The problem with gods is they never give a clear indication of what it is they want. Good times and clear skies with just the right amount of rain? The gods are happy and all is at it should be. Storms tear through and decimate the settlement? The gods are angry at… something. Could be anything, really. In the case of the builder his tribe decided that the things he was creating had to be the cause, so they promptly exiled him to a faraway island. The small tribe living there took him in on the condition he gets to work, and seeing as his skill is throwing things together it’s not long before his new home starts getting a bit more lively.
Tribe: Primitive Builder is a first-person building/crafting/tribe-management game that’s got an open playtest through the end of the month, and there’s at least a couple good hours of low-impact but satisfyingly enjoyable gaming inside. Because you start with basically nothing the tribe elder gives you a place to sleep and a bit of food to get your bearings, and once situated it’s time to start working. Snag a few rocks, craft a basic knife, cut some vines, gather sticks, make a spear, etc. The nearby river provides fish and its water is pure, so food and drink aren’t much of a problem, but a workshop means you can stop crashing on the elder’s couch and make the new island a much nicer home. It’s only the first of many buildings to come, each with its own specific purpose.
Building isn’t freeform but rather from a blueprint, and you can stick the list of needed resources on the sidebar to avoid having to go scavenging in the middle of things. Drop a building in an appropriate spot, then hold down the E key and sweep the indicators to slot wood, bamboo, grass, and leaves into place. It’s pretty simple but the building is by no means the focus of the game but rather something you do with the resources, and villager management plus automation come along as new building types get unlocked. The fisherman’s hut provides raw food, the cooking hut makes it edible, the village already had a storage area, and a few couriers run resources between the buildings. There’s a fair amount of different types of buildings to construct and more work to be done than people to do it, but a friendly scout marks points of interest on the map where new refugees can be recruited. While none of it is particularly challenging and dying, at least in the current version, would require serious effort, Tribe’s world is an interesting place to walk around in and building up the village into a busy, functioning unit is nicely satisfying.
The Tribe: Primitive Builder open playtest is currently live and running until August 31on Steam. The mini-trailer below lists the latest updates for the current version but the best way to see it is to get playing. It’s a surprisingly nice way to while away an afternoon or two, depending on how far up the tech tree you decide to explore.
