Most asymmetric games give different players different starting resources or slight rule variations. Root gives each player a completely different rulebook. The Marquise de Cat is playing an economic engine game. The Eyrie Dynasties are playing a programming puzzle. The Woodland Alliance are playing a hidden guerrilla insurgency. The Vagabond is playing a solo RPG. They are all on the same board, fighting over the same clearings, and they all win by reaching thirty victory points — they just do it in entirely incompatible ways.
How to Play
Root is a game of woodland conflict for two to four players (up to six with expansions). Each faction has unique mechanics. The Marquise de Cat controls the board through buildings — sawmills, recruiters, and workshops — and wins by spreading their infrastructure everywhere. The Eyrie Dynasties must follow an ever-growing decree of actions each turn or fall into turmoil, losing points and control; they win through consistent rule and card plays. The Woodland Alliance builds sympathy tokens by spreading outrage, then stages sudden uprisings to create bases and score points; they win slowly but become exponentially dangerous if ignored. The Vagabond completes quests, aids and harms other factions through items, and can win by being universally helpful or universally hostile. Victory points come from different sources for each faction. Players win the moment they hit thirty points, even during another player's turn.
Our Experience
We strongly recommend playing Root with an experienced guide the first time. Our game master Piotr runs a Root teaching table every third Sunday, starting new players as the Marquise (the most intuitive faction) and gently explaining why the Woodland Alliance player who has been quietly ignored for three rounds just scored eleven points in a single turn. The game is famous for sudden reversals — the winning faction is rarely obvious until the last few rounds — and for creating situations where two players must cooperate to stop a third even though they are competitors themselves. Last month the Vagabond won from third place with a single well-timed quest completion while everyone else was watching the Eyrie spiral into turmoil. The table was silent for a moment. Then everyone started planning their next game.