Root
by Dire Wolf · 24 Sep, 2020
7 downloads
About the Game

A game of woodland might and right.
Play the digital adaptation of the beloved tabletop board game. Root is a game of adventure and war where 2 to 4 players battle for control of a vast wilderness.
The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats. In this effort, the Alliance may enlist the help of the wandering Vagabonds who are able to move through the more dangerous woodland paths. Though some may sympathize with the Alliance’s hopes and dreams, these wanderers are old enough to remember the great birds of prey who once controlled the woods.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the region, the proud, squabbling Eyrie have found a new commander who they hope will lead their faction to resume their ancient birthright.
The stage is set for a contest that will decide the fate of the great woodland. It is up to the players to decide which group will ultimately take root.


The most recent conquerors of the forest, the Marquise de Cat plays a game of engine building and logistics while policing the vast wilderness. By collecting Wood they are able to build Workshops, Sawmills, and Recruiters to help her score victory points. Marquise de Cat has the largest army in ROOT, but numbers alone won’t be enough to secure the forest...
The Marquise de Cat builds a mighty industrial war machine to subdue the forest. Each time the Marquise builds a Workshop, Sawmill, or Recruiter, you score victory points. The more of the same building she has on the map, the more points scored. However, to fuel ongoing construction, the Marquise must maintain and protect a strong, interconnected economy of Wood. While it may be tempting to overwhelm your opponents with sheer numbers, this leaves you at great risk of spreading yourself too thin and ultimately not being able to keep up.

The Eyrie Dynasties once ruled the wood, before the coming of the Cats. They must retake control by capturing territory and building Roosts before they collapse back into squabbling. The Eyrie are proud and bound to the decrees of their leaders. Each leader brings with them different specialties and advantages. The right leader at the right time could lead you to victory, but the wrong leader could cripple your chances of reclaiming the forest.
During the Evening, the Eyrie score victory points based on the number of roosts on the map. The greater their presence in the Woodlands, the greater their gains. However, the Eyrie are bound by their Decree, an ever-increasing set of mandated actions promised by their leader. Each turn, they must take all of the actions on their Decree, or else fall into turmoil.

The Woodland Alliance doesn’t take kindly to despots - old or new. Marquise, Eyrie, they’re all the same. Only through the will of the people can this wood be ruled! The Woodland Alliance are masters of guerrilla warfare, they begin slowly but can build into a late-game powerhouse - but only if they can manage to subvert the other would-be rulers along the way.
The Woodland Alliance works to gain the sympathy of the various creatures of the forest. Each time the Alliance places a sympathy token, they may score victory points. The more sympathy on the map they have, the more victory points they score. Gaining the sympathy of the people requires supporters. These supporters can also be put toward violent ends, inciting outright rebellion across the forest. When a revolt erupts, the Alliance will establish a base. Bases allow the Alliance to train officers, increasing their military strength and flexibility.

The Vagabond is an adventurer to some, a trader to others, and thief to more, and an all-around scoundrel. As the Vagabond, you will explore all over the map, beyond just it's clearings, into dense woods to find items and ruins. You can trade and lend aid to the warring factions of the forest to help you complete your own secret quests.
The Vagabond plays all sides of the conflict while going on quests to increase his renown throughout the wood. Each time the Vagabond improves their relationship with another faction, or removes a warrior belonging to a faction hostile toward them, the Vagabond scores victory points. You can also complete quests to score victory points. To move and act effectively the Vagabond must manage a pack of items, expand your selection by exploring the forest ruins and providing aid to other factions.

Screenshots
8 imagesVersion Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38321482/c3e1f42f016a9ffd3733274cefd63853865fe107.png"]
We have another small patch update, with an adjustment to the Duchy and a bug fix for a known issue. Thank you for your feedback, Woodland warriors!
Bug Fixes
The Duchy must now move at least one warrior out of the Burrow with Dig if able, to align with upcoming Law of Root clarification.
Spring Uprising warriors should now be able to be placed in the Lost City clearing during setup regardless of clearing selection order.
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38321482/b1cf11330c2e2294b4e7deba60a2b9766f403fb6.png"]
Today's hotfix addresses a few bugs following the release of the 2.1 update. Thank you as always for your reports, Woodland warriors!
