In Ethnos; players call upon the support of giants; merfolk; halflings; minotaurs; and other fantasy tribes to help them gain control of the land. After three ages of play; whoever has collected the most glory wins!
In more detail; the land of Ethnos contains twelve tribes of fantasy creatures; and in each game you choose six of them (five in a 2/3-player game); then create a deck with only the creatures in those tribes. The cards come in six colors; which match the six regions of Ethnos. Place three glory tokens in each region at random; arranging them from low to high.
Each player starts the game with one card in hand; then 4-12 cards (double the number of players) are placed face up on the table. On a turn; a player either recruits an ally or plays a band of allies. In the former case; you take a face-up card (without replacing it from the deck) or the top card of the deck and add it to your hand. In the latter case; you choose a set of cards in your hand that match either in tribe or in color; play them in front of you on the table; then discard all other cards in hand. You then place one token in the region that matches the color of the top card just played; and you use the power of the tribe member on the top card just played.
At the end of the first age; whoever has the most tokens in a region scores the glory shown on the first token. After the second age; the players with the most and second most tokens score glory equal to the values shown on the first and second tokens respectively. Players score similarly after the third age; then whoever has the most glory wins. (Games with two and three players last only two ages.)