Tribal Wars

What it is

Tribal Wars is InnoGames’ long-running browser strategy game set in the Middle Ages. Its front page sums it up in one sentence: every player controls a small village, striving for power and glory. Apps for Android and iOS are linked from the same page, but in a browser there is nothing to install.

Worlds are numbered and run side by side. When we checked, the front page was congratulating the winners of world 155 and of a High Performance round, and the menu points to speed rounds, per-world settings and a Hall of Fame. That matters to newcomers: each world has its own settings sheet, so two worlds that look alike can play quite differently.

How a reign unfolds

The economy is deliberately simple. A timber camp cuts wood, a clay pit digs clay, an iron mine produces iron — and, as the official wiki notes, they keep producing while you are logged out. Your warehouse caps what you can store, a hiding place keeps part of it safe from raiders, and a wall makes every attacker pay more. InnoGames counts more than 15 kinds of buildings and up to nine unit types, from spear fighters to heavy cavalry.

Growth comes two ways: plunder, and taking villages. The map is dotted with barbarian villages that are fair game for raids, alongside other players’ villages, which are less fair and more tempting. To take a village outright you need a nobleman, and the wiki’s advice to latecomers is blunt: do not rush your first nobleman while your own village is defenceless, because a half-prepared village is exactly what bigger players like to take.

Then there are tribes, which give the game its name. You can join or found one, share intelligence, send support troops and plan operations together. How a world ends depends on its settings: some use Secrets of Power, where a tribe must hold a full set of secrets through a countdown; some use dominance of the map; some use point or village targets; and the Age of Enlightenment asks a tribe to take a University village and build it to completion. The world info page tells you which applies before you join.

The clock it asks for

Tribal Wars runs in real time and rewards attention. Raids return, attacks need answering, and good timing wins fights. Because resources keep flowing while you are away, one or two sessions a day can work in a quiet corner of a slow world — but expect more pressure as your neighbours grow.

Account sitting lets a trusted player watch your villages while you are away, and most committed players rely on it. Speed rounds are the opposite of relaxing: short, dense, and best treated as an event you clear your diary for.

How it pays its way

InnoGames states that Tribal Wars is free to play without restrictions and that players may choose to make in-game purchases. Purchases come as premium points. Their main use is the premium account, activated per world for 3, 7, 14 or 30 days, which adds a longer building queue, a larger map, extra overviews and a quick bar. On larger accounts you can add the Account Manager, which automates construction, trade routes and recruitment, and the Farm Assistant, which streamlines raids on barbarian villages.

None of this conjures armies out of thin air, but in a game this busy, saved minutes add up. Our view: try a world without paying first; if you do buy, the premium account is the item with the clearest value.

Who it suits

Strengths and faults