Bug Fixes
Warriors removed by an Ambush and returned with Feline Physicians should now contribute hits in battle.
Rabbit Scouts should now correctly give you the higher die in battle.
Modified the position of an ability description highlight in the Clockwork tutorial.
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38321482/bbbde395c51bbf911f71c5d4d1ce8e1658e10a1a.png"]
Today's hotfix brings improvement to the Woodland with fixes for various bugs. Thank you, as always, for your reports, which help us to identify these issues and resolve them as soon as possible!
Bug Fixes
Marquise, Eyrie, and Keepers warriors once again display their weapons during combat animations.
Fixed an issue where undoing the crafting of Coffin Makers could cause a softlock.
The Hundreds can no longer use League of Adventurous Mice, as they do not have a crafted items box.
Resuming a game should now function correctly for Keepers when returning to a match that was left during a battle and delve action in an empty clearing.
Resolved an issue where undoing warrior movement could prevent opponents from initiating battle against those warriors.
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38321482/a6d1a137cccbbc8ec7a461f0d3c53d0cc1ad678d.png"]
We’ve been hard at work making improvements to Root Digital since the release of Hirelings & Landmarks! Since our last public patch update, we’ve deployed several hotfixes (including a new one today, 2.0.12) addressing various bugs and issues. In today’s notes, you’ll find a list of the many changes we’ve made in these incremental updates, with improvements to undo behavior, streamlining of several corner-case rules, some UI tidying, and a variety of general fixes.
Thank you, Woodland warriors, for your valuable feedback that helps us to continually improve the Root Digital experience!
General Fixes & Improvements
Advanced Setup now correctly determines the first player.
Rat Smugglers no longer require the Vagabond to have an unused boot to move.
Warm Sun Prophets can no longer move an opponent’s Warlord.
Riverfolk Mercenaries now appear in battle as intended.
Vagabond can now use Cobbler at the start of Evening.
Lizard Cult can no longer recruit using off-suit cards.
Woodland Alliance can now recruit Officers to Bases in the Lost City clearing.
The Exile’s Revenge achievement can now be earned.
Vagabond now exhausts swords correctly when attacking the Hundreds.
Fixed Field Hospital only being usable for a single instance of warriors lost in Async timer games.
Hirelings and Landmarks achievements on Android should now be granted correctly.
The Arbiter should now be able to be enlisted in battle again.
Adset games should now start correctly on the Lake or Mountain maps.
Hundreds should not deal rolled hits when Looting again.
Vagabond should again be able to continue scoring when another Vagabond enters a coalition with them.
Rule will now update after the Spring Uprising’s piece removal ability is used.
Added window for Eyrie to use the Black Market before they add to their Decree.
Fixed Keepers getting prompted for relic movement when the Vagabond forces them to move.
Fixed cards disappearing after cancelling the Dig action before confirming how many warriors to move.
Favor and Partisan cards now damage the Vagabond as intended.
Marquise can now use Field Hospital after losses in the Keep clearing during Async games again.
Keepers are no longer prompted to move relics when being moved by False Orders.
Undo
Fixed issue preventing Riverfolk from undoing back into Daylight from Evening.
Vagabond can no longer undo completed quests.
Undo is now available during suit selection when crafting.
Undo is now supported when selecting relics during Move and Recover beyond the first.
Fixed undo not reverting VP gain during a Recover action that didn’t result in retinue loss.
Corvid may now undo the Trick action in cases where it chooses from 3 or more plots.
Fixed undo not being usable after cancelling claiming a Dominance card.
Dominance claims using a Bird card can now be undone.
Undo is now supported after selecting “No” for placing mobs with Jubilant.
Fixed issue where viewing results of a Live timer game reverted the game to the final turn.
Visuals and UI
The Duchy’s action counter no longer overlaps the turn timer.
Riverfolk Services text banner now minimizes along with the rest of the prompt.
Maximize button now available again after minimizing the Choose Casualties prompt in battle.
The indication Hundreds are using Bitter in battle should no longer be hidden behind the battle UI.
Indication that a Vagabond is damaging items in battle should no longer appear behind the battle UI.
Localization
Various localization, text display, and translation fixes.
Onward through the Woodland!
We've released a hotfix addressing various bugs following the release of Hirelings & Landmarks. A huge thanks to the players who have reported these issues so we can continue to make Root Digital the best it can be!
