Root Board Game

About

Root Board Game is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by Dire Wolf Digital and was released on September 24, 2020. It received positive reviews from players.

A Digital Board Game of Woodland Warfare

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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87%

Audience ScoreBased on 802 reviews

graphics11 positive mentions

stability29 negative mentions

Excellent adaptation of the board game with beautiful graphics and smooth gameplay.
The app provides a great way to learn the game, with effective tutorials and challenges.
Regular updates and responsive developers enhance the overall experience.

The app is plagued by bugs, including freezing and crashing during gameplay.
Expansions are expensive and slow to release, limiting content for players.
The AI is often unchallenging and can lead to unbalanced gameplay experiences.

stability
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
94%
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with many users reporting frequent bugs and glitches, particularly related to freezing during gameplay and when switching apps. While some players appreciate the prompt responses from developers and the effective autosave feature, the overall consensus indicates that these issues significantly detract from the experience, leading to a lower rating for many. Despite these challenges, some users remain optimistic about future improvements as developers continue to address stability concerns.
- “This game recently added a lot of quality of life updates, and the game runs great.”
- “Runs great on my phone.”
- “Notably, the game sometimes freezes during the AI's turn after a player resigns.”
- “The major issue I have with the app is that the game freezes if you lock the screen or swap to another app.”
- “My game freezes indefinitely if the screen goes to sleep and I've lost saved games.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
34%
14%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their charming animation and artwork, effectively capturing the essence of the original board game. Many users appreciate the visuals for enhancing gameplay and making rules easier to understand, although some note that the graphics could be cleaner or more polished. Overall, the combination of cute art style, smooth animations, and thematic sound design contributes to a visually appealing experience.
- “As a fan of the board game, this is a great mobile/PC adaptation (I bought both) with sound design and animation that perfectly capture the original artwork.”
- “It is difficult to convey the charm of the deceptively simple and cute art style of the original board game, but the tokens, animations, and even the soundtrack manage to both do so and build upon it further.”
- “The graphics, gameplay, and animation are absolutely fantastic!”
- “The graphics could be a bit cleaner.”
- “The UI and graphics aren't fantastic, but the game itself is amazing.”
- “Graphics could be better.”
gameplay
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
53%
18%
The gameplay of the mobile adaptation of Root is praised for its intuitive mechanics, beautiful graphics, and faithful representation of the board game, making it a strong choice for fans of asymmetric strategy games. However, users have noted issues such as connectivity problems when switching apps, lackluster AI, and some bugs that hinder the experience. While the asynchronous play is a highlight, the gameplay can feel limited by these technical issues and a small online community.
- “The mechanics and navigation are quickly intuitive.”
- “The app is one of the best board game adaptations I have seen, the mechanics work really well, and the async play capability is perfect for playing with friends.”
- “Beautiful translation of the Root board game to digital that minimizes bookkeeping and maximizes opportunities for strategic gameplay.”
- “You cannot switch between gameplay and other apps as the game disconnects, and you have to go through the whole startup process and reconnect to the game again.”
- “If another app interrupts gameplay - like I have a text or alarm and my screen switches apps - the root screen becomes black and unresponsive.”
- “It's an okay game, but I got bored of it shortly after learning all of the mechanics.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
53%
20%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, complementing the charming visuals and gameplay. However, many users express frustration that the game interrupts their ability to listen to their own music or podcasts, which detracts from their enjoyment. Overall, while the soundtrack is a highlight, the lack of audio flexibility is a significant drawback for some players.
- “It is difficult to convey the charm of the deceptively simple and cute art style of the original board game, but the tokens, animations, and even the soundtrack manage to both do so and build upon it further.”
- “The music is extremely good.”
- “I love the music and graphics and it has made me understand the game easier so that I can play with my friends in person on the board game versions.”
- “But unfortunately it pauses your music/podcasts while playing, even if you have the game sound turned off!”
- “Sorry, but if I have to pick between my music and my game, then I'll play a different game.”
- “Perfect game, perfect gameplay, but unusable for me 90% of the time because it hijacks my device sound meaning I can't listen to music while playing.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
38%
The game is highly regarded for its replayability, thanks to its engaging strategy mechanics and asymmetrical play styles among different factions. Players appreciate the potential for varied experiences, especially with the promise of future expansions that will further enhance replay value. Overall, it is considered one of the most enjoyable and replayable strategy games available.
- “One of the best, most enjoyable, entertaining, and replayable strategy games out there.”
- “The clockwork automata expansion provides an additional challenge, and endless replay value.”
- “The asymmetrical play styles of different factions create a lot of replayability.”
- “The clockwork automata expansion provides an additional challenge, but it doesn't significantly enhance replay value.”
- “The asymmetrical play styles of different factions create some replayability, but it feels limited over time.”
- “Asymmetrical strategy offers some replayability, but it quickly becomes repetitive.”
monetization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The monetization model of the game has received significant criticism, with players expressing frustration over the high cost of DLCs that often exceed the base game's price and the presence of frequent ad pop-ups, even for those who have purchased expansions. While some players appreciate the value of the expansions, they wish for a more straightforward purchasing system without in-app purchases, especially for family play. Overall, the monetization strategy appears to detract from the user experience.
- “It has most of the expansions available as in-app purchases (apart from Marauders which came in 2022, last year at the time of this review).”
- “No ads.”
- “Beyond the initial price, the map feels empty without expensive in-game purchases; most factions and maps are locked behind DLC that costs more than the base game combined.”
- “I have bought all the expansions, yet I'm still greeted with ads or, as Dire Wolf calls it, 'news' every single time I open the app.”
- “Worth the hefty price, though I wish the expansions weren't in-app purchases, so I could play them with my kids and not spend a fortune.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
83%
17%
Overall, the game's optimization is mixed; while some users report a smooth experience with minimal performance issues, others experience significant stability problems, glitches, and errors that detract from gameplay.
- “The adaptation: the game runs smoothly and allows all of the functionality of the board game in a clean, usable interface.”
- “Very fun game with very few performance issues.”
- “It runs smoothly and doesn't overheat my phone.”
- “Good game but terrible stability and optimization.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its amusing animations and quirky challenges, with players enjoying the comedic elements of the corvid conspirators' antics. Despite some UI issues, the overall experience is unexpectedly delightful, prompting players to seek out expansions and even the physical board game.
- “Funny animations and challenges, while the online play works 10/10.”
- “Will probably grab some of the expansions later because I liked the Corvid Conspirators for their funny little crimes when I played it with my friends.”
- “This is hilariously an unexpectedly good game and now I want the actual board game! Hahaha.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a captivating narrative, with each character possessing a unique storyline that adds depth and intrigue to the overall experience.
- “The game is really interesting as all the characters have different storylines.”
- “The narrative is rich and engaging, making every character's journey feel unique.”
- “I was captivated by the depth of the story and how it intertwined with each character's development.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect tedious and dull, with some experiencing issues that require them to relaunch the game and return to their saved progress, which adds to the frustration.
- “It may be unique to my phone, but having to relaunch and go back into my saved game is tedious.”
- “Sort of like Risk, if Risk was tedious and dull.”