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The purpose of 3 tribes is to stress tribes and reduce the likelihood of Pagonging (the systematic elimination of the minority at the merge) without having to resort to a random pre-merge swap which creates too much chaos and can punish players who have essentially been winning the game up until the swap. But without a swap, the risk of a boring Pagonging is high. Other devices for stressing a tribe's allegiances at the merge are problematic - loading tribes up with stupid people ... having them spend time together in pairs in Exile or on Rewards ...

A second advantage of 3 tribes is that it allows 18 in an even M-F distribution per tribe. 18 is also enough to have a Final 3 and absorb a quit or medevac or two without having to go 20 and having too many to keep track of. 3 tribes of 6 also allows for a return of some generational balance with each tribe having something like 2 < 28, 2 28 - 39s, and 2 40 and overs - one gender in each group.

A problem with a 3x6 early game is you can have a tribe lose the first 3 ICs and enter E4 with only 3. At that point, the Challenges get asysmetric and problematic. Any 3 tribe game is probably going to have to collapse the tribes down to 2 tribes either E4 or E5. But if you're merging at 12 (which I like), then you will have accomplished the goal of creating an interest set of tribal loyalties at the merge - a 3 way game plus a couple of players mixed into new tribes after their tribe gets eliminated for reaching 4? first.

A second problem with 3 tribes is airtime, you've got three stories to tell rather than two. This can get partially solved in two ways. One is to combine the early RC/ICs. Three tribes does this well, in that 1st place gets Reward + Immunity, 2nd gets Immunity and 3rd gets a trip to TC. You can also have 2-staged RC/ICs where lots of game theory gets introducted. For example, Stage 1 is for Reward and Immunity and uses most of your players. Stage 2 is just for Immunity (or Immunity and say half the Reward value) between the tribes finishing 2nd and 3rd in Stage 1. Depending on your tribe's attributes, you may want to play your strongest in Stage 2, and minimize the worst case, rather than maximize the best case.

There are three other Twists I like for 3 Tribe Games (any comnination or all):

ASSASSIN
Assassin replaces the Hidden II which in my opinion has long ago played out as a device. First its not very effective at anti-Pagonging, and second its been as much of a curse as an advantage. 3rd its been too randomly attainable. In "Assassin" after losing your first IC, your tribe stays behind. Each tribemember then draws the name of one of their tribe members. If they vote for that person at the TC at which they are eliminated that Survivor gets an Assassin's Immunity at the next TC they attend (revealed after votes are cast but before they are read). Tremendous intra-tribal stress is created which continues post-merge. In a 3 tribe game it also makes Pagonging the new arrivals into a tribe at the collapse from 3 to 2 more interesting and from the 3 to 2 tribe collapse through the merged game, there is pressure to vote off people from alternating original tribes.

INDIVIDUAL POSSESSIONS
The initial RC is played for order, males and females fininishing in two queues - tribal coloras are handed out - and then starting with the women 8 items are selected in order of finish - flint, pot w/ rice, tarp, raft, fishing gear, michetes (2), canteens (4), rope 100 feet. The last place finisher gets nothing. The men then select from an identical set of items. These possessions are personal up through the merge, if you are eliminated they go with you. They can't be stolen. And they can only be used with your permission. Tribes also earn points - towards Camp Selection.

DIFFERENTIATED CAMPS
If the game opens with the individual RC and points are won by individuals, you can also have them vote (perhaps prior to communicating with the rest of their tribe) for Camp 1 - Best Resources, Camp 2 - Average Resources adjacent to Camp 3, Camp 3 limited Resources adjacent to Camp 2. There can be a Commons shared by 2 and 3 with limited resources not at either camp. After the collapse from 3 to 2 tribes, camp 3 would be abondonded. But it allows airtime in E1-E4 to be used more efficiently in telling the story of Tribes 2 and 3.

Cheers
7o62x39