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

Product Information

If you are familiar with playing the base game of Root then you will be able to start playing Root: The Underworld Expansion immediately. The base rules are the same, with only a few new additional rules depending on which new map you play. It would be remiss of me to hide the difficult side of Root. Though I don’t think any one faction is very complex, teaching it for the first time to a group at full player count was hard. The teaching takes a while because you need to give different guidelines to every player andmake sure everyone understands the basics. It would be remiss of me to hide the difficult side of Root. Though I don't think any one faction is very complex, teaching it for the first time to a group at full player count was hard. The teaching takes a while because you need to give different guidelines to every player andmake sure everyone understands the basics. 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. For those that can craft with ease then the mouse’s ‘Master Engravers’ can give you an extra point every time you do so. This can mean a whopping four points for those precious coins.

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. On a similar note, if you enjoy the base game of Root, then you will almost certainly appreciate this expansion. There are no major changes in the core mechanics of the game. Rather, The Underworld Expansion adds variation and expands on the world of Root. After playing a few games with the Grand Duchy, overall, I found them to be very versatile. They can be aggressive, with hordes of mole warriors spread out across the board, or they can be played peacefully, crafting in a few places and swaying lots of ministers in a secluded area. Final Thoughts on Root: The Underworld Expansion The Vagabond works differently to the other factions. It’s actions are dictated by items it has it it’s satchel which change from game to game. The base box came with three possible characters all of which start with a very different set of items. You could be the thief (the character the meeple design is based on), which allows you to easily move around and steal cards. The Ranger is more aggressive and starts the games with weapons. Whereas the Tinkerer makes it easier to craft. Over the years, new cards have been added offering a variety of different characters. One of my favourites being the Scoundrel, a cat who wears a pumpkin mask and can torch a clearing making it unusable for the rest of the game. If you find that you’re frequently playing with only 2-3 players, I would lean slightly towards the Underworld Expansion. At 2 players, the best match-up is Marquise v Eyrie, so the Duchy really help the two player game come alive. Likewise, I find the new maps inject some much needed variety at those low player counts and the Corvids work best for me at 3-4 players. In contrast to the Riverfolk, the Corvids and Duchy are also a little more new player friendly. This could tip the scales for you if you’re constantly introducing Root to groups of new players.The player controlling the cats benefits from a big starting presence on the board. Their goal is to maintain control. They will score points by building different kinds of buildings in the clearings that they rule. To do this, players spend three action points on any combination of actions that are designed to allow the cats to fight off competition, keep their numbers high, and build increasingly expensive – and rewarding – buildings. The Eyrie 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. Soup Kitchen’, (a bird card), allows for your tokens to be counted toward rule. Not just counted, but counted twice. For someone like the Badgers or the Duchy where rule is so important in their scoring, or the Cats that need a route for their wood so they can build, this could be priceless.

However, Leder Games have four shiny new mechanical factions for us, and it’s a marked improvement. They slot into regular games of Root neatly, freeing players up to choose the smaller factions. Now, groups of two or three are no longer confined to the same factions. You can play as the Lizard Cult, or the Woodland Alliance, or whichever takes your fancy. However, the beautiful design of the asymmetric factions means there’s more depth here than almost any game on my shelf. I simply cannot see myself getting bored of it. I want to play every faction and I want to play them again and again in all the different combinations you available. 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. 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.The forest creatures are not passive bystanders in the war for control of their homeland. They have formed an alliance to fight against the cats, birds, and anyone who wants to control them. Though they start with nothing on the board, they use supporter cards to gain support tokens around the clearings, eventually rising up in violent revolts.