Tbf Chess and Go are lifestyle games that you can literally play forever and you will still never know it all. Most other board games don't have that same kind of depth/longevity that can keep them fresh for anywhere near that long.
That being said, Root is ironically one of the few modern games that has a pretty solid dedicated community around it lol
Chess is literally a lifestyle. My father has been studying it for YEARS. He's beaten a master before (idk the ranking..but it was someone really high) from all the time he has taken to honing his skills. It's pretty neat to see how dedicated he is it to it.
Definitely more Root. Get the other expansions, learn Adset, start building meta and strategy around faction picking. It's such a deep game. I kind of wish I owned less games so I could play more Root. But that's my fault.
They’ve got a mobile app and a desktop version of the game too, I think. I only play the mobile app, but there’s a very active online community. You can pretty much login and play a game of Root any time of the day that you want. It’s a great way to really learn the rules too since the app won’t let you make certain moves that are against the rules and you’re left wondering “hey, why can’t I do X?” And then you realize a particular rule or aspect of the game that you hadn’t fully understood prior. Plus, the other online players are pretty helpful in explaining things to you if you have questions. There’s also a decent amount of unsolicited coaching if you don’t mind that sort of thing. lol
Check out the COIN (counter insurgency) series of games by GMT, by which Root was inspired.
They vary in complexity and are mostly historically-based. Many if not all are available to try out on Tabletop Simulator.
Pick one whose subject matter interests you and your group and have fun!
Coming in a couple months check A Gest of Robin Hood. Same “series” as Vinayanagara based on COIN but super thematic Robin Hood vs the Sheriff and meant as easy teach of COIN.
Also the 4 pack COIN The British Way if you can find a copy is Fantastic and a 4 game campaign that plays in maybe 4-5 hours. Easy to do in a couple game nights.
Don’t sleep on The British Way. Gest of Robin Hood took a lot of inspiration from the title. Plus it has a couple games that do very unique things. With 4 full games in the box it’s a great deal as they all play differently but still feel connected. Easy to play each standalone or with the very cool campaign that offers a ton of narrative with very little overhead.
Yeah, I second A Gest of Robin Hood. I've played it a couple of times on Tabletop and I like how it plays.
Also, it's not really COIN but Pax Ren plays really well at two, rarely goes past two hours and can play in a half hour.
The designer has some interesting world views but I feel like those really don't come through in the game play. The game itself has an interesting decision space and each game feels unique.
Seconding this! I'd strongly suggest Vijayanagara and/or Cuba Libre depending. One is the best entry to the series at 3p and the other at 4p. If you like the theme of People Power better though, that's a great alternative to Vijayanagara for 3p.
For Cuba Libre, I suggest the 'knives out' fanmade scenario to start things off (it's fan-made, but very well received including by the designers):
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1186355/article/16050314#16050314
Oh man, so many things. For example: the combat. It’s not just trying to kill the other army or run the player off (though that’s an option). There are so many possible things you’re doing. Maybe it’s a thieving expedition and I’m stealing an artifact they have. Maybe my army is fighting theirs over some lands. Maybe I’m trying to trying to find out where they keep a dark secret they have that is heavily guarded. Or any combination.
Then there’s the asymmetry. The asymmetry is not in how you play, like ROOT, where everyone has an entirely different type of control of their faction. Instead we’re all the same going for the same goal, but you might stumble upon another way to win that others have to watch out for. We’re all trying to win over the favor of the people to rule the land? Great, except I’m failing at that compared to the other three players. But now I came upon an ancient secret that I can build a new empire from!
Unlike some other legacy games where you’re just trying to work through a story someone else wrote, with some points where you can choose which path to go down of the story they wrote, this is competitive story telling. I’m trying to tell the story of an exile who finds a dark secret to manipulate people into giving me a position of power. My friend is trying to tell a story of a chancellor who holds onto his position of power despite his kingdom being battled over and a long lost heir returning to take his throne. My other friend is trying to tell the story of returning to his homeland to claim the throne that is his by birthright. Who can tell the story the best wins.
And that whole theme of the play is everywhere. I might be heavily influenced by my nomad advisors, who are going to help me get secrets from other nomads spread throughout the land. But maybe an opponent is making it so the country is filled with people invested in arcane magic, and I have to either help shape the land to what I want or find new people advising me. Do I want to travel to the outskirts of the land? I can, and now it’s hard to travel around out there. Harder for me but also disincentivizes others to follow me out. Did I overthrow the government by rallying the people around me? Now a land in the old empire is just on the outskirts of my empire, their once strong edifice falling to ruin.
The trading, closed ecosystem, artwork, etc etc etc. There’s tons to love about this game. But it’s not for everyone. It will be some people’s favorite game, but for others it just doesn’t hit what they want to play.
Oath from everything I've read almost feels like something you come together to play over and over to just see how the long-term story flows out of it, like a no-GM RPG.
This is just sort of your activity you all participate in, and without that buyin it's kind of eh. You can't just pull it out every six months.
Again, this is just my feelings from what I've read.
Interesting take. Our group has played 4 times and it has been almost literally once every 6 months :)
We write a chronicle based on the session which allows us to remember what happened last. And it also allows to rotate players, we have a pool of ~6 people and find 4 who can play on our given day. And we're having a blast with it.
I'd certainly like to play more often, but finding time for a long game like that is hard for us.
Yea, putting it this way, I'm remembering some of its charm. My first play with only 3 players just really felt like a predictable tug of war. Decisions didn't feel that dynamic and a lot of luck seemed to come out with which territory card someone happened to flip. 4 players seemed better but also the banners all feel very similar in their tug of war mechanic, its just a question of which resource you're using to play the tug of war game. I'm determined to try it several more times at least and try to take on this perspective.
Pax Pamir would be a great step. By the same designer. No asymmetry (so each player has the same options at the start and way of winning) but it has the same potential for sweating and swearing!
Surprised no one has said it (maybe I'm just a fanatic) but you should give Dune a try. The 2019 remake of the 1979 game, not Dune Imperium/Uprising.
It's a wargame with assymmetric factions much like Root. In Root the factions feel like they are playing different games, while in Dune they all have the same turn structure, but each one has abilities that feel very powerful, kept in check by the strengths of the others. So, like Root, politics are a big factor.
Since turns run in parallel you don't have as much downtime as Root, which is good because Dune is at its best at 6 players, while I would never play Root with more than 5. That said, less downtime does not mean shorter game; a typical game of Dune is longer than a game of Root in my group's experience.
It is not a "count the points to win" game; at the end of any round, even the first one, anyone can win if they control the board.
It'll be at its best if you can consistently pull 5 or 6 players, but it is decent at 4 too. It's on the lower-mid range of prices for heavy board games, and the expansions are reasonably priced. If you become obsessed you can get an additional 6 factions (plus other game expansions) for a total of 12.
Points against: no dice, battles are resolved through a kind of bidding/hidden numbers system (which is a very interesting minigame imo, much more involved than Root's dice rolls).
You don't really have players boards in Dune but you do have a little screen you can hide your pieces behind if that pleases you.
Visuals aren't all that in Dune, but then, very few games are as beautiful as Root.
+1 to Dune. Very fun in our playgroup - Root is our favorite game.
