Leder Games | Root: The Underworld Expansion

I loved this game, pretty excitement and you can make many strategies The only con I found is to explain it to my friends, beyond that I think it's a good inversion

First of all, Root is a phenomenal board game. As asymmetrical strategy games go, it’s tough to beat. I’ll be honest, it’s complexity is on the higher side (3.81/5 BGG weight rating) so if you’re inexperienced with hobbyist board games and are simply reading Amazon reviews to decide whether you’ll like it, Root might not be the best place to start. For more on Root’s fundamental merits as a board game, visit its page on BoardGameGeek. If you’re coming from BGG and wondering about this box as a physical product: man this game is a pleasure to interact with. Everything about it is endlessly charming. The artwork is superb - maybe my favorite of any game, ever. The print quality is extremely high across the board (no pun intended). Just opening the box feels luxurious. This game has excellent replay ability value due to the asymmetrical factions (which also make it more difficult to learn, but the payoff is worth it), which just makes you want to interact with all the lovely little bits even more. As you move your army of cats through the forest bent on extinguishing the critter rebellion, you’ll see the adorable vagabond exploring caves and collecting cute little items and you’ll think “Gee I want to do that” and you’ll be excited about your second playthrough before your first is even complete. This is a staple of my board game group for a good reason. If you’re a seasoned board game hobbyist, or a new gamer ready for a challenge, I highly recommend Root.

This game is amazing. It's a lot to learn, the games can be very long, but it is so worth it. I am totally awed at how complex yet simple it is. I love the art, the premise, getting to play the other factions. It has such a great re-playability. I loved teaching it to other friends who like games as well. Eyrie Birds and the Lizards are probably my favorite to play. I already kickstarted for the rest of the games. Love it!

Root is a truly original game design. It's part area-control, part card/action selection and part war game with an amazing set of four totally different factions, and I do mean TOTALLY different factions! Each factions is almost playing an entirely different mini-game with the larger game! I kid you not. And as strange as that sounds, it all works...brilliantly!In principle, Root is simple: the first faction to gain 30 victory points wins. The board is a giant forest with several clearings marked by a 'suit' (fox, mouse, bunny, birds). Players compete to control these clearings. Players play suited cards to do actions in said clearings that match the suit of the card they're playing (i.e. need to play a bunny suited card to do an action in a clearing with a bunny suit.). Some cards also can be 'crafted' to gain a special ability, again matching suit of the card to the suit of the clearing where you want to do the action!Movement is based on area control. You can only move into or from a clearing you control (i.e. having the most units/buildings).Combat is super simple: the attacker rolls two dice and takes the higher total, eliminating that many of the defenders units; the defender does the same with the lower numbered dice. However, the attacker/defender can never eliminate more units then the size of his attacking/defending force. For example-attacking with 4 units and rolling a '5'. You only get to kill 4 units, not five. The same applies to the defender. Furthermore, there are cards and various faction abilities that can modify battle results in interesting ways.That in essence is how root plays....simple....but....the factions turn all this on it's head!At its heart, Root is a war game between the ruthless denezins of a fairy tale-like forest setting:THE CATS: The Cats run the forest as a vast labor camp. They score victory points by developing structures within the forest clearings and keeping the 'status quo.'THE BIRDS (EYRIE): The Eyrie used to run things until the cats came along, and they want their power and control back. They're fast, ruthless and are the strongest military power! They gain VPs by expanding their influence! They can spread like wildfire and crush the mightiest of foes! BUT....they have one great flaw: Their government is highly unstable! One wrong move can bring down their entire power structure and thwarting their plans!THE WOODLAND ALLIANCE: The Alliance represents all the other woodland creatures suffering under the yoke of the cats. They're the rebels! They want the Cats overthrown, and they want the Birds gone too! POWER TO THE PEOPLE! The Woodland alliance fights a guerilla war to free the forest of tyranny! They get VPs by overthrowing the Cats and the Birds.THE VAGABOND: The shifty Vagabond are the allegedly "neutral" raccoons. They've decided to become the merchants of death and profit from the growing war in the woodlands! They can 'aid' and/or hinder each faction for their own selfish reasons, hoping to become wealthy from the chaos! They can gain VPs by helping the various factions at crucial moments, and even side with a faction and ride their coat tales to victory!To win, you HAVE to be ruthless! There's no room in this game for care bears! The first faction to get a VP engine going can run away with game if the other players are not careful! Such VP leaders must be crushed! And the asymmetricral design of the game really brings this to life. The factions really to play that differently and have their own special way to victory. No two are even remotely similar!The game has only two downsides. 1) It's MEAN as heck. You can show no mercy in this game. 2) It's incredibly hard to teach because it is so different. Watching videos is pretty much mandatory.

The media could not be loaded. Probably my favorite root expansion. Really sad that it's also the most expensive and the most often out of stock.The rats are really fun and add a lot of reach, making it easy to fit them in most setups. The badgers are a little complicated, and not the most powerful (still stronger than cats and crows, imho), but a lot of fun to play.

A better Deck than the Original and adds very interesting gameplay.