Tribe Slot Review
Deep orange cloud streaks a glowing horizon, dark hills rise on either side and golden grass catches the last of the light. Against that sunset, Tribe quietly returns 98.06% of every pound wagered, several points clear of what almost any modern slot offers. That figure on a plain 5×3 grid with nine paylines is the whole argument of this game: Endorphina have skipped elaborate feature stacks entirely, betting the return alone carries it, closer in spirit to Mystery Of Eldorado and Ancient Troy than to anything gimmicky.
Whether one open-ended free-games round and a card gamble can hold a session together, on a game that pays most of its generosity back as slow base-game returns, is the question. The sunset, at least, is doing its bit.
Reels, Lines and the Paytable
Tribe pays across nine lines on a 5×3 grid, with matching combinations counted from the left-hand reel. The characters fill the top of the paytable: a blue-tinted elder with a spear and a red-haired woman lead the way, followed by a tattooed warrior, a young man in a teal feathered headdress and a woman in a green headband.
Below them, the low-paying rung is a set of carved pendants: a gold and a green koru, then a blue dolphin, a red bird, a brown octopus and a white manta. It’s a coherent, coastal set of symbols that fits the village artwork around them. Payouts below are multiples of the total bet:
- Elder with spear / red-haired woman: 0.2222x for two, 2.7778x for three, 13.8889x for four, 83.3333x for five
- Tattooed warrior with headdress: 2.2222x, 11.1111x, 27.7778x, 44.4444x for three to five
- Teal headdress man / green headband woman: 1.6667x, 8.3333x, 27.7778x for three to five
- Gold koru pendant / green koru pendant: 1.1111x, 5.5556x, 13.8889x for three to five
- Blue dolphin, red bird and brown octopus pendants: 0.5556x, 2.7778x, 11.1111x for three to five
- White manta pendant: 0.2222x for two, then 0.5556x, 2.7778x, 11.1111x for three to five
- Wild (carved canoe with warriors): 1.1111x for two, 27.7778x for three, 277.7778x for four, 1,000x for five
- Scatter (carved mask with blue gem): 2x for two, 5x for three, 20x for four, 500x for five
The wild is a carved canoe crewed by warriors, and it substitutes for every symbol except the scatter and the two suns. Any win it helps to complete is doubled, and it also sits at the very top of the paytable as the richest symbol on the board.
Unlimited Free Games with x3 Multiplier
Three or more scatter masks trigger the free games, and this is where Tribe’s one genuine twist lives. The round doesn’t hand you a fixed number of spins; it runs for as long as the blue sun counter above the reels stays alive, and every win during the feature is tripled.
How the Sun Counter Works
The feature starts with three blue sun amulets on the counter. Two special symbols arrive at random during the free games, and each pays 2x the total bet when it lands:
- Green sun: adds one amulet to the counter, extending the round
- Red sun: burns one amulet away, bringing the end closer
The round runs until the counter is empty, so green suns are the only thing standing between you and the exit. Neither symbol can be replaced by the wild, and neither counts towards a scatter trigger.
The wild’s doubling still applies on top of the x3 multiplier, so a wild-assisted win during free games pays six times its normal value. Free games run at the same bet and lines as the spin that triggered them, and the feature can’t be won again from inside it. One triggered round, kept alive or killed by whichever sun happens to fall.
Risk Game (Gamble)
Endorphina’s house card gamble sits alongside the free games. After a win, you can choose one of four face-down cards against the Dealer’s. Beat the Dealer and your win doubles, and you can run the ladder again, up to ten attempts in total. Lose any round and the whole banked amount goes with it.
The odds swing hard with the Dealer’s card. Against the lowest Dealer cards the round returns more than your stake on average; against a 6, 7 or 8 it’s dead even; and against the picture cards it falls away steeply, worst of all against an Ace, where the return drops to well under half your stake.
A few working rules shape the round. The Joker beats every other card, and the Dealer can never hold one. Picking a card that matches the Dealer’s value is a draw: your winnings stand and you get another go. Cards can reappear from round to round, and the deal isn’t evenly distributed across the deck.
Averaged across every card, the gamble returns 84%, so pressing TAKE WIN against a strong Dealer card is the only statistically sound habit. The ten-attempt ceiling means a hot run can compound a modest win several times over before you have to stop.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
This is a slow evening around a fire, not a festival. Almost everything you’ll do here is spin nine lines and wait for masks, and the pendant symbols do blur into one another while you wait. What makes the waiting worth it is that the maths is on your side: the returns drip back at an exceptional rate, and when the free games finally arrive, the sun counter gives an open-ended round a push-your-luck shape a fixed spin count never could.
The strength is what sits under the hood. A 1,000x wild line on a nine-line game is a real ceiling, the wild’s doubling stacks with the x3 multiplier, and the gamble publishes its own card-by-card odds, which is rarer and more honest than most. The weakness is that there’s only one feature, and it can die in three spins flat if the red suns come early; between features, the base game has nothing up its sleeve but the canoe.
It’s a game for players who value return and patience over spectacle, old-school line slots with one strong bonus and a gamble worth reading. Anyone chasing constant features will be bored before the first sunset fades.
Tribe FAQs
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What is the RTP of Tribe?
Tribe’s RTP is 98.06%, well above the online slot average. The Risk Game gamble round carries its own separate return of 84% if you take the risk every time. -
How do the free games in Tribe work?
Three or more scatter masks trigger Unlimited Free Games with x3 Multiplier. The round starts with three blue sun amulets and continues while at least one remains. Green suns add a blue sun, red suns burn one away, and all wins during the feature are tripled. -
Can the free games retrigger in Tribe?
No. Free Games are played with the same bets and lines as the triggering spin and cannot be won again during the feature. The only way to extend the round is landing green suns to add blue sun amulets to the counter. -
What does the wild do in Tribe?
The wild is a carved canoe that substitutes for all symbols except the scatter, the green sun and the red sun. Any win containing one or more wilds is doubled, which stacks with the x3 multiplier during free games. Five wilds pay 1,000x the total bet. -
How many paylines does Tribe have?
Tribe has nine paylines, running left to right across a 5×3 grid. -
Is the Risk Game in Tribe worth playing?
It depends on the Dealer’s card. Your return is favourable against a low Dealer card and clearly poor against a high one, averaging 84% overall. Doubling up is best saved for weak Dealer cards, and TAKE WIN is the sound choice against anything strong. -
When is Tribe released?
Tribe’s release date is 19 March 2018. -
Who makes Tribe?
Tribe is made by Endorphina, a studio known for straightforward, math-led slots with simple feature sets and a card gamble attached to most of its releases.
