Root Complete Guide: Asymmetric Strategy Board Game

Root is a highly asymmetric woodland strategy board game where each of the 4+ factions plays by completely different rules. The Marquise de Cat builds an industrial empire, the Eyrie Dynasties follows a strict decree, the Woodland Alliance stages a rebellion, and the Vagabond explores and adventures. Designed by Cole Wehrle and illustrated by Kyle Ferrin, it has sold over 500,000 copies.

Game Components

What's in the Box

• 1 game board (woodland map with clearings and paths)
• 4 faction boards (Marquise, Eyrie, Alliance, Vagabond)
• 100+ wooden pieces (warriors, buildings, tokens in faction colors)
• 54 custom cards (suit deck: fox, mouse, rabbit)
• 2 custom dice (combat dice)
• 4 reference cards
• Designed for 2-4 players (up to 6 with expansions)
• Typical game duration 60-90 minutes

The 4 Factions

Marquise de Cat (Orange) — Industrial Empire

Play Style: Engine building, area control How They Win: Craft items, build buildings, control clearings through workshops, sawmills, and recruiters.

Key Mechanics:

• Workers: Place workers to harvest wood and build.
• Buildings: Sawmills (produce wood), Workshops (craft), Recruiters (spawn warriors).
• Crafting: Use workshops to craft items from cards for points.
• Actions per turn based on number of workshops and recruiters.

Strategy: Expand rapidly, build a workshop engine early, protect sawmills.

Eyrie Dynasties (Blue) — Commanding Roosts

Play Style: Programmed actions, momentum How They Win: Follow a decree of mandatory actions each turn. Score points by building roosts.

Key Mechanics:

• Decree: Each turn, add cards to your decree and perform ALL actions listed (recruit, move, battle, build).
• Roosts: Place roosts in clearings to score points and gain resources.
• Turbulence: If you cannot perform a decree action, you enter turmoil — lose all decree cards, lose points, and rebuild.

Strategy: Build a flexible decree. Start small, expand gradually. Avoid turmoil at all costs.

Woodland Alliance (Green) — Underground Rebellion

Play Style: Hidden influence, explosive uprising How They Win: Spread sympathy tokens across the board, then revolt to place bases and score massive points.

Key Mechanics:

• Sympathy: Place sympathy tokens using supporters (cards). More sympathy = more expensive.
• Supporters: Cards collected and spent to spread sympathy.
• Revolt: In a clearing with sympathy, spend supporters matching that clearing's suit to remove all enemy pieces and place a base.
• Bases: Each base lets you train officers and craft cards.

Strategy: Spread sympathy early, save cards for a big revolt. Fly under the radar until ready.

Vagabond (White) — Lone Adventurer

Play Style: Quest completion, item management How They Win: Complete quests for points, improve items, and form alliances with other factions.

Key Mechanics:

• Items: Start with basic items, find more in ruins and through crafting.
• Satchel: Track exhausted and refreshed items. Refresh at forest or ruin spaces.
• Quests: Complete quests matching clearing suits for points.
• Alliances: Aid other factions to form alliances for bonus points.
• Damage: When damaged, items are damaged — lose functionality.

Strategy: Focus on quests early, aid factions for alliance bonuses. Avoid combat unless necessary.

Core Rules

The Map

• The board shows a woodland with 12 clearings connected by paths.
• Each clearing has a suit (fox, mouse, or rabbit) shown by a symbol.
• Clearings contain buildings, warriors, tokens, and roosts from various factions.

Dominance

Instead of reaching 30 victory points, a player can win by playing a Dominance card and holding specific clearings for one full round. Dominance cards are drawn from the deck and require controlling clearings of specific suits.

Combat

When you battle an opponent in a clearing:

1. Attacker rolls higher die and defender rolls lower die.
2. Each side deals damage equal to their roll (remove opponent warriors).
3. Maximum 3 hits per roll. Minimum 1 hit for attacker if any warriors are present.
4. If the defender has no warriors left, the attacker removes all enemy buildings and tokens.

Crafting

Cards with crafting requirements can be crafted by factions with appropriate buildings:

• Craft an item to gain the crafted item (for Vagabond) or score victory points.
• Each faction crafts differently based on their buildings and mechanics.

Strategy Tips

1. Watch the Score Track

• Root is a race to 30 points — always know who is close to winning.
• If someone is at 25+, the table must cooperate to slow them down.
• Dominance wins are always a surprise threat — watch for Dominance cards.

2. Table Talk is Essential

• Unlike many games, Root rewards negotiation and table talk.
• Convince other players to attack the leader.
• Form temporary alliances to stop a runaway winner.
• The Vagabond can explicitly ally with factions.

3. Know Your Faction's Rhythm

• Marquise: Strong early, must protect engine.
• Eyrie: Weak early, devastating late if decree is managed well.
• Alliance: Invisible early, explosive mid-game revolts.
• Vagabond: Steady throughout, peaks with quests and alliances.

4. Card Management

• Cards are the currency of Root — everyone needs them.
• Discard cards strategically — an opponent may need the suit you discard.
• The Alliance benefits when others discard matching suits.

Game Variations

Root: The Riverfolk Expansion

• Adds 2 new factions: Riverfolk Company (trade) and Lizard Cult (religion)
• New map board with river paths
• Supports up to 6 players

Root: The Underworld Expansion

• Adds 2 new factions: Underground Duchy and Corvid Conspiracy
• Tunnels and new board mechanics
• Supports up to 6 players

Root: The Marauder Expansion

• Adds 2 new factions: Keepers in Iron and Lord of the Hundreds
• Hireling mini-factions for lower player counts
• Supports up to 6 players

Root: Digital Edition

• Available on PC and mobile
• AI opponents for solo play
• All factions and expansions available
• Online multiplayer

Game History

Origins

• Designed by Cole Wehrle and published by Leder Games in 2018
• Wehrle was inspired by asymmetric conflict and political themes in game design
• The beautiful artwork by Kyle Ferrin became iconic in the board game community

Awards

• Won the Golden Geek Award for Most Innovative Game
• Nominated for Kennerspiel des Jahres
• Over 500,000 copies sold worldwide
• Spawned a dedicated competitive tournament scene

Statistics

• Designed for 2-4 players (up to 6 with expansions)
• 4 factions in base game (+8 with expansions)
• 54 custom cards (3 suits)
• 100+ wooden pieces
• Victory condition: 30 points or Dominance
• Combat: 2 custom dice (attacker high, defender low)
• 12 clearings on the board
• Over 500,000 copies sold
• Typical game duration 60-90 minutes
• Suitable for ages 12 and up
• Designed by Cole Wehrle
• Art by Kyle Ferrin
• Published by Leder Games

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