Find adventure in a marvelous asymmetric game. Root provides limitless replay value as you and your friends explore the unique factions all wanting to rule a fantastic forest kingdom. Play as the: Marquise de Cat: Dominate the woods, extracting its riches and policing its inhabitants. Woodland Alliance: Gather supporters and coordinate revolts against the ruling regime. Eyrie Dynasties: Regain control of the woods while keeping your squabbling court at bay. Vagabond: Seek fame and fortune as you forge alliances and rivalries with the other players. Each faction has its own play style and paths to victory, providing an immersive game experience you will want to play again and again.
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Root
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Shellhead wrote: Maybe the game isn't intended to be balanced and players learn after a few plays which factions need to be teamed up against.
“Self-balancing” sometimes means Dune/Cosmic Encounter levels of intrigue and mechanic-based role play. More often, though, it seems to mean lazy design.
My impression is that Root is more the former, but I haven’t fully explored it, yet.
It seems like the kind of game that is really hard to judge without a lot of playthroughs. I do worry that the balance on the game is forced by each faction being held in check which seems really easy to throw off with inexperienced players. Unless I'm mistaken, the game seems like it would be best with a consistent group of experienced players, but may otherwise fall flat.
I'm curious to try it, although it's unlikely I'll get the chance any time soon.
You'll see some things like the Woodland Alliance or perhaps the Vagabond winning in early plays as people don't quite understand their potential - particularly the WA who can explode for 10+ points at end game very easily. Once players are familiar and understand the pacing, everything falls into place.
Regarding "cuteness," however, after painting and selling off a whole batch of Arcadia Quest stuff, I realized I have an allergic reaction to Chibi, and I've finally realized why. The women look like sexualized 5 year olds. I just can't not see it, and I fucking hate it.
GorillaGrody wrote: Regarding "cuteness," however, after painting and selling off a whole batch of Arcadia Quest stuff, I realized I have an allergic reaction to Chibi, and I've finally realized why. The women look like sexualized 5 year olds. I just can't not see it, and I fucking hate it.
There is a well known psychological basis for this.
As a fan of Warner Bros cartoons, I'm sure you may also be aware of it.
It's babies. Or rather, depicting the subject to emulate a baby.
Big eyes, fat cheeks, etc.
[Edit] we are biologically predisposed to like babies because of these features, or at the very least feel instinctive to protect them if maternal, or not want to harm them if paternal. This behavior can be seen in animals in regards to human babies too[/edit]
Look at Bugs Bunny. Animators had a heck of a time making Jimminy Cricket into a likeable character that wasn't a menacing insectoid. The solution was to make it look like a slightly warped, green skinned baby.
Chibi has the identical effect, by accident or by design.
Add to the fact that fantasy women are universally depicted sexualized (form fitting armor, when there is any at all) and you have the components of a Japanese Lolita ideal.
But now I wonder if I need Root. The art style, cards, and game flow of Pax Pamir seems much more my speed. I’ll probably keep my preorder but have been wondering about it the past few days.
The hype is way the fuck out of control, though. It's a good game. That's about it. If you skipped playing it forever, you're not missing anything critical. It's a fun asymmetric light wargame, set in a forest. There's some decent depth to it, and it does a lot with not too much chrome in the rules.
I had to unsubscribe from the BGG topic when the first rule-questions started to overwhelm my feed (basically all useless shit answered in the book), so I've been unaware of just how crazy that site has gone for this new hotness. The TWBG Slack folks pointed me at a thread showing it's reached backlash stage, where people who didn't do any research played it and say "I didn't like it", and that causes fits. It's just stupid. So much yammering.
It's a cool little game. It's not the gaming event of a generation or anything. If you're wondering "do I need this?", the answer is "probably not". If you think "I like asymmetric war-type games, but COIN is too fat or too real or too long", this is a great game to fill that empty spot.
It's definitely not a game people can coast through without learning all the factions and how they operate. You can, but you'll be pretty underwhelmed at what's going on, and feel like none of it is really in your control. A table of folks all doing that, and it's going to fall pretty flat. It's also short, and the endgame comes at you quite quickly. Like Charlie said above, a faction like the Alliance can score 10 points or more in a round towards the end (if allowed to set up for it), which is 1/3rd of the total victory. That can be, um, offputting to some gamers as well.
If you know me, and know what I like and why, you'll see why I really enjoy this game. But it's not going to be universal. That's cool.
Not Sure wrote: The hype is way the fuck out of control, though. It's a good game. That's about it. If you skipped playing it forever, you're not missing anything critical. It's a fun asymmetric light wargame, set in a forest. There's some decent depth to it, and it does a lot with not too much chrome in the rules.
