ROOT: War Games Made Cute

Hello! ROOT is a board game that has consumed me since I started playing it roughly three months ago, and I've immediately dropped a lot of money on it. I think more people should try this bad boy out, so here's a video talking about its mechanics, why I think it's fun, and why I think everyone should try it!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:16 War Games
04:01 The Setting
06:16 General Mechanic & Movement
07:41 Combat - Offense
08:34 Cards
10:06 Combat - Defense
11:40 Points & Items
12:35 Dominance
14:07 Playing ROOT
17:22 Start of Faction Overview
18:02 Base Game Factions
20:30 How to Balance the Factions
22:42 The Riverfolk Factions
24:04 The Underworld Factions
25:11 The Marauder Factions
26:57 Why I Like ROOT
28:08 Conclusion

Videos Mentioned:

[hanstporter]

Dude... thank you, I bought this board game but never played it because im too dumb.

[lucashira]

I've had some hilarious games with the River Folk were present. The player in question used their resources to build an army and just marched it into the heart of one of the militants, letting anyone put the clearing to the torch for the right price, or forcing the owner to pay out the wazoo to march them out of there.

[matt-tiyw]

This bord-game's aesthetic gives me heavy Redwall vibes, and seeing one of the cards/units be called "Forrmole" made me smile.

[austinvanhaitsma]

Imagine my delight this morning when I wake up and find that the most creative channel I'm following takes a left turn and drops a video about one of my favorite board games. Thank you for this!

[littlemormonboy]

Man, I am so glad I found your channel a few months ago. You are one of if not the greatest reviewer of games I have ever watched. Your content is always top notch, deeply intriguing, and rather funny with your random bits of personality you like to throw in. It's amazing to listen to someone that's just passionate about things.

[jjkthebest]

In my experience, lizards are a very easy way to get really close to completing a domination victory before being ganged up on and finishing last.

[chesscakee]

Finally, someone talking about one of the best board games I've ever played. It's kind of rare to find someone talk about root outside of a strategy guide.

[radamantoor]

One of my absolute favorite board games. It's awesome to see it get some attention from a channel that isn't mainly board game related!

[fyrfn]

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE HEARD SOMEONE ELSE TALK ABOUT THIS GAME ITS SO GOOD

[FBracht]

I've been playing videogames since 1989, and obsessing over game design since at least 2005. I always liked board games, but only got more into them around 2 years ago. When I discovered Root, I don't know what happened, but it was like seeing a kind of light I had never seen before.

I bought the digital version on Steam on a whim during a sale. I recalled having heard that it was a fantastic board game, but really hard to learn and get to the table, so I ruled out buying it physically — however, I still wanted to learn about it, and I had also heard the tutorials in the digital version were really good, so I gave it a go.

Not 15 minutes after, I had the Law of Root PDF loaded on my phone, and I was reading it and thinking "this is the best game design I have ever seen".

And I still think it is.

It's kinda silly to compare apples to oranges like this, but if someone put a gun to my head I had to answer whether Root is a better design than Breath of the Wild, I'd say "yes" and also "please don't shoot me".

There's something you touched upon very briefly in your video, but I think is really key to how good this game is: the thematic coherence of its rules and mechanics. What I mean is, like, when you teach the game, you always have to tell people that the river isn't a path, you can't move through the river. But if someone is playing with the Riverfolk Company, you need to teach the exception to that, which is that the Riverfolk not only *can* move through the river, but they can *always* move through the river, regardless of who has a majority on the clearings they're moving to and from. In writing, this seems like a pain to learn, to remember, to teach, and to remind people during the game. But it makes sense with the theme! The Riverfolk Company are otters, the only aquatic species in the game! If you think about the theme, 99% of the rules will just make sense, which makes them a joy to teach and cinch to remember.

Another lovely example of this is the rule of Martial Law: to make a clearing sympathetic to your faction as the Woodland Alliance, you have to spend supporters from that suit, right? Well, the Martial Law says you need to spend one extra supporter if the clearing in question has at least 3 warriors from an enemy faction. This rule is a bitch to remember because at first it seems to arbitrary! But it just makes sense when you think that you're trying to get sympathy to your cause from the citizens of a clearing that is currently being ruled by a different political power. Of course it's going to take more effort! And 3 is easy to remember, because it's the magic number of warriors someone needs to have on a clearing in order to be able to deal all rolled hits from the dice in battle.

Anyway, there are certainly dozens of other examples I could give.

This game is a masterpiece of game design (for other reasons, as well, of course). Its rule book was a more fascinating read to me than many novels.

Here's hoping we'll play together at some point on digital! And please consider joining the official Leder Games Woodland Warriors Discord, where people are always playing together and having fun.

Cheers!

[LordoftheBoard]

Yoooo I was just watching this because I love seeing new perspectives of this game and boy oh boy did you just make my day!

Thank you for the shoutout and what a wonderful video. Let me know if you want to start up an async game of digital root sometime!

[fletcherkeel]

I want to thank you so much. You introduced me to this game, and now i own every single expansion. I"m hooked

[MLeleven]

I just bought this on the Switch a couple weeks ago, so this video came out at the perfect time! Enjoy your content!

[spoonsweet]

Thank you for such an amazing video, full of personality love and passion. I was laughing along your jokes, and related to the situations you've described regarding board game acquisition and friends commitment to play. I'll guess I have to indoctrinate them by sharing this well-crafted video. Amazing work again!🎉

[okamiv]

Its such a visually fun and intriguing game, everyone ive introduced to it cant get enough

[scottylightheart]

OMG THANK YOU i love this game so much i’m so glad you’re spreading the good word

[zxzxth]

This game truly deserves more love and attention. As does your channel

[vfanon]

I bought the digital version of Root a couple years ago but never had a chance to really get into it- really hope this video makes sure the online multiplayer is populated

[colesrootchannel]

This is an excellent video, thank you for putting Root in the spotlight!

[viklore]

In all honesty this game is pretty hard for beginners, but this can be said about any wargame.