Leder Games | Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right | Board Game | Ages 10+ | 2-4 Players | 60-90 Minute Playing Time

Product Information

Root represents the next step in asymmetric design. Like Vast: The Crystal Caverns, each player in Root has unique capabilities and a different victory condition. Now, with the aid of gorgeous, multi-use cards, a truly asymmetric design has never been more accessible. When I first heard Root being talked about I had one burning question: would it play well at two players? I was concerned that the balance of the game would be off when the number of factions was reduced. It turns out that I needn’t have worried. After playing a few games with the Grand Duchy, overall, I found them to be very versatile. They can be aggressive, with hordes of mole warriors spread out across the board, or they can be played peacefully, crafting in a few places and swaying lots of ministers in a secluded area. Final Thoughts on Root: The Underworld Expansion

The player controlling the cats benefits from a big starting presence on the board. Their goal is to maintain control. They will score points by building different kinds of buildings in the clearings that they rule. To do this, players spend three action points on any combination of actions that are designed to allow the cats to fight off competition, keep their numbers high, and build increasingly expensive - and rewarding - buildings. The Eyrie In the base game, four factions battle for supremacy in the woodlands. I’ll introduce them here. I don’t have space to go into their mechanical nuances, but I’ll give you an overview of how they work. The Marquise de Cat 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 sympathise with the Alliance’s hopes and dreams, these wanderers are old enough to remember the great birds of prey who once controlled the woods.Factions that require intentional player interaction to score are also virtually useless. The Riverfolk Company will never sell any services, since the Mechanical Marquise never does anything other than those three actions in sequence: battle, move, recruit. Likewise, she won’t be trying to guess plots from the Corvid Conspiracy, although this is easier to excuse, as the Underworld Expansion, which introduced the crows, came after. But I would expect a faction introduced in the same box as the Mechanical Marquise to be somehow fitted to work with or against her. The Lizard Cult is also affected by her gameplay, since one of their most game changing abilities is to Sanctify – that is, replace an enemy building with one of their own. This causes such bombastic effects when used against other factions, possibly immediately forcing the Eyrie Dynasty into turmoil, or destroying one of the Woodland Alliances precious bases, but against an enemy that builds nothing, it’s impossible to use. Who Can Threaten The Marquise? Some of the time, there simply is great joy to be had in being bad. We can deny it, but often our joy in a game does come from the downfall of others, often sweetened if we think that we created that by our own superior devious planning. If you are willing to accept that you enjoy the schadenfreude of watching your opponents fall into your trap, then there really is no other expansion better suited to you than the Root Underworld Expansion. The Corvid Conspiracy in this expansion is the guerilla band of spies that secretly place out tokens that create dastardly opportunities for them to gain the upper hand. Trouble is, if your opponents can guess what you have played out, then they can foil your plans and remove the token. However, the risk of potentially being able to ignite a bomb and decimate that clearing of pieces really makes the reward worth the risk. 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.

Root represents the next step in our development of asymmetric design. Like Vast: The Crystal Caverns, each player in Root has unique capabilities and a different victory condition. Now, with the aid of gorgeous, multi-use cards, a truly asymmetric design has never been more accessible. If you’ve played Cosmic Encounter as the Zombie you’ll know what I’m talking about. Of course, if you found the kingmaking and ‘bash the leader’ flavour of the original not to your taste, then Riverfolk is not going to alleviate those problems for you. In fact, the introduction of the wheeling-dealing Riverfolk Company adds even more opportunities for table-talk and petty negotiating!Root's gameplay is governed by some foundation rules that allow the factions to interact. It plays out on a wooded board containing 12 clearings, all separated by forests and connected by paths. Players battle for control between these clearings. At its heart, Root is an area control game. Three of the four factions score points by adding warriors, buildings, and other tokens to the board, then fighting for control against the other players. To enable this area control, players battle - a simple mechanic in which two D8s are rolled and players can do damage based on the number of warriors they control in the clearing. The Learning to Play book suggests combinations for two and three-player games, indicating what each player should try to do in those scenarios. Essentially, any combination of factions can be used for lower player counts except the Vagabond, who can't be played at two.