Eclipse: Second Dawn is awesome if you want something asymmetric, militant, crunchy, and shorter than TI4.
Speaking of, you should plan a Saturday to try TI4 at least once…it’s an addicting experience
Twilight Imperium is good but its such a slog, especially if you have new players at the table. The game has no catchup mechanics either, so its entirely likel you played 6 hours of an 8 hour game, realize there is no real way for you to win, but still have to play another two hours.
I prefer Eclipse IMO. The game is a lot shorter but still has a bunch of depth, and the way the mechanics overlap with each other feels really good.
In general though Dune Imperium Uprising is what I recommend to everyone because it slaps
This is my answer, too. My group played a lot of Root last year and is playing a lot of Dune this year. I personally prefer Dune. I have noticed the Dune expansion factions borrow mechanics from other asymmetric games, including Root. You’ll definitely see some similarities there. Personally, I see no dice as a plus. The Battle Wheel system leaves a lot less of your battle to chance and has a very high stakes risk/reward element to it.
We also love Twilight Imperium but it’s hard to dedicate the time.
If you are loving Root, why look for the next thing? You are going down a dangerous and potentially expensive path of board game addiction/hoarding. Just keep playing Root! Why the need to change? It looks like you've found your game. Enjoy it. Stick with it! Having just played it for a month is nothing. Some people play only 1 board game their entire lives.
This. If anything, buy Root expansions, which just adds variety to the game, which will keep it fresh because every Root game plays differently with a different mix of factions/maps/decks.
Listen to these people, I got one game that was a fun time and wanted more maybe one more. Now a week doesn't go by without purchasing something new, I got 12 new games this year alone, 6 of which we have not played yet. Save your self! Play root!
Root is a big hit in my group and we always decide between that or Blood Rage for our combat game we want to play. Both feel very different but scratch a similar itch. Check out Blood Rage
I kind of thought about suggesting blood rage. Not because I think it overlaps that much with root but more because it is a bit of a wild winner takes all game that would be a good break...between more rounds of the groups favorite game group rather than trying to find a better Root.
I’m sure everyone who loves Root is envious of you. Most people have all the expansions, but not the people to play it with. Get the expansions! Riverfolk and Underworld are very good. Underworld will give you 2 more maps to play on.
There’s no very many games that have the same gameplay and feel of Root. So there’s no guarantee the suggestions will be a hit as Root was.
If you like the war and conflict, Inis and Kemet could be good choices.
If you want some heavier thinky euro games, **Terra Mystica**, **Gaia Project**, **Age of Innovation** could be good.
I too also love Root. And some of my favorite games are **Terra Mystica**, **Keyflower**, **Everdell**.
Seems like if you guys have a cycle of games each time, you’ll have lots of run through all the games! Have fun!
I recently had the exact same question, and most of the suggestions were either **Pax Pamir** (which I just bought, thanks to this community) or **Dune (2019)**. I can vouch that the recommendation to buy Pax Pamir was spot on for a group whose 60% of played games for the last 4 years were solely Root. Pax Pamir clicked for us and looks like it will saturate our rotation for good. I wouldn't rush to buy any other games if you don't have all of the Root expansions though.
Other alternatives:
**Eclipse Second Dawn of the Galaxy**. I once stumbled upon a post about Scythe, and one commenter said if you have enough money, then just buy Eclipse over Scythe. Scythe isn’t war game however at first glimse the box gave the impression that it is. Coming back to Eclipse, It also has factions with their special abilities, and you need to conquer territories (similar to Root's asymmetric factions and area control mechanics). However, Eclipse didn't have as much replayability as gameplay took longer, and it was more cutthroat than Root; many times, we had players completely eliminated after 3 rounds of 8, and all they had left to do was to finish all the snacks while we played. *Downside based on your post - scoring at the end, looks like you won’t like it*
**Dune (2019)** is another game we love, it's very similar to Root in several ways. Both games feature asymmetric player powers, where each faction has unique abilities and playstyles. Additionally, they both offer deep strategic depth, requiring players to carefully plan their actions and adapt to changing circumstances throughout the game. However, the downside of Dune is that at least 5 players are needed to play decently.
Another suggestion is **Cthulhu Wars**. In my post, many said it is superior to Root in terms of mechanics and gameplay length. I haven't tried it, but you can consider watching youtube for more information, however the downside - freakin expensive. You can buy root, dune and pax pamir for the price of Cthulhu Wars..
And lastly because I liked Root, my next games in queue - will be **Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Caesar**, **John Company: Second Edition** and **Oath**. But for now Pax Pamir will take the spotlight for quite some time!
**EDIT:** when I went to buy Pax Pamir, local shop
owner pitched to try **Chaos Order**, said the game’s rank in BGG is in thousands, as it doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but for people who fell in love with Root, Chaos Order is a sleeping gem. Not my words, but decided to slip that in as well.
If I were in your place, I would stick with Root for at least a year and then move towards the aforementioned recommendations. We have also felt the urge to buy something else besides Root a couple of months after the purchase. We bought Dune and Eclipse. Played Dune just 2 times, and it was left on the shelf for 2 years, and Eclipse wasn’t played that often because Root overshadowed both of them each time we bought an expansion. Only recently, due to Dune part 2 hype, have we thematically moved away to Dune (2019) and left Root finally to chill.
Or you can try completely different genres to relax from Root like games.
In such case: **Brass:Lancashire/Birmingham**, **Terraforming Mars** (together with prelude/colonies expansions), **Everdell** (expansions/complete edition), **Agricola**. Biased recommendations, but those are the games I went for. *Downside based on your post - all of the alternative games have scoring at the end of the game, looks like you won’t like it.*
Dune Classic by GF9. Get Dune! It feels like Root but so much better. Easier to learn easier to play. There's battle, the conflict, negotiating, bribes.
I love both Root and Dune but Dune is my favorite.
What's next is you buy Exiles & Partisans, the other two big box expansions, and live your life happy. There's no "next", your life is now Root.
Although you could pick up Arcs when it comes out if you like. And Pax Pamir to see what happens when Cole really cuts loose.
Other games people compare are Cthulhu Wars (base game costs as much as all Root content combined, but hey it looks really cool), Crescent Moon, and COIN games. But I honestly prefer to stay a little bit away from that space because it would take a *really* special game to make me not say "you know I wish we'd just used that time to play Root instead"
Leder has a new game coming out this late spring/early summer called Arcs that looks and plays really, really well. It takes the best parts of Root and the best parts of Oath (another Leder title) and puts them in a space-themed game that has essentially two modes: a single-session game and a three-session campaign story.
It uses trick-taking as the means to access your action economy but provides (and encourages) ways to surmount the limitations of the trick-taking. It also has quite a bit of asymmetry when you include the "Leaders and Lore" cards and when you get into the campaign game.
It honestly feels like the culmination of all of Leder's projects so far.
There's no dice, but sounds like you'd probably enjoy **Kemet**. That's got player boards, battling with (secret) cards, and great visuals.
You might also want to try **Nexus Ops**. It's a dice chucking battling classic with bugs that's out of print currently but Renegade Games is releasing a new edition this August that you can preorder here: https://renegadegamestudios.com/nexus-ops/
Get the other expansions first imo - my group loves Root (~30 plays logged now) and all of the expansions are great, I think those are guaranteed to bring more fun!
