The complex yet exciting woodland showdown between cats, birds, and other cute animals in Root has won the game many fans. The asynchronous gameplay and unique factions make for a rewarding experience, whether it’s your first game or your one hundredth. But if you’re ready to try something new, then you’ll definitely want to check out our picks for the best board games like Root, that have similarities in either mechanics or theme.
In Spirit Island, your role is to protect a remote Pacific island from invading colonists and make them fear the land enough to leave it. You’ll have a unique nature-based spirit that comes with a number of interesting powers, and you’ll have both a deck of cards and an energy pool to manage as well. Each turn represents a few years of alternate history and offers a ton of exciting decision points. This is certainly a more complex game, but if you’re already a fan of Root, then you’ll enjoy the lengthy learning process. Each adversary faction provides a different challenge and gives the game multiple difficulty settings.
The classic showdown between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire comes to the table in style with Star Wars: Rebellion. If you’re allied with Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, you’ll need to destroy the rebel base to win the game. If you’re working with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo instead, you’ll need to convince various planetary systems to turn against the Empire and aid you instead. The Dark Side has significantly more ships and troops to work with for thematic reasons, but the balance between the two opponents is perfect.
Axis & Allies games are some of the best World War-themed tabletop titles, and Europe 1940 is a great place to start the series. Despite its name, the map includes not just Europe, but all of Africa and the east coast of North America as well. The game works perfectly on its own, but you can also pair it with Axis & Allies: Pacific 1940 to create the ultimate area control game that fully captures the grand scale of the conflict. The Allies win by taking Rome and Berlin, and the Axis win by controlling eight victory cities.
If you’re looking for an asynchronous Euro-board game with slightly less conflict than Root, then you might want to try Scythe. There’s usually still a showdown or two amongst rivals before the end of the game, but most of the time you’ll instead focus on building your engine. Gathering crops allows you to enlist recruits, harvesting wood lets you build structures, and mining for metal unlocks your mechs. When one of the players gets six stars, the game ends, and scoring begins. Popularity is often a key multiplier when it comes to valuing your accomplishments, but you can still win without it in certain situations.
The dark lord Sauron is marshaling his armies in the East, and the forces of the Free People must muster the last of their strength to oppose him. The basic premise of the classic Lord of the Rings books is a fantastic foundation for a board game, and the War of the Ring takes full advantage of it to create an exceptional thematic experience. The person playing as Gondor and the remnants of the West must hold out long enough for the Fellowship to reach Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring. Their opponent controls the armies of evil and aims for a swift victory via territorial control. There are also plenty of fun War of the Ring expansions that further improve the game.
If you love classic war-themed board games with a complex area control system, then you’ll love Shogun. This board game takes place in the same era as the recent television show from FX that goes by the same name. You’ll want to take provinces that yield silver and produce crops to form the basis of a solid kingdom. You’ll also need to expand your holdings, marshal troops, and win battles to claim victory. There’s a neat dice tower, and the “Big Box” edition of the game comes with all four expansions.
The Celtic-themed area control game Inis has several design elements that will appeal to fans of Root. The first of these is the game’s various win conditions. You can either hold six territories, be the chieftain of six opposing clans, or have units in areas with at least six total sanctuaries. There’s also an action card and drafting element that lends itself to seemingly limitless strategies, and a deed system that reduces win condition requirements. The map tiles are gorgeous and colorful, and you’ll need to think very carefully before you pick a fight with your fellow players.
In Cosmic Encounter, you play as an alien species who has just arrived in a new galaxy that’s full of dangerous creatures and potential allies. You start with five home worlds, and four ships on each of them. You will also get a handful of cards that will allow you to attack and negotiate with other systems. What really sets the game apart from similar tabletop titles is the wide selection of special powers, which can completely change the way you and your opponents play your cards.
Liberty or Death is the fifth entry in the COIN (counter insurgency) game series, and like other entries before it, the game centers around a complex conflict between a number of factions that all have unique win conditions. This is very similar to Root, where each person is essentially playing their own style of game. This time around, you’ll join in the American Revolution as either the Patriots, the British, the French, or the Indians. However, the French and the Patriots, for example, will largely work together. There are multiple scenarios included in the box, and each one has a different length. There’s also a complex solo mode that’s a ton of fun.
Though the best-known game from Leder Games is Root, its campaign-based title Oath is arguably just as fantastic. The art style between the two is relatively similar, but the most noticeable difference is that the events of one Oath game will carry over to the next. There are a ton of cool action cards that bring about unique plot twists, and the game mat and other components are both high-quality and colorful. There are lots of victory conditions, and this gives the game considerable replay value.
