Guide your tribe in its struggles to survive and prosper! Tribes: Early Civilization is a game for 2-4 players experiencing the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze ages in 40 minutes. Players start with a small tribe and the very basics of civilization. During the game, they invent new technologies, explore new land, fend off invaders, and survive catastrophes. The tribe that first emerges as a true civilization wins!

Tribes: Early Civilization is a thematic prequel to Nations, designed by one of the Nations designers. It is a fast 3X game with a twist as each player has their own separate area to explore, expand, and exploit. The other two areas of the game are highly interactive:

- The variable three-tiered technology tree in which the first inventor gets a bonus.
- The actions column in which you take an action every turn and unwanted actions accumulate shells in a closed system.

There are three basic actions tied to your civilization levels: explore, move and grow. The actions column is also where historical events come into play and where the fourth civilization level — strength — is used to gain you bonuses and make bad things happen to your opponents.

Several interlocking systems ensure high replayability without adding overhead or upkeep. For example: in one game shells can feel very scarce and the next abundant despite the exact same amounts being in play.