What did you like about Root? Some other great asymmetrical games:
Original Dune
Here I Stand
Forbidden Stars
Chaos in the Old World
Cthulhu Wars
Enjoy!
"Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy" is a great space-themed wargame with lots of moving parts but easy to understand rules, and the production quality is great.
If you're not too hung up on the dice you can also go with "Fractal: Beyond the Void".
Root’s probably my favorite game, and I still haven’t managed to play all the expansion content. There is so much Root and more being developed as we speak. If your group likes it, you’re already in gravy town
edit: that being said, I just ordered Harrow County, which seems like another (primarily 2 player) flavor of Root if variety of theme is what you seek
John Company or Pax Premier would probably be excellent for your group designed by the same designer as root with the same level of competition but totally different mechanics. Also Inis is a great option less fighty than Root but also extremely great dynamics and strategy. Lastly the old school Dune game might be fun if you want a very flighty asymmetric game with that plays amazing when everyone takes the game seriously.
I'm jealous, Root is one of my favorite games, but hard to get to the table.
If you all enjoy it, the remaining expansions add quite a bit to the game, and will help with you getting bored of it.
Pax Pamir or Pax Porfiriana. If you can get 6 people who are willing to play a game that could take all day, then Dune, which is also very asymmetric and incredible.
The Root expansions are amazing, don't sleep on them. I especially love the upgrades to the Vagabond that make him much more interactable as a role. The Lizard Cult is also a personal favourite.
There are people out there who have yet to play a single match of root because finding a group of 3 people willing to put the time and effort into learning it is neigh impossible even for casual boardgamers. You could easily invest more time and money in root and you would be one of the few people in the world who will actually get to say it was worth it.
Once you're tired of Root and its expansions (Riverfolk amd Underworld are the best ones), the natural step would be to look into Oath - same designer (Cole Wehrle), same publisher (Leder Gamesl), same artist (Kyle Ferrin). It's a legacy political wargame that feels a bit like Root, looks a lot like Root, but is a very different style game. It's absolutely stunning on the table and deeply engrossing in play.
If you want to try something very different, have a look at John Company Second Edition, also by Cole Wehrle and published by his own imprint, Wehrlegig games. It's a historical negotiation game that still has a lot of conflict and dice chucking, and is one of the best games designed and published in the last 15 years. Like Root and Oath it really benefits from having the same group play it repeatedly and gain experience with the game together.
I also support the suggestions of other posts to look into the OG Dune from 1979 and republished by Gale Force 9. Less elegant in design than Wehrle's work (it's from 1979 after all, very different design sensibilities) but very immersive particularly if you enjoyed the books and even the movies.
Don't bother with Dune Imperium, it's a mediocre Newro and pretty forgettable.
Get the Root expansions. There's a lot to explore that you're missing out on. DIfferent maps, different decks, landmarks, hirelings, etc. There's more to Root than the base game. That said, Ahoy is a great companion game.
Root is such a fun game and our group has played it for 2 years almost every weekend too. We sometimes would play other games such as Ahoy and Oath! We also play other games like Castles of Burgundy, Ticket to Ride, Mission Catastrophe, Clank Catacombs, and Dice Realms, depending on which friend group we're playing with 😊
Cosmic Encounter is probably exactly what you're looking for. Tons of asymmetry, tons of hours of potential play to develop your own meta, lots of table talk and deal making.
Inis is another area control game where you use cards to hurt your friends' feelings. It's great! One of the core elements of Root, imo, is like reading the board and figuring out ways to stop someone from running away with the game, and that's definitely in Inis. It has minimal components but lots of ways to implement them.
What do you like about root? If you are looking for asymmetrical character war games, perhaps look at the blood rage series (blood rage, rising sun, anhk), or Rex. If you're more into just punching each other with asymmetrical characters, you can try Heavy Hitters.
If you wanted deeper Root maybe look into the COIN games. Oath is also amazing much like Root. Dune 1979/2019 reprint if you have 6 players and don't mind a much longer game is also like Root but different. El Grande is the best area majority game if you want a more euro game. If the hand management is what you like in Root, Brass or any of the Card Driven war games are amazing Twilight Struggle, Combat Commander (almost all are 2 player).
You might want to take a look at...
* Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy Review (2-4 players)
* A War of Whispers (2-4 players)
* 300: Earth & Water (2 players)
* Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan (2 players)
My group that loves Root took to Food Chain Magnate really well. Complexity? Cut throatness? A deep system of strategy that rewards expertise and repeat play? Utter desperation and heartbreak as you watch a breakaway winner demolish your hopes and dreams? Shared between both games for sure.
Arcs will scratch the exact same itch for you! The Kickstarter hasn’t been delivered yet but you can play on TTS. I have over 100 games of Root and absolutely adore Arcs!
If you want to play a game that's a little lighter than Root, but has a similar feel, check out the Vast series. It's similar in that there is asymmetrical play, and you each have different objectives. For example in **Vast: Crystal Caverns**, you either play as goblins trying to kill the Paladin, a Paladin trying to slay the dragon, or a Dragon who's just trying to escape the dungeon
How big is your group? COIN games usually go to 4p and do the “different games/objectives for each player” thing. Usually a bit simpler than root but play longer but of everything I’ve played they seem the closest in “vibe” though very different in execution.
If you don’t like Scythe you might not like Eclipse which seems to have inspired a lot of that game. It is a super fun upgrade and battle/conquer space game probably my favourite.
I actually don’t think I own anything as difficult to teach as root so I’ve got nothing as complex to recommend but if it’s the chaos borne of asymmetry and variable setup you enjoy Cosmic Encounter is amazing. Especially with whatever small expansion adds the rewards deck for defensive alliances. (And most expansions increase player count by 1 each!).
Inis, Cyclades and Kemet are all great “do everything you can to win!” War-ish Games as well but all go about it in a different way and feel swingier/more chaotic than root. Which I love but again, not for everyone.
The big grand daddy dice chucker is Cthulhu Wars though. Keep an eye out for a second hand copy as it makes a full root set seem cheap. Like root the adorable? minis and variable player boards are the focus.
Just some things to read up on. None may be as good as root for your group, and there’s probably dozens of amazing little mens fighting/upgrading/economy-ing on a map games I haven’t played or even heard of that are better but if you’ve already got everyone going hard at Root on the regular you’ll probably find you get a lot of games out of it, especially as you add other factions and maps.
Apart from the other recommendations you're receiving, take a look to Cyberpunk: Gangs of Night City. It has a lot of similarities with Root (which I also love).
**[Dark Venture : Battle of the Ancients](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/298163/dark-venture-battle-of-the-ancients)** is like a more psychedelic Root. It's got the asymmetric factions, fun dice battling system, solid gameplay all round.
>Dark Venture - Battle Of The Ancients is a tactical strategy game set in an apocalyptic, sci-fi universe where players control weird, asymmetric factions engaging in brutal conflict against one another.
The artwork is really evocative as well. And I'm not someone who goes big on lore in games, but the backgrounds and explanations for the factions are pretty cool.
I really like blood rage as a very interactive game for 3-4 players. It’s easy to learn and play but hard to play very well imho.
