Is Root good for kids? Age and difficulty
Woodland creatures fight over a forest map, and every player has a different faction with its own rules and its own way to score. The Marquise de Cat builds an industry, the Eyrie Dynasties must carry out a Decree or fall into turmoil, the Woodland Alliance spreads sympathy and rises up, and the Vagabond wanders alone doing quests. You take turns moving, building and battling with dice, and the first to 30 points, or to complete a dominance card, wins.
What age is Root for?
Box says 14+
We suggest 13+ with an adult helping, 14+ on their own.
Each player has a different faction with its own turn, its own way to score and its own special rules, so a new player has to learn their own faction and also know what the others can do to them. A 13 year old can play with an adult teaching the faction and checking the others, and 14 is when they can hold it all in their head and fight back without help.
- Hard to learn
- 2 to 4 players
- 60 to 90 minutes
- About 15 minutes to set up (our estimate)
- Competitive
Players can hurt each other's plans directly. Players can block each other. Players can steal from each other. Content: Cute woodland animals at war over who rules the forest. Battles use dice and remove pieces from the map, and the art is cartoon style with no gore. Players attack each other directly, the Marquise de Cat is an occupying army exploiting the woodland, the Woodland Alliance rises in violent revolt against oppressors, and only the Thief Vagabond can steal a random card from a player in its clearing.
Rated from the rulebook, checked 2026-10-19
Rules as of the Leder Games Law of Root (October 2025).
Where do these facts come from?
Age, players and play time come from the publisher. The difficulty and our age suggestions come from reading the official rulebook. We have not built a lesson or setup guide for Root yet.
- The publisher's page, checked 2026-10-19
- The rulebook we rated it from
What else could you try?
- Brass: Birmingham: Build industries and transport links in a heavy economic game set in the Industrial Revolution.
- Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion: A cooperative campaign of card-driven fantasy battles for experienced players.
- Spirit Island: Work together as island Spirits to push back colonists before the land is blighted.
- Terraforming Mars: Run a corporation and turn Mars green by playing hundreds of different project cards.
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