get everything you need to get your hut set up and a good night's sleep. This is the tutorial stage, which is great because it really walks you through as you are going along and it is informative. You learn as you do, which is my favorite way to learn. 

Next thing you know, you are tasked with helping to rebuild and bring everyone together. You build yourself a hut so you can craft and sleep, then get right into checking in with the Elder about what comes next. You have to gather supplies, hunt, and then start providing food and tools for the other tribe members and workers. Your tribe starts to grow, so you need more huts, whether they are for gathering food or places for new exiles to sleep. The building process itself is pretty cool. It is similar to other building styles; you need to have the materials and then you can just build your building as it directs you. Easy peasy!

Just Keep Building...

The graphics in this game are great! You can see some of the attention given to even the wood grain and bamboo in the building. I especially love the detail that went into the water with its different types of fish, landscaping, and all the details of trees and plants, and even the animals that are running around all over. You can go up to the top of an area, and the scenery is pretty impressive I have to say.

I honestly really appreciated the UI in Tribe as well. The menus are laid out nicely, and categorized in a way that makes things easy to find. The controls make sense, and I really don’t think it would be difficult for anyone to catch on rather quickly. There were a couple of times when I did quests that were introducing new features, but I had already figured it out because it was that intuitive. I like that I don’t need an advanced degree in building/crafting/sim games in order to figure it out without a detailed walk-through.

I do wish that there was a sort button for the inventory because if there is one, I didn't find it. I felt like I was reorganizing things more than I needed to, but I couldn't just leave my pockets an unorganized mess...smh. Other than the sorting though, I liked the way you were able to move items, and how easy it was to know what huts needed which supplies. You could also check the status of the huts without actually walking to each one, which was awesome.

All the info and stuffs...

The biggest complaint I saw that others had for this game was all the walking back and forth...I didn't see this as an issue. Now keep in mind, I am not terribly far into the game, but I also have not unlocked the altars that allow you to teleport from one place to another. Yes, you check with the Elder regularly, but I built my hut close by, and will probably put another close to the teleporting altars for pure convenience. Plus, going back and forth gave me plenty of opportunity to gather resources along the way and I would wander off and discover new areas as well. Again...not an issue for me, but to each their own.

The characters so far are probably the most uninteresting part of the game. The Elder is who you go to for direction, and then the other tribe members are very limited in their dialogue. I am hoping that as the game progresses, there will be more character interaction as far as building relationships goes. So far my bestie in the game is the scout, who helps me locate new tribe members, but even his dialogue is a little dry thus far.

There is a lot to this game that I haven't gotten to, but I am definitely going to keep playing it. I am enjoying it a lot so far and am curious about the story and all of the features of the game.

I would definitely recommend giving Tribe: Primitive Builder a try, it has yet to disappoint.