Exceptional consensus · 4 organizations

Root

Cole Wehrle · Leder Games · 2018

An asymmetric woodland war game where each faction plays by entirely different rules. The Marquise industrializes, the Eyrie commands through decrees, the Alliance spreads guerrilla sympathy, and the Vagabond roams making deals. Learning one faction is easy — mastering their interactions is the real game.

Players

2–4

Time

90 min

Ages

10+

Difficulty

Heavy

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Why you'll like it

Extraordinary asymmetry — every faction feels different
Charming art hides surprisingly deep warfare
Every game tells a unique emergent story
Excellent with 3-4 dedicated players
Expansion factions add even more variety

How it plays

Root is a war game in a woodland, with four factions that each play completely differently. The Marquise de Cat builds factories and an army, the Eyrie Dynasties follow a strict program of orders that grows each turn, the Woodland Alliance spreads sympathy and sparks revolts, and the Vagabond roams alone, trading, questing and picking fights.

Everyone shares the same map and a similar deck of cards, but the rules for each faction are different, so learning Root really means learning four small games. That's what makes it special: the factions bump into each other in surprising ways, and players often have to team up against whoever is pulling ahead.

The first player to 30 points wins, though some cards allow other win conditions. The art is cute, but the game is a tense strategy game for teens and adults.