Reading/Reacting to Negative Reviews of ROOT 😨🤭

[@elliotbrown7789]

I've played Root a couple times now, and in my honest opinion I enjoyed it. I can see why some people don't like it. It's not a bad game, it's just a game that requires more attention than a lot of people are willing to give.

[@BeingFriends]

totally agree with you!! and it’s also totally fine if someone isn’t interested in giving it that attention 🤷🏻‍♂️ their loss though🤘🏻

[@secondengineer9814]

Stages of development of a Root Player: 1. I want to play Woodland Alliance because they always win! 2. I want to play Vagabond because they always win! 3. Let's whack the VB and set up Martial Law 4. I want to play the Corvids/Lizards because they always lose!

[@AnimatronicBadgerlord]

Root is possibly my favorite board game as of right now and I only play it solo so I have to thank the creators for making the clockwork armies. Any time I break the game out for a round, it ends up being 4. And I usually lose all 4, but I have so much fun playing it. If I can have fun losing, I know its a good game for me. Cause I lose a lot. Root + Everdell just makes my Redwall Sense go through the roof. I will say that learning the game was a challenge for me, I'll admit that. I have ADHD and trying to read the rules was just not working for me. That's kind of the same for most games honestly. THANKFULLY the wonderful people on KZbin have multiple how to play videos and I thank you all deeply for them.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Love root, but also understand why people dislike it. For example, at 3 or 4 players how most games play out (in my playgroup at least) is that one person starts looking threatening and must be ganged up on in order to stop them. Then, depending on how damaged they were, they may or may not ever recover in time. Then, someone else is next threatening, so everyone gangs up on them. Then the person who just stayed under the radar slowly creeps by and gets the win. It's a good game, but if you are looking for a game to execute a strategy and have your superior strategy win, this isn't for you. Playing this game is less about winning, and more about enjoying the story that is told throughout the play. The winner of the game will be ENTIRELY chosen by the players (or more accurately, by the losing players). Root is one of the largest "kingmaker" games I own. Important distinction (to your comments at about 19:00), If you are seen as the "good player" in your group, you can attract the "eye of mordor" simply by being you. They will be ganged up on right out of the gate, and likely crippled to the point of not even being able to do anything for the rest of the game. It can be discouraging to get into a 3 hour game and know that I'm going to be knee-capped so hard on turn 1 that I'll spend the next 3 hours watching other people play, from the corner of the map. Some factions (for ex, the Marquis) can be particularly crippled like this.

[@MangloreDog]

It just irks me when people review things by giving a very broad statement like,"It's bad!" and don't bother explaining why. Tell me what is good and what you didn't like so that as an individual with individual likes and dislikes I can still know if I might still like it even though you didn't. I mean I just need to look at the picture on the box to know the artwork is appealing to me, as an adult male (maybe not in his right mind, whose to say?). Some of these reviewers just try to belittle people for enjoying things that they themselves don't enjoy which is typical bully behavior. Say the art doesn't appeal to you and tell me why but leave room for the idea that maybe, just maybe, other people may have a different opinion, and that is okay. Maybe some people prefer these short kinds of reviews, but I like to have information to use to make my decision.

[@BeingFriends]

Absolutely true! I would argue the same for positive 5 star reviews. Just saying “it’s the best” isn’t enough info to help others !

[@MangloreDog]

@@BeingFriends Except of course if it is just an undeniable fact that is indeed, "The Best!" 😜

[@darbyl3872]

The rulebook is actually very good. You don't need the quick-start guidebook, and should probably ignore it until you've read The Law Of Root (rules). Then, if you have a question about the quick-start guide, re-read The Law. It's probably in there somewhere.

[@coke2434]

My gf and I love root and it's definetly my favourite board game. We actually really enjoy the 2 player experience and I am looking foward to get the marauder expansión. I was actually shocked when I introduce It to my friends and one of them didn't like it at all. However he didn't even try to learn the rules and said It was boring since the first turn. So I can say, from my experience, that many people that don't like root it's because they don't want to give It a chance.

