In Ethnos, you and your friends dive into a fantasy world where ancient tribes of magical creatures have scattered across the six leaderless kingdoms. Your mission is simple (but not quite!): recruit allies from diverse tribes, form powerful bands, and conquer control of these regions over three intense ages. Whoever accumulates the most glory at the end takes the crown!

At the start of each game, six of Ethnos's twelve fantastic tribes are selected (five in 2 or 3-player games), creating a unique deck with these creatures. The cards come in six colors, each linked to one of the six regions on the map. On each turn, you have a crucial choice: either recruit a new ally to your hand, taking an face-up card from the table or the top card of the deck, or play a band of allies. When playing a band, you choose cards from your hand that match either in tribe or color, discard the rest, and then place one of your tokens in the region corresponding to the color of your band's leader card. Each tribe has a special ability that is activated by the leader of the played band, adding a strategic layer to your choices. At the end of each age, players with the most tokens in each region score points, and after the third age (or second, in games with fewer players), the new ruler of Ethnos is crowned!