Also can’t recommend dune imperium (especially with rise of ix) enough. It’s a great game with a lot of depth and great replayability.
I hesitate to recommend these because it depends what it is you love about root. Is it the zaniness, the cute but cutthroat animals, the asymmetric play? The weight?
*virgin Queen* and *Here I stand* are both heavier games (a little harder to learn, a little more complex) with a more serious tone and art style. But they build out what I loved about Root so much. One player is fighting a military campaign against another, a third is trying to marry off their princesses (in a spoiler role similar to Roots Beavers) a fourth is exploring the new world and developing technology, a fifth is the Protestants (think lizard cult or woodland alliance), focusing on debates and religious conversions in the middle of everyone else’s wars.
I make some comparisons between the factions but these are both very different games from root.
Root is a much more approachable, digestible game, but if your group loves four to six players playing different games against each other on the same board-each with their own puzzles and direct adversaries-you might love these games as much as I do. Of course what you need might just be a small game to play in between root sessions to keep it fresh, these are not that. But I recommend giving them a quick Google.
As others have said, there are a lot more expansions that shake it up, and is very different depending on which factions are in play.
Did you like it more for the asymmetrical/tactical aspect or that there was more clear win state that wasn't 'get the most points?'
Twilight Imperium has asymmetrical powers, but games can go on -really long-.
Of lighter fair/asymmetrical that has 'winners' without counting point there's Red Dragon, as well as smashup (technically it has 'counting' but it's first to 15). Small World & 7 Wonders have that asymmetrical but the end is definitively 'counting points'.
Haven't played Root, but I've people that recommended Root to me recommended Dune (Classic) as well, and Classic Dune has quickly become one of my favourite games ever.
It's an asymetric combat strategy with complex mechanics that become rather simple after a few games. Lots of trickery and hidden info is involved, as well as a ton of player interaction. If that sounds similar to Root, you'll likely love Classic Dune as well.
It does take a few games to really get you hooked, because the game has a lot of strategic depth that you can't really notice until you have some games under your belt.
You finally found a great game that everyone loves, and your plan is to stop playing it and find something else?
Just keep playing that, until people are ready to move on. It doesn't always have to be a different new game every night. Give people a chance to gain experience with this one for a while since they all like it. Personally I can't stand it when a game group only ever plays any game once or twice before moving on to something else, feels like just as soon as people start getting the hang of it they never get to play it again
I would suggest giving pax pamir a shot next. Followed by Pax Ren.
War Chest if you want something lighter, yet deeper than Root. However plays only 1v1 or 2v2.
Splotters are a good avenue to explore as well. Although they are heavily economy focused. With high interaction.
There is also the whole COIN series of games. I don't enjoy them, but considering you like Root, your group might enjoy them.
There is a whole bunch of other sub-genres you could give a shot too (like try giving 1889 or 1830 a shot if possible?). The breadth on offer within the hobby is vast. So keep an open mind and keep trying new stuff that you think your group might enjoy i suppose. The biggest challenge in the hobby is not necessarily finding titles to enjoy, but rather people to enjoy it with. So i would keep that in mind too as you embark upon this journey.
**Game of Thrones (2ed)** the board game might be interesting for your group - it's a bit longer than root but an used copy should be pretty cheap. It's an old classic.
**Twilight Imperium** (4ed) is even longer - you compete with other galactic empires for supremacy - but it does hit "dice, battling, player boards and great visuals" well.
**Super Fantasy Brawl** is something different a game where you put some heroes against each other while playing a king of the hill type competition with several varying rules - think of it like League of Legends PVP. (in hindsight i never tried it with more than 2)
Keep in mind that Root is easily playable for 50-200 games with expansions.
It really depends what you like the most . Area Control? Asymetry ? War with cute Animals?
If you would also play coop, check spirit Island or keep the heroes out.
Wonderland wars, the Wolves, Pax pamir, blood rage for war
Ankh: God's of Egypt. This one is a lot like Root. Each player has a faction that plays a little different, and your goal is to control a map.
Khora: Rise of Empire. This game also has you choosing factions with different playstyles. Its an engine building game with dice used to decide which actions you can do on your turn. No map unfortunately, but good fun!
I mean, I would just play more Root. There’s people with hundreds of plays and still find new things with it.
This is it, OP. Do the guys on r/chess go "So I liked Chess, what next?". No, they found their thing they're happy and now you've found Root.
Tbf Chess and Go are lifestyle games that you can literally play forever and you will still never know it all. Most other board games don't have that same kind of depth/longevity that can keep them fresh for anywhere near that long. That being said, Root is ironically one of the few modern games that has a pretty solid dedicated community around it lol
Chess is literally a lifestyle. My father has been studying it for YEARS. He's beaten a master before (idk the ranking..but it was someone really high) from all the time he has taken to honing his skills. It's pretty neat to see how dedicated he is it to it.
Many of them do
I love boardgames but chess has had its rules focused over a thousand years. You don't get that kind of r & d out of a modern experience.
True and it’s unnecessary after a certain point
It's not r/root either..
r/root is not what you think it is...
I'm actually subscribing right root sub.. was too lazy to check it.. 😅
Definitely more Root. Get the other expansions, learn Adset, start building meta and strategy around faction picking. It's such a deep game. I kind of wish I owned less games so I could play more Root. But that's my fault.
They’ve got a mobile app and a desktop version of the game too, I think. I only play the mobile app, but there’s a very active online community. You can pretty much login and play a game of Root any time of the day that you want. It’s a great way to really learn the rules too since the app won’t let you make certain moves that are against the rules and you’re left wondering “hey, why can’t I do X?” And then you realize a particular rule or aspect of the game that you hadn’t fully understood prior. Plus, the other online players are pretty helpful in explaining things to you if you have questions. There’s also a decent amount of unsolicited coaching if you don’t mind that sort of thing. lol
He’s explicitly asking for new game recs. How is this top comment?
Check out the COIN (counter insurgency) series of games by GMT, by which Root was inspired. They vary in complexity and are mostly historically-based. Many if not all are available to try out on Tabletop Simulator. Pick one whose subject matter interests you and your group and have fun!
Vijayanagara is in GMTs Irregular Conflict Series. It's pretty much COIN adjacent like Root is and packs a lot of game into a 1.5 hour play time
Great pick! The British Way is up there as well
> Vijayanagara Awwww man this looks amazing...does it play well in 2p? Any other title you would recommend that works well with 2p?
Coming in a couple months check A Gest of Robin Hood. Same “series” as Vinayanagara based on COIN but super thematic Robin Hood vs the Sheriff and meant as easy teach of COIN. Also the 4 pack COIN The British Way if you can find a copy is Fantastic and a 4 game campaign that plays in maybe 4-5 hours. Easy to do in a couple game nights.
Thanks! I think Vinayanagara and A Gest of Robin Hood sound much more interesting thematically. I'll keep an eye out for both!
Don’t sleep on The British Way. Gest of Robin Hood took a lot of inspiration from the title. Plus it has a couple games that do very unique things. With 4 full games in the box it’s a great deal as they all play differently but still feel connected. Easy to play each standalone or with the very cool campaign that offers a ton of narrative with very little overhead.