[@naturesfinest2408]

How do you play it at 2 players? I try to with my friend but it loses some of its luster. I enjoy table talk. What expansions/maps do you primarily play on? How does it normally turn out? Do you play with clockwork expansion? How is it if you do? Im down to try and enjoy it at 2p.

[@johnharder9925]

@@naturesfinest2408 I know this is an older comment, but… Particularly if you have expansions, there are several 2P matchups you can do. Outside of that, yes, get the Clockwork expansion. I recently tried it out and it’s very well done. Also works well for single-player-acts as a puzzle with multiple modifiers that you can either add or keep out.

[@coke2434]

@@naturesfinest2408 We usually play Cats Birds and moles, we have try quite a lot of plays with clockwork just because I like the Alliance but we just stop doing It because It didn't feel fun, sometimes it's like doing chores and a little bit confusing but It depends on yout preferences I guess. About the maps our favourite is winter, more complex than Autumn and simplier than lake and montain. Root can change a lot depending on the number of players. I thing the key of having fun it's change your mood depending on that. If you play a 2 player game don't expect a lot of tabletalk maybe just because It's going to be more agressive in general.

[@Spilzu]

You have to be fully prepared to teach the game to everyone if you want the first games to be fun. If you're not prepared, of course your first game won't be fun... you don't even know how to play the game. And your friends won't have fun because you can't answer their questions. The problem is you have to spend a lot of time learning the game, but at least you can do that part alone

[@alannash2778]

I looked at the BoardGameGeek war game list and here are my thoughts. What is a war game? Originally I thought to be considered a war game, Root qualified because it has a 'dudes on the map' feel but Twilight Struggle (a game with no miniatures, pawns, etc) is the number one war game (according to BGG). So I guess war gamers actually care more about 'area control', but wait, Root also is an area control game!? So what am I missing or are these people who say Root is not a war game erroneous? Maybe it should be considered a war game+?

[@縞鰺-o3c]

I think the reason why the teaching experiences with Root are so varied lies in the fact, that it heavily depends on what players expect from their first session of this game. If your group is content with just learning to the point of being able to play the game the teach is perfectly fine and the rules are very easy to explain and pick up. If however you're facing a group that's so hyper-competitive that the players want to know and fully understand everything that's needed to make correct decisions and formulate a consistent winning strategy the teaching experience will be atrocious, because the game has too many variables for that. It's usually just not feasible to not only learn your own faction, but also be able to tell WHEN another faction needs to be countered because it's setting up crucial moves ... and then HOW to do it for every other faction in the game. Acquiring that ability through a few sessions IMHO is the correct approach and I think when starting to teach Root all players should be made aware of the fact, that the first game, while already being fun, will in the end be won by 'someone' just because 'someone else' wasn't noticing that the first person was about to win when his strategy 'could' still have been countered. Teaching everyone the intricacies and possible strategies of all factions in a frontloaded teaching-lecture will easily quadruple the teaching time compared to a "you'll be able to play"-teach ... and even if you take that time someone will probably overlook something and beforementioned someone-#1 will still win because someone-#2 didn't notice it in time. Just accepting that makes all the difference and usually results in a very smooth teaching- as well as first-play experience. EDIT: By the way, I totally get that some people will not want this because they know that within their playgroup and/or real life situation they will only get that one shot at a game before their group moves on to the next one unless that one game managed to totally captivate everyone immediately, but ... this game probably just isn't for them. While I like Root I know that it's not for me for that very reason even though I still recognize the awesomeness of it's design. My regular groups basically switch between either playing a new game once OR going back to some old favorites that we always enjoy (Spirit Island for example) OR continue one of the campaign games that we love and will likely never finish because we don't have enough time as it is already. :/ All my groups have someone who isn't too amazed by Root for some reason. One group in general has a person who doesn't like competitive games AT ALL. The other group has a different composition of players almost every time we meet and getting in the required games with everyone to even get to the point where all players can fully enjoy Root will just ... not ever happen (despite some of that group greatly enjoying their first learning game) and ... well ... I'm rambling ... sorry. ^^

[@melkoinenveikko1286]

I recommend reading more reviews rated 4 or 5 :) Most 1's are just trolls.

