Root Clockwork Expansion Review

Not enough players? No problem.

Root is a game that I absolutely adore. It's also one that I don't get to play very much because it really demands more players than I can normally get. The Clockwork Expansion really fixes a lot of these issues. You can play it solo or add in more bots to round out the player count. Each faction plays true to their original play style without much upkeep. The player will draw a card and depending on the suit that was drawn, they will then do the necessary steps in order to complete their turns. Then you'll take your turn and rinse and repeat. That's it.

The Good: The Clockwork Expansion is a game changer for me. It's extremely easy to learn and it stays true to the original game. You can play a 4 player game completely solo and honestly it's not that difficult to manage. As long as you have a passing knowledge of how Root plays to begin with, you should be able to pick this up pretty quickly.

The Okay: Using bots will never compare to playing with other human players. The random nature of the card draw may make the bot make a completely inefficient move for themselves. There's so much that goes on during a turn for them that they usually will at least do something that works in their favor though. Even if it's just getting into a better position.

The Not So Good: The biggest issue with this is that it's just another box that needs to be used. I played using the Underworld Expansion as well (more on that in the coming weeks) and I ended up needing to open all 3 of the boxes to do everything. It's not a huge deal but it's wildly inconvenient.

Overall: 8/10

The Clockwork Expansion is a great way to get more out of Root. If you're someone like me and you don't necessarily always have the player count or people who would be willing to play it to begin with then I think that this is essential to have in your collection.

Thank you to Leder Games for sending me a review copy.