Bug Fixes
Fixed a number of compatibility issues when moving from the pre-Hirelings version and the post-Hirelings version, particularly around saving and resuming in-progress matches.
Fixed an issue where, moving from the pre-Hirelings version into the post-Hirelings version, players may be unable to place Corvid Plot tokens in online multiplayer games.
Resolved a case where players on the pre-Hirelings version could not explore the ruins as the Vagabond in multiplayer games.
Players who resume a save from the pre-Hirelings version on the post-Hirelings version should no longer encounter the Tower not properly granting points.
Lizard Cult should no longer be able to build a 6th Garden of one suit, which caused softlocks.
The ferry no longer disappears in cases where it was used to move the Lizards, Duchy, or Riverfolk.
Players should no longer be able to see unrevealed Plot tokens in Strategic view after the Corvid player revealed them.
Resolved a rare case where the match could crash when playing as the Marquise and choosing which wood to use during an action.
Fixed an issue where Marquise would softlock or not be able to undo when choosing wood to spend.
When the Vagabond uses a Favor card to remove warriors, their relationship with that warriors faction now becomes hostile.
Resolved a case where Keepers Relic icons could be very large when zoomed out.
Other factions should no longer use the Duchy Pickaxes in the ball of violence during combat.
The No Lords Before Me challenge should no longer occasionally end immediately after setup.
The Marquise Faction Info screen should no longer display incorrect building costs.
The Action log should no longer display suits of cards added to the Alliance supporters pile.
Players should no longer be forced to place two Mob tokens during Birdsong if next to the Lost City.
Lizards who begin to reveal Bird Cards for Acolytes should no longer have to reveal them all.
Today’s small patch fixes some display issues, in particular for players using ultrawide monitors or newer mobile devices.
Bugs
- Fixed black bars appearing at the top of the display for certain mobile devices, in particular newer iOS devices.
- Fixed handling of safe areas on iOS devices.
- Fixed the battle scene along with a few other scenes to properly extend left and right on ultrawide display.
- Fixed pillarboxing on 16:10 displays.
- Fixed clearing selections so that players can easily place warriors, buildings and other tokens without triggering tooltips.
Known Issues
- The AI timer buffer is given to players who do not have an AI between them and the previous Human opponent.
- VP gain VFX plays out of sync with actual increase in VP.
- Anytime in Birdsong cards can only be used after Refresh and Slip.
- Occasionally, Skip Replay doesn't skip to the start of your turn.
- Normal difficulty Corvid AI leaves plots unprotected for too long.
- Vagabond is missing confirmation when ending a turn with actions available.
- Some opponent prompts do not appear for Underworld factions/maps.
- AdSet: Discarding is not simultaneous.
- Duchy player is told to activate ministers when they do not have any.
- Export prompt says "Craft" instead of "Export".
- Sub-optimal order of removal in some cases when Base and Sympathy are removed at the same time.
- Cannot select bottom center clearing on Mountain Map for first AdSet Homeland as Cats.
- "Playable" displays instead of card names for mandatory cards.
- The Adventurer using Improvise displays the items in the wrong order.
- If all other players have left a multiplayer match, the last user cannot view the EoG screen.
- Action Log: No entry for winning a game.
- The score isn't grayed out when the Lizard player only has Bird cards in hand.
- Cats cannot see future costs for buildings.
- Confusing icon used in Birdsong of Duchy Faction Phase Order.
- Battle animation covers some locations of buildings when in Quick Battle.
As always, if you run into trouble or need help, drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help. And if you haven’t already, be sure to join our player community on Discord!
Thanks for playing Root!
Today’s hotfix addresses a handful of issues discovered by the community.
Bugs
- Fixed a case where Marquise could avoid spending wood to construct buildings.
- Fixed a rare case where game results could display incorrectly if a player's app crashes.
- Fixed a case where a network error popup could appear after a live match.
- Fixed a case preventing construction of gardens on a subset of spaces on the Winter Map.
Please let us know through the in-game feedback or on our Discord Server if you experience any unusual disconnects or other instability!
Known Issues
The following issues are known to the dev team and will be addressed in future patches.
UI
- The Woodland Alliance Evening actions counter can appear during Daylight if a player uses undo to step back from Evening.
