Root - Holy Moly That's a lot of Mice and Squirrels You've Got There

I acquired my copy of Root one year ago around this time. It has sat in its shrink wrap until now. I never thought I would get this much enjoyment out of learning and looking up game references for a board game that was not a trading card game. I am glad to be able to unbox it and play it with the friend group that I did.

What is Root?

Root at its core is a war game set in a woodland forest with the characters being woodland creatures and critters. Each player controls a faction of critters, each faction with unique abilities, and defends or conquers (however you wish to put it) their way to 30 victory points to end the game.

Pre-play thoughts and preparations

In preparation to play Root for the first time, I prepared nothing. I had packed it with me with a handful of other board games on my way to an afternoon with friends, and when I suggested to play Root, the caveat being we would need to all learn it together for the first time, it came out of its shrink wrap. It was time for Root to shine.

To learn, we used the beginner's walkthrough and had a couple of tutorial videos on YouTube playing in the background. After each player played their three rounds as dictated by the walkthrough, we continued the game until a player got to 30 victory points. Now the next play was for "realsies".

In-game thoughts and experience

I fortunately was playing the Woodland Alliance for both games. The Woodland Alliance is not set up to win in the walkthrough, but that did not really matter because the innate power of the faction did not click for me until after the walkthrough game was complete. Thus, I was very eager to go again for a fresh round. The woodland alliance is very much a late game villain and pretty much starts off slow and non-influential. As the Marquise slows down, and the likelihood of the Eyrie starts to grow, The Woodland Alliance seem like the only faction without a handicap.

We played things slowly but incorrectly. So when meeples/warriors were removed from the game board, we scored them too. This led to a quicker game for the Wood Alliance with its ability to revolt and turn clearings inside out.

Things that caused confusion

• We knew that the way to win was to be the first to score 30 Victory Points. This would be done mainly through destroying structures and crafting items that gave victory points. One thing that we did not realize was that players don't score Victory Points for combat and the removal of warriors/ meeples.
• One thing that was tough for us new players was not knowing the pitfalls of the other factions. The Eyrie and Marquis did not know about Martial Law where it is better for them to have at least three warriors in clearings that were potential targets for the spread of the Alliance's sympathy.

Things I would do differently next play through

• With the knowledge of what all the factions do and the ways to play around them, and the knowledge about factions from expansions that I do not own, I now know how to better play the game.
• From now on I'm reading the rule book cover to cover for every new game before I show up to play it.

Would I play Root Again?

Yes. I would play it anytime someone suggests playing it and I have my future sights on some expansions.