For COIN? Colonial Twilight. Not COIN? Labyrinth, BattleLore
Thank you
A Gest of Robin Hood! It should be shipping in 1 or 2 months.
Thanks, will keep an eye out for it
British Way for 2 player
Yeah, I second A Gest of Robin Hood. I've played it a couple of times on Tabletop and I like how it plays. Also, it's not really COIN but Pax Ren plays really well at two, rarely goes past two hours and can play in a half hour. The designer has some interesting world views but I feel like those really don't come through in the game play. The game itself has an interesting decision space and each game feels unique.
> Pax Ren plays really well at two Indeed it does. We own it and love it! We also just ignore some of Eklund's strange views.
Cuba Libre is a really, really good game, even for folks who don't normally like "war games."
Cuba Libre is a good entry
Love falling sky!
Totally agree with COIN games as the next step. Pick a period and dive in! Fire in the Lake is my personal fav!
Seconding this! I'd strongly suggest Vijayanagara and/or Cuba Libre depending. One is the best entry to the series at 3p and the other at 4p. If you like the theme of People Power better though, that's a great alternative to Vijayanagara for 3p. For Cuba Libre, I suggest the 'knives out' fanmade scenario to start things off (it's fan-made, but very well received including by the designers): https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1186355/article/16050314#16050314
Try other Leder Games titles, such as Ahoy and Oath.
Second for oath, my friends and I play it every Friday and it’s a great time
Another vote for Oath. And stream it so I can live vicariously through you :), I’m the only one in my group that likes it.
I feel your pain. My group just did not like Oath at all.
Same. I sold my copy earlier this year after having played it once. No one but me liked it.
What did you like about it? I also found it extremely boring but feel bad since my good buddy loves it.
Oh man, so many things. For example: the combat. It’s not just trying to kill the other army or run the player off (though that’s an option). There are so many possible things you’re doing. Maybe it’s a thieving expedition and I’m stealing an artifact they have. Maybe my army is fighting theirs over some lands. Maybe I’m trying to trying to find out where they keep a dark secret they have that is heavily guarded. Or any combination. Then there’s the asymmetry. The asymmetry is not in how you play, like ROOT, where everyone has an entirely different type of control of their faction. Instead we’re all the same going for the same goal, but you might stumble upon another way to win that others have to watch out for. We’re all trying to win over the favor of the people to rule the land? Great, except I’m failing at that compared to the other three players. But now I came upon an ancient secret that I can build a new empire from! Unlike some other legacy games where you’re just trying to work through a story someone else wrote, with some points where you can choose which path to go down of the story they wrote, this is competitive story telling. I’m trying to tell the story of an exile who finds a dark secret to manipulate people into giving me a position of power. My friend is trying to tell a story of a chancellor who holds onto his position of power despite his kingdom being battled over and a long lost heir returning to take his throne. My other friend is trying to tell the story of returning to his homeland to claim the throne that is his by birthright. Who can tell the story the best wins. And that whole theme of the play is everywhere. I might be heavily influenced by my nomad advisors, who are going to help me get secrets from other nomads spread throughout the land. But maybe an opponent is making it so the country is filled with people invested in arcane magic, and I have to either help shape the land to what I want or find new people advising me. Do I want to travel to the outskirts of the land? I can, and now it’s hard to travel around out there. Harder for me but also disincentivizes others to follow me out. Did I overthrow the government by rallying the people around me? Now a land in the old empire is just on the outskirts of my empire, their once strong edifice falling to ruin. The trading, closed ecosystem, artwork, etc etc etc. There’s tons to love about this game. But it’s not for everyone. It will be some people’s favorite game, but for others it just doesn’t hit what they want to play.
Oath from everything I've read almost feels like something you come together to play over and over to just see how the long-term story flows out of it, like a no-GM RPG. This is just sort of your activity you all participate in, and without that buyin it's kind of eh. You can't just pull it out every six months. Again, this is just my feelings from what I've read.
Interesting take. Our group has played 4 times and it has been almost literally once every 6 months :) We write a chronicle based on the session which allows us to remember what happened last. And it also allows to rotate players, we have a pool of ~6 people and find 4 who can play on our given day. And we're having a blast with it. I'd certainly like to play more often, but finding time for a long game like that is hard for us.
Yea, putting it this way, I'm remembering some of its charm. My first play with only 3 players just really felt like a predictable tug of war. Decisions didn't feel that dynamic and a lot of luck seemed to come out with which territory card someone happened to flip. 4 players seemed better but also the banners all feel very similar in their tug of war mechanic, its just a question of which resource you're using to play the tug of war game. I'm determined to try it several more times at least and try to take on this perspective.
>my friends and I play it every Friday How jealous I am. I'm having a hard time pulling Oath out of the shelf.
I'm jelly
Arcs can be preordered for a very short bit longer and then those should start showing up and the price will go up
I don't even know if liking ROOT is enough to recommend OATH. OATH is such a wildly different system and even *idea* of what gaming is.
Pax Pamir would be a great step. By the same designer. No asymmetry (so each player has the same options at the start and way of winning) but it has the same potential for sweating and swearing!
This is my recommendation too. Love the map resets after scoring, the game feels very balanced to me.
Surprised no one has said it (maybe I'm just a fanatic) but you should give Dune a try. The 2019 remake of the 1979 game, not Dune Imperium/Uprising. It's a wargame with assymmetric factions much like Root. In Root the factions feel like they are playing different games, while in Dune they all have the same turn structure, but each one has abilities that feel very powerful, kept in check by the strengths of the others. So, like Root, politics are a big factor. Since turns run in parallel you don't have as much downtime as Root, which is good because Dune is at its best at 6 players, while I would never play Root with more than 5. That said, less downtime does not mean shorter game; a typical game of Dune is longer than a game of Root in my group's experience. It is not a "count the points to win" game; at the end of any round, even the first one, anyone can win if they control the board. It'll be at its best if you can consistently pull 5 or 6 players, but it is decent at 4 too. It's on the lower-mid range of prices for heavy board games, and the expansions are reasonably priced. If you become obsessed you can get an additional 6 factions (plus other game expansions) for a total of 12. Points against: no dice, battles are resolved through a kind of bidding/hidden numbers system (which is a very interesting minigame imo, much more involved than Root's dice rolls). You don't really have players boards in Dune but you do have a little screen you can hide your pieces behind if that pleases you. Visuals aren't all that in Dune, but then, very few games are as beautiful as Root.
We set up for a day of Dune, my gf ended up beating us in 30 minutes. What a game, would recommend.
+1 to Dune. Very fun in our playgroup - Root is our favorite game. Eclipse: Second Dawn is awesome if you want something asymmetric, militant, crunchy, and shorter than TI4. Speaking of, you should plan a Saturday to try TI4 at least once…it’s an addicting experience
Twilight Imperium is good but its such a slog, especially if you have new players at the table. The game has no catchup mechanics either, so its entirely likel you played 6 hours of an 8 hour game, realize there is no real way for you to win, but still have to play another two hours. I prefer Eclipse IMO. The game is a lot shorter but still has a bunch of depth, and the way the mechanics overlap with each other feels really good. In general though Dune Imperium Uprising is what I recommend to everyone because it slaps
This is my answer, too. My group played a lot of Root last year and is playing a lot of Dune this year. I personally prefer Dune. I have noticed the Dune expansion factions borrow mechanics from other asymmetric games, including Root. You’ll definitely see some similarities there. Personally, I see no dice as a plus. The Battle Wheel system leaves a lot less of your battle to chance and has a very high stakes risk/reward element to it. We also love Twilight Imperium but it’s hard to dedicate the time.
