Board Game Corner

• Posted on 11 August 2021
• By Samantha Mills
• 0

My review of the board game ROOT. A game of adventure and battle!

ROOT

2-4 Players(1-6 with expansion)

60-90 Minutes

Ages 10+ (I recommend 12+)

Complexity 3.5/5 

I need to say, this is game incredibly fun.

Learning ROOT seemed difficult at first. The instructions...were daunting. Our group plays board games regularly, so this wasn't a first for us. Fortunately one of us is a real "board game geek," and basically studies the game, then teaches the rest of us how to play.

Don't write off this game though! Even if you don't have someone to teach you, trust me, this game is well worth it! It's a 10/10 from all of us, so we play it almost every week. 

The point of the game is to gain victory points. Whoever reaches 30 points first wins automatically.

To start, everyone chooses their woodland creature(faction). Each creature has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone plays the game in the forest, but depending on your creature you play the game a different way. 

Each game we play is unique. Depending which combination of creatures are playing(especially if you're using an expansion) The player also chooses how their creature will play. For example, The Eyrie has 4 different leaders to choose from. You could choose to have strengths in moving around and battling, moving and building, recruiting and battling, or recruiting and moving. Depending what you choose, will change the dynamic of the game. 

We've played over 25 times now, and each time I play, I learn something new about my creature, even if I've played them before! It's like having a friend, it takes time and experience to get to know them.

Some creatures "seem" to have a disadvantage over others. For a while we wondered if the Vagabond (the raccoon) would EVER win? But we just needed to get to know them better. We have definitely played the game wrong more than a few times(missing a rule) but that's part of the fun. 

There's a lot to learn, but that's what keeps it interesting and fun!

Creature Overview:

The Marquise de Cat: This faction is always dominant of the forest at first. They act as the police. Your job is to build, and slow down other factions.

The Eyrie Dynasties: This faction gets exponentially stronger. With each turn you can add 1 or 2 more actions. However, if you cannot complete all the actions in order, you go into turmoil and start all over. This does not mean you shouldn't go into turmoil, it can benefit you.

The Woodland Alliance: This faction gathers supporters(cards) and when strong enough, revolts in different places in the forest. This causes any buildings and troops in the clearing to blow up, which gains you points.

The Vagabond: This faction plays as a single troop. The lone raccoon! They form alliances or rivalries with different players, and collect objects. 

We also play with the Underworld Expansion. This expansion introduces NEW factions such as the Underground Duchy(adorable little moles) and the Corvid Conspiracy (no, not covid! coRvid) This expansion also includes 2 new maps. 

Overall, this game is WORTH IT. Highly entertaining. What I love about it is how each game is unique, but it's not too serious, and can have lot's of conversation during the game.

Buy Now https://www.owlshollow.com/root-a-game-of-woodland-might-and-right.html