- Players are unable to choose which crafting pieces to use when crafting a card with wild suits in its cost.
- If a player enters a battle while a faction info page is open, their cursor may get stuck on that page. Press the B button to reset your selection.
Mobile
- Faction select options are partially off-screen on fold devices.
Localization
- An action log entry related to Hundreds mobs incorrectly states the "mob dies" in Italian
- Coffin Makers text is mistranslated in Italian.
- The descriptions for normal and heroic Delivery Mission challenges are swapped in non-English languages.
- Sway Ministers description is mistranslated in Polish.
- Improvements needed for Disable Faction Draft description to better clarify options.
Gameplay
- Players on minimum spec devices may experience game freezes on Winter, Lake, and Mountain maps
- Players report games may freeze when playing on Multiplayer.
Thanks for playing Root!
We’ve got another Hotfix headed your way to address bugs reported since The Marauder Expansion Release! A big thank you to all of the players who took the time to report and for playing Root Digital!
Bugs
- UI
- Mob Icon should now have a vertical line to the left of the token in the Hundreds Tutorial.
- Placeholder accounts no longer appear at the bottom of the leaderboard
- The Devout Knights ability banner will now be positioned correctly during combat when using the Quick Battle setting.
- During the Marquise tutorial, Rule Flag tip should now be easier to read.
- In Quick Battle, the Corvid Embedded Agents banner should now appear entirely on-screen.
- Multiple icons should no longer display for each faction.
- Players should now be able to minimize the sway prompt and simultaneously open the supply and discard pile.
- “Hundreds is choosing a Homeland Clearing” text should now display to prompt opponents.
- Mob Icon should now have a vertical line to the left of the token in the Hundreds Tutorial.
- Gameplay
- Controller Support prompt should now appear immediately upon launching the game.
- Hundreds can no longer recruit to a Warlord in a Keep or Snare clearing.
- Eyrie AI set to easy and normal difficulty should now be less likely to make decree choices that send it into turmoil.
- AI should now choose to remove warriors in combat before their own warlord in almost all cases.
- Bitter Mood should now be selected when a Hundreds player has no warriors in supply.
- Eyrie Players can no longer select a clearing with a warlord.
- A Vagabond aiding the Hundreds should no longer be able to get items the Hundreds removed from the game with their Contempt for Trade.
- Players should now be able to ban a second vagabond in Advanced Setup.
- Controller Support prompt should now appear immediately upon launching the game.
[UPDATED 1/16/2025]
Please also see our list of known issues since the release. We’re working on these for an upcoming release. Again, a big thank you to all of the players who took the time to report!
Known Issues
- Localization
- German, Czech, Russian, and Japanese translations for expansion content are incomplete. (We are waiting on source files from localization partners, so we are unsure of the ETA on these for the moment.)
- German, Czech, Russian, and Japanese translations for expansion content are incomplete. (We are waiting on source files from localization partners, so we are unsure of the ETA on these for the moment.)
- UI
The prompt to enable controller support displays before it should, leading to it displaying improperly- When many relics are in the same clearing, their values overlap.
- Relic tokens have inconsistent shapes.
- Placed Waystations don't display the Card Draw symbol on expanded player info.
- Ambush blocked by the Scouting Party needs its own label.
- When many relics are in the same clearing, their values overlap.
- Gameplay
- Cancelling a move with Prowess forces the player to battle or not be able to take the action.
- Additional Relics are currently placed too far from Keeper's starting point.
- During gameplay, the Keepers in Iron AI will sometimes leave 4 or more Warriors in a single clearing, leaving them vulnerable to Live off the Land at the end of the turn.
- Players can enable Disable Faction Draft and Random Factions with Advanced Setup not enabled.
- Players cannot ban factions with Disable Faction Draft enabled.
- Cancelling a move with Prowess forces the player to battle or not be able to take the action.
Here’s our Day One hotfix for the Marauder Expansion Steam release. We appreciate all of the feedback, and hope you’re enjoying the new expansion!
Bugs
- Gamepad
- Pressing R3 and L3 concurrently will no longer disable camera controls.
- Controllers should remain usable in games where chat is disabled. Additionally, closing chat will now reenable camera movement.
- Pressing R3 and L3 concurrently will no longer disable camera controls.
- Pass & Play
- Games should no longer be freezing during Pass & Play mode.