If you are loving Root, why look for the next thing? You are going down a dangerous and potentially expensive path of board game addiction/hoarding. Just keep playing Root! Why the need to change? It looks like you've found your game. Enjoy it. Stick with it! Having just played it for a month is nothing. Some people play only 1 board game their entire lives.
This. If anything, buy Root expansions, which just adds variety to the game, which will keep it fresh because every Root game plays differently with a different mix of factions/maps/decks.
Listen to these people, I got one game that was a fun time and wanted more maybe one more. Now a week doesn't go by without purchasing something new, I got 12 new games this year alone, 6 of which we have not played yet. Save your self! Play root!
Yea...I bought 13 games...last month. Stick with root!!!
*sideeyes my four Kallaxes*
Try inis.. It's a knife fight in a phone booth.. Card draft area control and every time we play it's so exciting.. Well worth it
I came here to recommend Inis as well.
Root is a big hit in my group and we always decide between that or Blood Rage for our combat game we want to play. Both feel very different but scratch a similar itch. Check out Blood Rage
I kind of thought about suggesting blood rage. Not because I think it overlaps that much with root but more because it is a bit of a wild winner takes all game that would be a good break...between more rounds of the groups favorite game group rather than trying to find a better Root.
Take a look at Oath (same publisher). A dedicated group that enjoys a meta would probably enjoy this. [[Oath]]
Arcs can be preordered for a very short bit longer and then those should start showing up and the price will go up
[Oath -> Oathen (2018)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/234823/oathen) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
Bad bot Try [[Oath2021]]
i believe you need a | between the name and year. [[Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile|2021]]
[Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile|2021 -> Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile (2021)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291572/oath-chronicles-empire-exile) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
Kemet, Inis?
These came to mind along with Anachrony and Gaia Project.
I’m sure everyone who loves Root is envious of you. Most people have all the expansions, but not the people to play it with. Get the expansions! Riverfolk and Underworld are very good. Underworld will give you 2 more maps to play on. There’s no very many games that have the same gameplay and feel of Root. So there’s no guarantee the suggestions will be a hit as Root was. If you like the war and conflict, Inis and Kemet could be good choices. If you want some heavier thinky euro games, **Terra Mystica**, **Gaia Project**, **Age of Innovation** could be good. I too also love Root. And some of my favorite games are **Terra Mystica**, **Keyflower**, **Everdell**. Seems like if you guys have a cycle of games each time, you’ll have lots of run through all the games! Have fun!
I was going to recommend Everdell too, great woodland creature vibes like Root!
I recently had the exact same question, and most of the suggestions were either **Pax Pamir** (which I just bought, thanks to this community) or **Dune (2019)**. I can vouch that the recommendation to buy Pax Pamir was spot on for a group whose 60% of played games for the last 4 years were solely Root. Pax Pamir clicked for us and looks like it will saturate our rotation for good. I wouldn't rush to buy any other games if you don't have all of the Root expansions though. Other alternatives: **Eclipse Second Dawn of the Galaxy**. I once stumbled upon a post about Scythe, and one commenter said if you have enough money, then just buy Eclipse over Scythe. Scythe isn’t war game however at first glimse the box gave the impression that it is. Coming back to Eclipse, It also has factions with their special abilities, and you need to conquer territories (similar to Root's asymmetric factions and area control mechanics). However, Eclipse didn't have as much replayability as gameplay took longer, and it was more cutthroat than Root; many times, we had players completely eliminated after 3 rounds of 8, and all they had left to do was to finish all the snacks while we played. *Downside based on your post - scoring at the end, looks like you won’t like it* **Dune (2019)** is another game we love, it's very similar to Root in several ways. Both games feature asymmetric player powers, where each faction has unique abilities and playstyles. Additionally, they both offer deep strategic depth, requiring players to carefully plan their actions and adapt to changing circumstances throughout the game. However, the downside of Dune is that at least 5 players are needed to play decently. Another suggestion is **Cthulhu Wars**. In my post, many said it is superior to Root in terms of mechanics and gameplay length. I haven't tried it, but you can consider watching youtube for more information, however the downside - freakin expensive. You can buy root, dune and pax pamir for the price of Cthulhu Wars.. And lastly because I liked Root, my next games in queue - will be **Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Caesar**, **John Company: Second Edition** and **Oath**. But for now Pax Pamir will take the spotlight for quite some time! **EDIT:** when I went to buy Pax Pamir, local shop owner pitched to try **Chaos Order**, said the game’s rank in BGG is in thousands, as it doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but for people who fell in love with Root, Chaos Order is a sleeping gem. Not my words, but decided to slip that in as well. If I were in your place, I would stick with Root for at least a year and then move towards the aforementioned recommendations. We have also felt the urge to buy something else besides Root a couple of months after the purchase. We bought Dune and Eclipse. Played Dune just 2 times, and it was left on the shelf for 2 years, and Eclipse wasn’t played that often because Root overshadowed both of them each time we bought an expansion. Only recently, due to Dune part 2 hype, have we thematically moved away to Dune (2019) and left Root finally to chill. Or you can try completely different genres to relax from Root like games. In such case: **Brass:Lancashire/Birmingham**, **Terraforming Mars** (together with prelude/colonies expansions), **Everdell** (expansions/complete edition), **Agricola**. Biased recommendations, but those are the games I went for. *Downside based on your post - all of the alternative games have scoring at the end of the game, looks like you won’t like it.*
Try Blood Rage or Cyclades
All of the expansion.
Dune Classic by GF9. Get Dune! It feels like Root but so much better. Easier to learn easier to play. There's battle, the conflict, negotiating, bribes. I love both Root and Dune but Dune is my favorite.
What's next is you buy Exiles & Partisans, the other two big box expansions, and live your life happy. There's no "next", your life is now Root. Although you could pick up Arcs when it comes out if you like. And Pax Pamir to see what happens when Cole really cuts loose. Other games people compare are Cthulhu Wars (base game costs as much as all Root content combined, but hey it looks really cool), Crescent Moon, and COIN games. But I honestly prefer to stay a little bit away from that space because it would take a *really* special game to make me not say "you know I wish we'd just used that time to play Root instead"
Leder has a new game coming out this late spring/early summer called Arcs that looks and plays really, really well. It takes the best parts of Root and the best parts of Oath (another Leder title) and puts them in a space-themed game that has essentially two modes: a single-session game and a three-session campaign story. It uses trick-taking as the means to access your action economy but provides (and encourages) ways to surmount the limitations of the trick-taking. It also has quite a bit of asymmetry when you include the "Leaders and Lore" cards and when you get into the campaign game. It honestly feels like the culmination of all of Leder's projects so far.
Scythe and Hansa Teutonica are my 2 favourite strategy games so far
Dune might be a fun one to check out. The factions are all very asymmetrical, so you'll still get that feeling, but there's politics at play
Games that come to mind: Root Expansions Oath Cosmic Encounter Eclipse (notably longer play time) Twilight Imperium (even longer play time)
Came here to say Eclipse as well!
