morganhill•1mo agoProlific Poster

Had a game night last Friday that was a total disaster from start to finish

I spent 3 hours prepping my new copy of Root with all the expansions, but two players showed up an hour late and one had never played a board game more complex than Uno. We spent 45 minutes just explaining the rules, then someone knocked over the map and all the tokens went flying. Has anyone else had a game night fall apart before you even got through the first round?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery191mo ago

Heard someone say Root is basically impossible with new players.

jessica_ross381mo ago

I used to think Root was fine for new people, but yeah this totally changed my mind. I had the same thing happen with my group when I brought out the Riverfolk expansion. We spent an hour just explaining the Vagabond and how the factions work, and by the time we started, two people were already on their phones. Then the whole "knocked over the map" thing happened to us too when someone reached for chips. So no, now I just stick with lighter games like Catan or Carcassonne for mixed groups. Root's staying in the box until I find people who actually want to learn it.

emmaallen19d ago

I get where you're coming from, but I actually think Root works fine for new people if you don't overload them with expansions. Just the base game with four players takes maybe 15 minutes to explain.