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

Product Information

Along with these exciting new factions the Riverfolk Expansion brings in a second Vagabond player board and three new Vagabond variants, allowing up to two players compete as the wily outcast. As well as this, this expansion comes with a robotic version of the Marquise de Cat, balancing out game play in smaller groups and allowing players to explore new factions.

Enough of that though, how does it feel to play against them? In a 1 v 1 game (playing as Eyrie as recommended), it’s a pleasingly tight affair. The Mechanical Marquise doesn’t use building tokens, so the focus is on taking down hordes of feline warriors. This makes it good practice for an aggressive Eyrie player. You have to work hard to stop clusters of Marquise warriors accumulating (which allow it to score points). There’s a nice ebb and flow to the two player game which I’ve always been fond of. The Marquise and her feline legion are in control of the woodland. They start with a warrior in every clearing except one. They pushed out the forest’s previous rulers and now subjugate its denizens – the foxes, mice and rabbits. The obvious draw of the Riverfolk Expansion is the two new factions it introduces. These are the titular Riverfolk Company and the devious Lizard Cult. Both come with delightful screen-printed wooden meeples, cardboard tokens, player boards and reference cards. Even before we get into playing the game itself, I have to say that the Riverfolk and Cult warrior designs are my favourite across the whole Root series. Those little grinning Lizards are adorable.

My only difficulty with the Grand Duchy is that, without any swaying ministers, their actions are limited to two per round. This really isn’t enough when you have markets to make and enemies to slay. So, swaying ministers that grant extra actions is advisable from the start!

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. However, if you manage to craft something at the forge then as a reward you get an extra point and get to draw a card. This might slow down someone like the Rats who need items but really help the Eerie as they would get that extra point despite their ‘distain for trade’. Worth The FightPoint scoring ministers may generate points every round per particular type of building on the board,or by discarding any number of cards of the same suit to score that many victory points. My problem with the Underworld Expansion is that neither of the new factions is balanced to work in a 2-player game. I was super excited to play the Corvid Conspiracy. Sadly, I will not be able to get a group of friends together to enjoy the full game experience any time soon. Those sneaky looking corvids are calling to me.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Root’s designer, Cole Wehrle, has done a great job of tweaking the factions so they still play with the panache they do in the base game. Despite being automated, each one plays like its original counterpart in regular gameplay and there are no sharp edges. Each bot shares an ability which means they can’t have a hand of cards. However, Wehrle has designed a workaround so that the factions can still work and interact with the Vagabond. The Legendary Forge is perhaps the most complicated addition. When placed, you will take a number of crafted items from the board and place them on the Legendary Forge card. These items can now only be crafted if you have a player piece in the same clearing as the new forge. You still need to satisfy the needs of crafting etc and so this simply makes it more difficult to craft. One of the challenges in designing a completely asymmetrical game is balancing it. How do you make sure that every player has a fighting chance when they're all following different rules? I can't answer that question, but it appears that Cole Wehrle can. The games I've played so far have all been close, with no runaway leader. Finally, I must add, I am actually good at Root. I lost 2 of perhaps the last 30 games I played. I have my preferred factions, but I can play as any of them and give anyone a run for their money. Having said that, I have never won a solo game against the Mechanical Marquise that came with the Riverfolk Expansion, and that’s both what this piece will focus on and also what I would rather no one brought up in my presence ever.

Every conflict encourages opportunists who travel around trying to make a profit and a name for themselves. In Root, this role is played by the Vagabond, a lone wanderer who is allied to no one and everyone. The Vagabond is just a single pawn that can move freely around the board, no matter who's in control.

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.