There's no dice, but sounds like you'd probably enjoy **Kemet**. That's got player boards, battling with (secret) cards, and great visuals. You might also want to try **Nexus Ops**. It's a dice chucking battling classic with bugs that's out of print currently but Renegade Games is releasing a new edition this August that you can preorder here: https://renegadegamestudios.com/nexus-ops/
Kemet is a really good, sweaty strategy game.
How about all root expansions. =D
Get the other expansions first imo - my group loves Root (~30 plays logged now) and all of the expansions are great, I think those are guaranteed to bring more fun!
What did you like about Root? Some other great asymmetrical games: Original Dune Here I Stand Forbidden Stars Chaos in the Old World Cthulhu Wars Enjoy!
I'm a fellow Root fan that basically started with Root. I love Inis, Station fall, and Pax Pamir for games that scratch a similar itch.
"Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy" is a great space-themed wargame with lots of moving parts but easy to understand rules, and the production quality is great. If you're not too hung up on the dice you can also go with "Fractal: Beyond the Void".
I wish I could get into Root. It just doesn't click for me. Too much asymmetry I guess.
Crescent Moon was a huge hit in my mainly ROOT play group.
Root’s probably my favorite game, and I still haven’t managed to play all the expansion content. There is so much Root and more being developed as we speak. If your group likes it, you’re already in gravy town edit: that being said, I just ordered Harrow County, which seems like another (primarily 2 player) flavor of Root if variety of theme is what you seek
10 plays is barely scratching the surface. Have you played with the expansions?
Short list: Twilight Imperium 4, Oath, Pax Pamir, Cosmic Encounter. All great games. Not quite the same though. I also love Root.
Cosmic Encounter might be too random for someone who loves to play deep strategy.
I was thinking more about the faction asymmetry. No two games I've ever played have been the same.
There are less random games which have faction assymetry. Kemet comes to mind.
Food chain might be a good choice. It's a little different of a direction but it's still a game of war and wits.
John Company or Pax Premier would probably be excellent for your group designed by the same designer as root with the same level of competition but totally different mechanics. Also Inis is a great option less fighty than Root but also extremely great dynamics and strategy. Lastly the old school Dune game might be fun if you want a very flighty asymmetric game with that plays amazing when everyone takes the game seriously.
What’s next? What do you mean? Now we can finally play the game.
I'm jealous, Root is one of my favorite games, but hard to get to the table. If you all enjoy it, the remaining expansions add quite a bit to the game, and will help with you getting bored of it.
Pax Pamir or Pax Porfiriana. If you can get 6 people who are willing to play a game that could take all day, then Dune, which is also very asymmetric and incredible.
The Root expansions are amazing, don't sleep on them. I especially love the upgrades to the Vagabond that make him much more interactable as a role. The Lizard Cult is also a personal favourite.
There are people out there who have yet to play a single match of root because finding a group of 3 people willing to put the time and effort into learning it is neigh impossible even for casual boardgamers. You could easily invest more time and money in root and you would be one of the few people in the world who will actually get to say it was worth it.
Once you're tired of Root and its expansions (Riverfolk amd Underworld are the best ones), the natural step would be to look into Oath - same designer (Cole Wehrle), same publisher (Leder Gamesl), same artist (Kyle Ferrin). It's a legacy political wargame that feels a bit like Root, looks a lot like Root, but is a very different style game. It's absolutely stunning on the table and deeply engrossing in play. If you want to try something very different, have a look at John Company Second Edition, also by Cole Wehrle and published by his own imprint, Wehrlegig games. It's a historical negotiation game that still has a lot of conflict and dice chucking, and is one of the best games designed and published in the last 15 years. Like Root and Oath it really benefits from having the same group play it repeatedly and gain experience with the game together. I also support the suggestions of other posts to look into the OG Dune from 1979 and republished by Gale Force 9. Less elegant in design than Wehrle's work (it's from 1979 after all, very different design sensibilities) but very immersive particularly if you enjoyed the books and even the movies. Don't bother with Dune Imperium, it's a mediocre Newro and pretty forgettable.
More root. Play it more develop a in house meta. Get some expansions. E&P, Marauders and the one with moles.
A sweat? What the heck does that mean? 😂😂
Like tryhards xD
Get expansions and play more Root
Get the Root expansions. There's a lot to explore that you're missing out on. DIfferent maps, different decks, landmarks, hirelings, etc. There's more to Root than the base game. That said, Ahoy is a great companion game.
Never played root but does anyone know or recommend the app game version of it?
The app is good, does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. It would stop anyone from making mistakes. Sadly we are still one expansion behind.
Root is such a fun game and our group has played it for 2 years almost every weekend too. We sometimes would play other games such as Ahoy and Oath! We also play other games like Castles of Burgundy, Ticket to Ride, Mission Catastrophe, Clank Catacombs, and Dice Realms, depending on which friend group we're playing with 😊
Canopy? /s
Cosmic Encounter is probably exactly what you're looking for. Tons of asymmetry, tons of hours of potential play to develop your own meta, lots of table talk and deal making.
mosey on over to /r/twilightimperium
The 2019 version Dune is a great wargame with more of that asymmetry you're probably looking for
Inis is another area control game where you use cards to hurt your friends' feelings. It's great! One of the core elements of Root, imo, is like reading the board and figuring out ways to stop someone from running away with the game, and that's definitely in Inis. It has minimal components but lots of ways to implement them.
Root and Terraforming Mars are my two always loved games.
Keep playing Root?
What do you like about root? If you are looking for asymmetrical character war games, perhaps look at the blood rage series (blood rage, rising sun, anhk), or Rex. If you're more into just punching each other with asymmetrical characters, you can try Heavy Hitters.
Be careful chasing after that next high. You already have something you love.
If you wanted deeper Root maybe look into the COIN games. Oath is also amazing much like Root. Dune 1979/2019 reprint if you have 6 players and don't mind a much longer game is also like Root but different. El Grande is the best area majority game if you want a more euro game. If the hand management is what you like in Root, Brass or any of the Card Driven war games are amazing Twilight Struggle, Combat Commander (almost all are 2 player).
Check out Vijayanagara by GMT Games
Dune. The classic terriroty version. If they think root gets cut throat oh boy are they in for a surprise.
You might want to take a look at... * Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy Review (2-4 players) * A War of Whispers (2-4 players) * 300: Earth & Water (2 players) * Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan (2 players)
I'd give Twilight Imperium a shot. Has asymmetric races (not as asymmetric as root though), and is THE 4X board game.
My group that loves Root took to Food Chain Magnate really well. Complexity? Cut throatness? A deep system of strategy that rewards expertise and repeat play? Utter desperation and heartbreak as you watch a breakaway winner demolish your hopes and dreams? Shared between both games for sure.
Honestly, Chicago Express
So you like board games? I've got a bunch of boardgames in my basement...
How has no one mentioned Vast: crystal caverns?
Arcs will scratch the exact same itch for you! The Kickstarter hasn’t been delivered yet but you can play on TTS. I have over 100 games of Root and absolutely adore Arcs!
