Root Review - Woodland Warfare

Having recently covered Leder Games' brand new tabletop title, Arcs, and loved it, I wanted to go back and try out another of their games that I had heard great things about but had never covered on the site. So in this article, which is somewhat of a retro review (if you can consider 2018 retro), but still an extremely relevant title, we're stepping away from the space theme of Arcs, and moving into woodland combat with the creatures that dwell there, in our Root review.

As mentioned above, we've also reviewed Leder Games' Arcs, and its expansions, which add an entirely different dynamic to what is already an incredibly interesting game.

How Do You Play Root?

Root has a very interesting concept, and as a long-term player of the Legend of the 5 Rings card game, one I'm very familiar with, in that every player is almost playing a different game. Root has a set of core mechanics for movement and combat, and you all play on the same map, but each of the games' 4 playable factions has different goals and ways of playing, which we'll discuss below in the Factions section.

The game itself follows 3 phases, birdsong, daylight, and evening, with the actions available to each player listed on their faction boards. The most common available actions are moving, recruiting warriors, and battling. When you battle, the player whose turn it is picks a clearing on the map where they have warriors and rolls 2 dice. The higher number rolled is the number of hits the attacker does, and the lower number is the amount your opponent does, but you can't deal more hits than you have warriors in that area.

The dice used are custom dice, with 12 sides, but with only the numbers 0 to 3. This means that although you're controlling the battle and do have an advantage that you get the higher dice, it's still likely that you could roll the same number on both dice. The control comes from picking battles where your opponent will be limited on the damage they can do back with the number of troops they have.

The game is won by the player who collects 30 victory points, but as you draw cards into your hand during the turn, you can also use a dominance card that replaces your victory point win with an objective, like controlling 3 clearings with a suit matching the dominance card you played.

Does Root Have Different Factions?

Root has 4 different factions in the core box, each with its own unique style of play.

• Marquise de Cat - The Cat is the most straightforward faction to play, building and attacking in a show of might. They have a keep that protects the clearing it is placed in and can discard cards from their hand to return defeated warriors to their keep.
• Eyrie Dynasties - The birds are slightly more complicated than the cat. Each turn they place a card in an area known as The Decree, which has spaces for Recruit, Move, Battle, and Build. For each card that is placed there, you must complete an action in a clearing matching the suit of that card. This means that with each turn, the birds get an increasing number of actions. If at any point they can't complete an action, they fall into Turmoil, which loses them victory points, resets the degree board, and gives them a new leader, where they start building up cards again. It takes some planning, and your opponents are always working against you to block your decree.
• Woodland Alliance - This band of resistance fighting rebels are my favorite to play, they take a guerrilla war to the Marquise and Dynasties. Each turn they gain supporter cards which they can spend to spread sympathy tokens to clearings, which they can then cause revolts in. If an opposing player moves into a clearing with a sympathy token or removes one, they have to give you a card from their hand which goes into your supporters pool.
• Vagabond - The Vagabond is the most unique, in that the player controls a single game piece, which moves around, completing quests, and gaining victory points for improving relationships with the other factions or removing pieces from those hostile to them. The Vagabond is the most fun in a 4-player game, any less, and they tend not to be able to do many of their tricks, especially in 2-player games where your opponent is actively working against you.

How Long Does It Take To Learn To Play Root?

The core Root box comes with 3 rulebooks, the first is a straightforward walkthrough of the start of a game, for players who learn by doing, then there's a quick-start guide to get the core rules across and get you playing, and finally, there's a full rules reference, that also includes sections on some of the Root expansions. To learn the core mechanics, whichever way you choose to learn, is pretty quick, and not particularly complicated. What takes time, is learning the different factions, and it's not a simple matter of just learning yours, it's about learning the factions you will be playing against, especially as the Alliance and Vagabond.

The learning curve for Root then becomes about playing multiple games with each faction, and with varying player numbers with different factions in use to learn how best to use them. Most players aren't going to want to main the same tabletop board game to gain that experience While it can be played casually, you'll find that the player with the most experience has a huge advantage over the other players.

Root is at its best with 4 experienced players. It's a lot of fun learning the game to get to that point, but then it really shines when 4 players who know what it's about take to the woodland to battle it out.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Root?

Root is a truly incredible game, but most players won't want the time buy-in required to get to the point where it's at its peak. It's fun learning the different factions, and it can create some truly memorable moments with very satisfying experiences. But to get there you will need 4 players who've played 2 or 3 games with each faction. At lower player counts, it's fun experimenting with the different faction game combinations, but you can really feel the difference at 4 players.

Should I Buy Root?

Don't be fooled by the cutesy artwork Root uses, there's a fairly deep strategic game hidden behind the theme, and it becomes apparent when you first play. It does require some buy-in time-wise to get into the strategy (even though the rules are quick to learn), so might not suit a group who just want a quick pick-up-play game as it's at its best with 4 experienced players who don't mind playing with different styles, rather than an asymmetric strategy game.

The copy of Root used to produce this review was provided by Asmodee UK.