Root Review - A Love Story With Ups & Downs

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Root is a game of adventure and war in which 2 to 4 (1 to 6 with the 'Riverfolk' expansion) players battle for control of a vast wilderness.

The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats. In this effort, the Alliance may enlist the help of the wandering Vagabonds who are able to move through the more dangerous woodland paths. Though some may sympathize with the Alliance’s hopes and dreams, these wanderers are old enough to remember the great birds of prey who once controlled the woods.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the region, the proud, squabbling Eyrie have found a new commander who they hope will lead their faction to resume their ancient birthright. The stage is set for a contest that will decide the fate of the great woodland. It is up to the players to decide which group will ultimately take root.

TimeStamps:
0:00:00 - Overview
0:04:30 - I Loved It
0:05:00 - And Then I Didn't
0:05:20 - The Problem With The Teach
0:05:45 - It's A Homework Assignment
0:07:40 - I Respected It, But Not For Me
0:09:02 - Then Covid Happened
0:11:05 - I Got A Second Chance With Root
0:19:08 - Final Thoughts
0:20:25 - Recommendations

5.0 - My absolutely favorite games. You can pry them out of my cold dead hands.
4.5 - Love this game! At the same time missing something that would make it a 5. Could be hard to table, lacking variability, a little light, etc.
4.0 - Really great game, almost always keeping, although has meaningful complaints as to what takes away from the experience.
3.5 - Really enjoyed, don't love it, may lose out to better games but the idea of never playing again is a bit sad.
3.0 - A good game, would play and suggest with the right people, if I never played it again wouldn't lose any sleep.
2.5 - A game I'd play again , but will never suggest it myself
2.0 - A game I don't want to play again
1.5 - A game I can't find any reason to recommend
1.0 - A game that is just bad.

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[VakuAdikaia]

I think the best way to teach Root is to teach all of the common rules and give a basic overview of each faction, including details to the difficulty of each faction.
Past that, I encourage the players to read over their chosen faction and clarify any confusing points and encourage questions.
I have had great experiences and feedback with teaching plays for Root.

Of course, the biggest caveat is that most players I’ve played with would not consider themselves hyper competitive.

[robertaustin]

On any given day I could say Root is my favorite game of all time. It most certainly isn’t a game for everyone because of a hundred different reasons previously discussed but man, it hits all the right notes for me and my group. I can’t ever seeing it leaving my collection.

[Kool]

Root sits on my shelf barely played because I never have a consistent group. I don't have a place that can host, I'm just the traveling board game guy.

[Nayr]

I've actually also compared Spirit Island to Root lol. I came into Spirit Island first then finally got into Root and thought "Root feels like the competitive Spirit Island" haha. I think I've come to appreciate Root more, esp now that it has things that fine-tune the experience (more faction variety, hirelings for lower player count games, and advanced setup for balance changes to factions).

[JosephDeRubeis]

I'm glad you came back around to loving this game. I've yet to formally rank my games, but I'm pretty sure Root would be #1 for me. Your critiques are all valid, I believe, but it just provides such an amazing and unique experience that no other game quite can (especially with the variability of the expansion factions). Additionally, I've found that (with my game group at least) it often unintentionally leads to a fulfilling and engaging emergent narrative, powered by the juxtaposition of the adorable theme with the gritty warlike nature of the game mechanics/interactions. It's just a masterpiece!

[matthewfishgold]

Thanks for the video. Been on the fence. Going to get this now. L'chaim.

[pogdog]

Now we just need Alex to dive into the COIN series after enjoying Root so much! :)

[ericdoane]

Thanks for the honest review. I love this game, and think it's a great example of a game that shows how approachable this hobby really can be. I have been able to bring people to the table for this game purely on its looks and style. And despite the significant learning curve, I have yet to have a single person walk away from this game unwilling to give it another go. Granted I love teaching games, but root has so much to offer on multiple fronts that I've found it easier to get in front of people who don't typically play anything this competitive or complex.

Thanks again, and keep the great content coming!

[ingridboswell]

I have this game on my “shelf if shame” as i haven’t talked anyone into playing with me, but this review makes me want to move it up the list and play sooner then later.