Predicted timeline for Root at this site:
Now: This thread picks up steam and goes to five pages.
Early 2019: Barnes names Root as Game of the Year, 2018.
Summer 2019: Barnes put up Root for sale.
2020: Nobody here talks about Root anymore, even in the What BOARD GAME(s) Have You Been Playing? thread.
2028: Ubarose starts a Flashback thread about Root. Several people rave about how it was such a great game and they played it just last month.
Shellhead wrote:
Not Sure wrote: The hype is way the fuck out of control, though. It's a good game. That's about it. If you skipped playing it forever, you're not missing anything critical. It's a fun asymmetric light wargame, set in a forest. There's some decent depth to it, and it does a lot with not too much chrome in the rules.
Predicted timeline for Root at this site:
Now: This thread picks up steam and goes to five pages.
Early 2019: Barnes names Root as Game of the Year, 2018.
Summer 2019: Barnes put up Root for sale.
2020: Nobody here talks about Root anymore, even in the What BOARD GAME(s) Have You Been Playing? thread.
2028: Ubarose starts a Flashback thread about Root. Several people rave about how it was such a great game and they played it just last month.
I think you should cut each "time until" in half. Otherwise I think you're 100% accurate.
Previous TWBG Root thread
Not Sure: It’s not like the game of a generation or anything.
Barnes: It is the game of a generation.
Michael Barnes wrote: Ha! I saw Not Sure’s post after I put my review up.
Not Sure: It’s not like the game of a generation or anything.
Barnes: It is the game of a generation.
That's pretty classic stuff there. Your review wasn't up yet when I was writing that.
I almost put something in my response to Shellhead's timeline that a few weeks ago you were totally fawning over it in the other thread, and we hadn't heard a word since GW dropped that Rogue Trader box on your doorstep. I figured you'd given it up to paint space suits and huff fumes.
I think it's a good game, but the rest is just mass hysteria. I'll be surprised if it's forever-shelf material for you. It's certainly not a game for everyone, since it's quite direct about what it does. If the zeitgeist says "asymmetric conflict is the new worker placement!" I'm gonna be a pretty happy guy, but lets just say I have my doubts on that.
(for PBEM, I'm still in, but I can't commit to a game until early October. Going to Kauai for a week on the 29th, and I hope to not even see the Internet while I'm there...)
I’m not gonna knock the game on fragility with inexperienced players - many of my favorites are like that. But for this type of game, I’ll stick by Chaos in the Old World or Cosmic Encounter. I enjoyed Root, I’ll gladly play it again, but it’s not something I must have on my shelf.
Find adventure in a marvelous asymmetric game. Root provides limitless replay value as you and your friends explore the unique factions all wanting to rule a fantastic forest kingdom. Play as the: Marquise de Cat: Dominate the woods, extracting its riches and policing its inhabitants. Woodland Alliance: Gather supporters and coordinate revolts against the ruling regime. Eyrie Dynasties: Regain control of the woods while keeping your squabbling court at bay. Vagabond: Seek fame and fortune as you forge alliances and rivalries with the other players. Each faction has its own play style and paths to victory, providing an immersive game experience you will want to play again and again.
I realize the 5 player game is not ideal for people new to Root and I have no idea how that one is going to go. But I am going to be very clear to all of the players about the following points. Feel free to add some other wisdom I can drop on them. I *think* this game will go over big with them, but if we end up with a crushing defeat / runaway leader, who knows....
1. If you only worry about yourself, you will lose.
2. If you never do something that benefits someone else, you will lose.
You can scrabble for the first few points and think the game is going to take forever, but it's not that unusual for a faction like the Vagabond or Alliance to throw down 10VP in a turn. Out of 30, that's pretty crazy.
The game isn't a really a rollercoaster, it's a drop ride. Start slow, kick your feet, then bam it's over. Watch out once the engines get going. For the Vagabond, keep a very close eye since the "engine" is kept in tokens on his player mat, not out on the board where everyone else is looking. Don't let that sneaky bastard fly under the radar.
I heartly recommend using the balance notes if you can find them. Give your Marquise a fair chance.
A couple questions? I know some balancing has occurred, but have these changes been made prior to the current kickstarter? Do these changes matter when getting started with the base game? and what are the necessary files?
Anything besides "read the rules, play the game?"
Thanks y'all!
RolandHemisphere wrote: My copy came in the mail this week and I'm fairly stoked.
A couple questions? I know some balancing has occurred, but have these changes been made prior to the current kickstarter? Do these changes matter when getting started with the base game? and what are the necessary files?
Anything besides "read the rules, play the game?"
Thanks y'all!
Check Here Look under files for 3rd printing update kit. Also, there are Print and Play files for the new KS factions.