[@KennedyGoodkey]

Root is a war game. It's simply not a war game the way Squad Leader is. It's a very specific subclass of wargame. It may be better classified as a COIN game. But Coin games are war games.

[@BoromirTheGrey]

I only own this on steam. The AI is excellent and there are a ton of single player scenarios. I can see this being difficult to teach and play via physical board game. Once you know the rules it is fun, there is a steep learning curve but no where difficult or painful

[@ziggie1101]

Still my fav game! Great video

[@BeingFriends]

thankssss yep its one of the best 🙌🏻 -evan

[@lastburning]

Everyone needs to play their role correctly in order to retain the balance. This is a larger phenomenon imo. I don't think 3+ player board games can have direct player interaction without undermining individual player skill/agency. I actually think Root is a wargame. If COIN games are wargames so is Root imo. Why wouldn't it be?

[@TheRASDEL83]

Root is interesting... It's currently in my Top 10, but... It is NOT for everyone. Asymetry is fun, but you gotta teach 4 different games in a 4 player game. It's also very good at 3 or 4 but kind of meh at 2 IMHO. It takes time to learn, it's very fun only when everyone knows what to do. My recomendation would be... Get the app to "get" the experience and only buy if you will be able to play it with 3 or 4 players consistently.

[@tasomaniac]

It's my favorite game too. The first time I played, it was to learn. We played 2 players and it was nice. 2nd and 3rd time, I played with more people that all played for the first time. They enjoyed it but it was terrible for me.

[@Magicman1625]

Root is amoung my top 10 favorite board games I have a constant game going with friends thru the app

[@jonlocke7112]

The dude complaining about it not being a war game is wrong on every level. This is a war game through and through. Sure, it’s not Warhammer but dude, what. It’s a war game.

[@gimpzilla]

I didn't hate root but it's something like 7/10. The part when you talk about needing to know how to counter other factions, when the games main selling point is asymmetry. It's not realistic to know all factions and games do tend to snowball because of this

[@BeingFriends]

I can see where you are coming from! I'll say in my experience it's not incredibly difficult to begin to understand every faction upon repeated plays, and truthfully it is a fun and rewarding journey getting there! That makes it a non issue for me, but I can understand how it would be an issue for certain players! -evan

[@ArthurBugorski]

A war game aims to actually simulate historical warfare and reward historically accurate tactics. If watching a documentary on the subject doesn't give you an edge, then it's not a war game. Some people prefer the term as "historical conflict simulation" as being more accurate term for the genre. Likewise, Risk is not considered a war game. Memoir '44 or Axis & Allies are borderline but generally considered still too abstract and historically inaccurate. I am both a war gamer and a big fan of Root and a taxonomical purist.

[@BeingFriends]

I can appreciate that perspective! Thanks for sharing! -Evan

[@Jacob-nt6od]

Where did you find such a niche definition of “war game?” War games hardly have to be about a historical event. I would agree with this definition: a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces

[@ArthurBugorski]

@@Jacob-nt6od BoardGameGeek and ConSimWorld and a lot of the hex and counter traditionalists.

[@A6by]

All these dudes so insecure in their masculinity that they can't play the cute animal game is frankly hilarious.

[@stepheneddins6498]

Do a review on Cthulhu Dice. I need to prove to my friend that it's actually a good game.

[@BeingFriends]

😨

[@m34nb34n]

tried to watch video, to full of opinions, not enough images, would not recommend. (also, NSFW) =P