[nitrorev]

Root is definitely not an accessible game. It's the product of this golden age of board games that we live in today. There are so many games that are brilliant and accessible that there's space on the market for a more complex game that has a higher barrier of entry and rewards players with a more rich experience for crossing that barrier. I'm not going to say Root is easy to teach or learn because it isn't, but what I will say is that the core rules are very clean and intuitive, learning the factions feels like a neat and tidy extension of the core system.

As for the year down the leader problem, that's just different strokes for different folks. What I hate more than anything in a game is a lack of agency or control over my destiny. If I can see plain as day that an enemy is going to win and there's nothing I can do to stop them, why even continue the next 20-45 minutes of the game when the ending is set in stone. Tear down the leader is a result of the game giving its players agency to affect the board and balance the game using their own judgment. Newer players will make mistakes like overextending, leaving themselves exposed, policing the wrong player, accidental kingmaking, etc. The point of the game is to learn from those mistakes and sharpen your threat assessment and tactical skills for next time. Playing with brand new players can feel like a chore and it does lead to more swingy or predictable outcomes. But when you have 4 skilled and competitive players who all know the game very well and are able to use every tool that the game presents to maintain competitive balance, strike deals and extend the game long enough to squeeze out 1 more turn to push for the win, then Root reveals itself as the greatest game of all time.

[BoardGamePix]

A really well thought out review which resonated with me. Tough to play, tough to teach, tough on the leader. Looking forward to my next play!

[rockerboy]

Hello, Alex. Thank you for always offering a very honest opinion and experience.

Now, I'd LOVE to know about your house rules for Root, please.

Thanks!

[lukejw]

I find that Hirelings work really well for 3 players. However, at 2 players, we find that Clockwork Factions are better, as the Hirelings feel swingy as they quickly swap back and forward between the two players.

[patattaq]

As far as accessibility is concerned… there is an apparently phenomenal app for Root. Tom Vasel has a great review and has named it his favorite app adaptation of all time. He mentioned it being great for learning the rules and intricacies of the game for new players.

I’ve yet to play it but I know it’ll be my jumping off point for Root when I purchase an iPad in the coming weeks.

[tripleaaaa]

My one complaint about Root is the vagabond. I love the idea, but I just don't find the vagabond fun in comparison to the other factions. The lord of the hundreds kind of resolves this by adding a new way to interact with the ruins which I'm super happy about.

[george]

Root is probably my favorite game. I wish there was an easier way to intergrate and teach new players, but when it does hit the table it's amazing every time.

[anablic]

The bash the leader issue is, unfortunately, what eventually drags down all of these higher player count wargame/area control games for me.. I say eventually, because you can usually get a few plays out of the game before the board state is obvious as to who's clearly running away into the lead, with no opportunity to recover individually by the other players, unless alliances are forged. So with enough plays, it just devolves into a game that's more about politics and negotiating than it is winning through clever strategic and tactical plays. This is why the cream of the crop when it comes to wargames are the 1 vs 1 head to head games... that poses far more replay ability with the creative tactics/strategy's and counter tactics/strategy's that develop through multiple play sessions. Its why the bulk of my collection are games that play well at two as I find them to be a true battle of wits, one that my mind seems to crave, much more depth to explore, a higher degree of unique intellectual puzzles to solve, providing you have the right opponent.

[sebastians.]

Reminds me of Terra Mystica. I have played hundreds of games of Terra Mystica online competitively and it really only makes sense to play it once you know all factions and understand how the factions interact in various setups.

[saiksaikatai]

Let me help you:
You don't grasp the asymmetric genre to its fullest. It is pure logic that the disparites amongst factions make some factions or a specific one the best at taking down other factions or a specific other one.
If this had to be watered down so players don't feel that homework effect it will mean to provide more similar pros and cons to all factions that will contraditct the assymetric vision.

[mojojojo]

Great review. Really like your work and your channel.
I've been hesitating to buy this game for a long time and still hesitate.
Would you recommend to try pax Pamir before ? Is it more accessible ?