- Gameplay
- Spread Sympathy Icon should now appear during Revolt.
- Lord of the Hundreds should now be prompted to choose which pieces to lose when taking hits during a clearing with both mobs and strongholds.
- Vagabond Ability hints now correctly display next to the Vagabond they refer to.
- Paper on Recruiter is now positioned correctly when Recruiter idles.
- Opponents of Woodland Alliance players can no longer inspect supporter piles.
- Eyrie can no longer build in a clearing after being ambushed and removing all of their warriors.
- Cancelling after clearing a build should now return the Command action to the player.
- Hundreds players should now be able to undo a choice on the Mood Selection prompt.
- Spread Sympathy Icon should now appear during Revolt.
- UI
- Various text improvements in Chinese.
- Various fixes for Japanese Characters on the Create Game screen.
- Icons in the second tutorial should now be visible.
- Hundreds play should now play a minor defeat animation at the end of the game.
- Tokens from Corvids and Hundreds should no longer overlap and should be better aligned on gamemat.
- Keepers and Hundreds should now display in the Relationships sections of the gamemat for Vagabond.
- Various text improvements in Chinese.
Critters,
We have a small patch for you ahead of the holiday weekend, aimed at specific gameplay improvements and DLC sync issues.
Happy Playing!
Bug Fixes & Improvements
- When a Vagabond receives an exhausted third bag, it now refreshes as expected and increases the Vagabond’s carrying capacity
- Users can no longer undo using Scorched Earth, Strike, or Revolt when doing so destroyed a face down Raid token
- Fixed issue where users could not sync DLC purchased with other devices
Critters, lend us your ears—
Today's patch, version 1.31, includes a variety of bug fixes focused on improving interactions related to the Coffin Makers card. As always, if you encounter anything in game that seems a little funky, drop us a line using the in-game feedback option, or via email to [email protected].
Thanks for playing Root!
Improvements
- Start of Birdsong ability resolution order has been reworked to preserve more strategic options, i.g Using Saboteurs to remove an enemy Coffin Makers before it triggers, getting warriors back in supply from Coffin Makers, and spending that on Riverfolk Services.
- An additional window has been added to resolve Field Hospitals at the start of players’ turn that owns Coffin Makers.
- The camera now remembers your last zoom level when returning to a game, including whether you were in strategic view or not.
- Users are now able to send feedback without being logged in.
- Improved the accuracy of a number of tooltips, including
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a crash trigger that could occur when specific combinations of factions were in a game with Coffin Makers crafted.
- Removed various loc strings that, albeit rare, could sneak into the game
Psst…Have you reviewed Root yet? Take a moment to let us know if you love the game!
All updates are now live on iOs, Android, and Nintendo Switch.
Critters, gather 'round—
Today's patch, 1.30.5, contains a variety of bug fixes with a focus on removing exploits caused by the Undo Ability.
Undo Ability Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where undoing Vagabond strike wouldn’t return the warrior it had removed to play
- Undoing the crafting action as Riverfolk will now return the correct warriors
- Fixed an issue where players would still have access to the abilities of Eyrie Emigre after undoing crafting it
- Undoing placement of Roost at start of turn will no longer allow extra cards to be played to the Eyrie decree
Other Bug Fixes
- Vagrant Vagabond can no longer choose casualties for opponents in battles it didn’t instigate
- Fixed a softlock that could occur when using Advanced Setup if AI selected Marquise as their faction
- The number of items in a Ruin displays correctly in games with two Vagabond characters
- Fixed an issue where factions could choose illegal clearings for their starting pieces on the Mountain and Lake maps
- The wrong faction's warriors will no longer be highlighted when using False Orders
- Improved building highlights when playing in strategic view
- Fixed an issue where Marquise could softlock while placing homeland clearings with Advanced Setup
- Players can now view sway rules reminder tooltip on Switch
We love hearing from you and appreciate your ongoing support as we work hard to make Root the best digital experience it can be! If you come across any issues or need assistance, drop us a line at [email protected] or via the forums.
Psst… If you're having a blast with Root, please take a moment to rate and review the game.
Thanks for playing!
Current Release
Build 22238765
Uploaded Oct 08, 2026
System Requirements
How to Install
Root.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
Download
Direct link available
Needed when extracting (WinRAR / 7-Zip) — not a site login.
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