Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
In Clans, each player is trying to achieve victory by scoring as many points for their color as they can. This is tricky as each player's color is chosen at random and kept hidden until the end of the game.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Hidden Roles
Players conceal team, loyalty, or identity information from one another.
Enclosure
Surround spaces or pieces to claim territory, capture, or score.
Read the full game description
In Clans, each player is trying to achieve victory by scoring as many points for their color as they can. This is tricky as each player's color is chosen at random and kept hidden until the end of the game. Each of the 12 regions of the board contains five areas, each area containing one of four different terrain types. Each area receives one hut each of five different colors. On their turn, a player moves all huts from one area containing less than seven to an adjacent occupied area, all the while trying to hide which color is theirs. After moving, if one or more areas are completely surrounded by empty areas, they are scored. If all colors are present in a scoring, any colors with only one hut present are removed. The epoch track allows a limited number of areas to score before the game ends, and each scoring can gain a bonus or score nothing depending on the terrain type in which scoring occurred and how far along the track the game has progressed; each scoring advances the track, and each section of the track gives different terrain types bonuses and penalties. Once at least twelve areas have scored the game ends, then players reveal their colors to find out who was best able to score the most points while keeping their color a secret.