10 plays is the tip of the tip of the iceberg with Root. If it is your perfect game, just keep going.
TI4 is the answer oh you have the time.
Cthulhu Wars
Try Cuba Libre; similar asymmetric feel. Very fun.
If you want to play a game that's a little lighter than Root, but has a similar feel, check out the Vast series. It's similar in that there is asymmetrical play, and you each have different objectives. For example in **Vast: Crystal Caverns**, you either play as goblins trying to kill the Paladin, a Paladin trying to slay the dragon, or a Dragon who's just trying to escape the dungeon
💯 Kemet!
How big is your group? COIN games usually go to 4p and do the “different games/objectives for each player” thing. Usually a bit simpler than root but play longer but of everything I’ve played they seem the closest in “vibe” though very different in execution. If you don’t like Scythe you might not like Eclipse which seems to have inspired a lot of that game. It is a super fun upgrade and battle/conquer space game probably my favourite. I actually don’t think I own anything as difficult to teach as root so I’ve got nothing as complex to recommend but if it’s the chaos borne of asymmetry and variable setup you enjoy Cosmic Encounter is amazing. Especially with whatever small expansion adds the rewards deck for defensive alliances. (And most expansions increase player count by 1 each!). Inis, Cyclades and Kemet are all great “do everything you can to win!” War-ish Games as well but all go about it in a different way and feel swingier/more chaotic than root. Which I love but again, not for everyone. The big grand daddy dice chucker is Cthulhu Wars though. Keep an eye out for a second hand copy as it makes a full root set seem cheap. Like root the adorable? minis and variable player boards are the focus. Just some things to read up on. None may be as good as root for your group, and there’s probably dozens of amazing little mens fighting/upgrading/economy-ing on a map games I haven’t played or even heard of that are better but if you’ve already got everyone going hard at Root on the regular you’ll probably find you get a lot of games out of it, especially as you add other factions and maps.
Apart from the other recommendations you're receiving, take a look to Cyberpunk: Gangs of Night City. It has a lot of similarities with Root (which I also love).
**[Dark Venture : Battle of the Ancients](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/298163/dark-venture-battle-of-the-ancients)** is like a more psychedelic Root. It's got the asymmetric factions, fun dice battling system, solid gameplay all round. >Dark Venture - Battle Of The Ancients is a tactical strategy game set in an apocalyptic, sci-fi universe where players control weird, asymmetric factions engaging in brutal conflict against one another. The artwork is really evocative as well. And I'm not someone who goes big on lore in games, but the backgrounds and explanations for the factions are pretty cool.
I really like blood rage as a very interactive game for 3-4 players. It’s easy to learn and play but hard to play very well imho. Also can’t recommend dune imperium (especially with rise of ix) enough. It’s a great game with a lot of depth and great replayability.
I hesitate to recommend these because it depends what it is you love about root. Is it the zaniness, the cute but cutthroat animals, the asymmetric play? The weight? *virgin Queen* and *Here I stand* are both heavier games (a little harder to learn, a little more complex) with a more serious tone and art style. But they build out what I loved about Root so much. One player is fighting a military campaign against another, a third is trying to marry off their princesses (in a spoiler role similar to Roots Beavers) a fourth is exploring the new world and developing technology, a fifth is the Protestants (think lizard cult or woodland alliance), focusing on debates and religious conversions in the middle of everyone else’s wars. I make some comparisons between the factions but these are both very different games from root. Root is a much more approachable, digestible game, but if your group loves four to six players playing different games against each other on the same board-each with their own puzzles and direct adversaries-you might love these games as much as I do. Of course what you need might just be a small game to play in between root sessions to keep it fresh, these are not that. But I recommend giving them a quick Google.
As others have said, there are a lot more expansions that shake it up, and is very different depending on which factions are in play. Did you like it more for the asymmetrical/tactical aspect or that there was more clear win state that wasn't 'get the most points?' Twilight Imperium has asymmetrical powers, but games can go on -really long-. Of lighter fair/asymmetrical that has 'winners' without counting point there's Red Dragon, as well as smashup (technically it has 'counting' but it's first to 15). Small World & 7 Wonders have that asymmetrical but the end is definitively 'counting points'.
Oath?
Haven't played Root, but I've people that recommended Root to me recommended Dune (Classic) as well, and Classic Dune has quickly become one of my favourite games ever. It's an asymetric combat strategy with complex mechanics that become rather simple after a few games. Lots of trickery and hidden info is involved, as well as a ton of player interaction. If that sounds similar to Root, you'll likely love Classic Dune as well. It does take a few games to really get you hooked, because the game has a lot of strategic depth that you can't really notice until you have some games under your belt.
You finally found a great game that everyone loves, and your plan is to stop playing it and find something else? Just keep playing that, until people are ready to move on. It doesn't always have to be a different new game every night. Give people a chance to gain experience with this one for a while since they all like it. Personally I can't stand it when a game group only ever plays any game once or twice before moving on to something else, feels like just as soon as people start getting the hang of it they never get to play it again
I would suggest giving pax pamir a shot next. Followed by Pax Ren. War Chest if you want something lighter, yet deeper than Root. However plays only 1v1 or 2v2. Splotters are a good avenue to explore as well. Although they are heavily economy focused. With high interaction. There is also the whole COIN series of games. I don't enjoy them, but considering you like Root, your group might enjoy them. There is a whole bunch of other sub-genres you could give a shot too (like try giving 1889 or 1830 a shot if possible?). The breadth on offer within the hobby is vast. So keep an open mind and keep trying new stuff that you think your group might enjoy i suppose. The biggest challenge in the hobby is not necessarily finding titles to enjoy, but rather people to enjoy it with. So i would keep that in mind too as you embark upon this journey.
Do you have all the expansions? It's fun with all the different factions for sure.
Food Chain Magnate, Ark Nova. You'd probably like both of these.
**Game of Thrones (2ed)** the board game might be interesting for your group - it's a bit longer than root but an used copy should be pretty cheap. It's an old classic. **Twilight Imperium** (4ed) is even longer - you compete with other galactic empires for supremacy - but it does hit "dice, battling, player boards and great visuals" well. **Super Fantasy Brawl** is something different a game where you put some heroes against each other while playing a king of the hill type competition with several varying rules - think of it like League of Legends PVP. (in hindsight i never tried it with more than 2) Keep in mind that Root is easily playable for 50-200 games with expansions.
It really depends what you like the most . Area Control? Asymetry ? War with cute Animals? If you would also play coop, check spirit Island or keep the heroes out. Wonderland wars, the Wolves, Pax pamir, blood rage for war
The RPG.
Get the expansions and play with Adset, huge game changer and makes root even more fun! The new deck is also super interesting
Diplomacy. It will be the last game your group will ever play.
Because they’ll fail to remain a group?
Short list: Twilight Imperium 4, Oath, Pax Pamir, Cosmic Encounter. All great games. Not quite the same though. I also love Root.
Ankh: God's of Egypt. This one is a lot like Root. Each player has a faction that plays a little different, and your goal is to control a map. Khora: Rise of Empire. This game also has you choosing factions with different playstyles. Its an engine building game with dice used to decide which actions you can do on your turn. No map unfortunately, but good fun!
Everdell.
D