“I have told Josh, it has to be Bats and Frogs,” said Patrick Leder during the Leder Games studio chat livestream on January 10, when asked about the next Root expansion. The board game company founder was being facetious though, as he then revealed he’d merely suggested frogs and bats be the game’s next two factions.
Root is well-known as one of the best strategy board games around, beloved for its asymmetrical mechanics and its cute art style that disguises cutthroat gameplay. Bats and frogs would certainly make sense as new inclusions to the roster, since both species feature in the Root RPG released in 2021 (which is why Root-style artwork already exists for both animals).
It’s not clear how seriously to take Patrick Leder’s comments from the stream, but a bats and frogs Root expansion has clearly been on his mind for some time now, as he’s brought the animals up in Leder Games’ studio talks in the past. In April 2023, the designer also posted about the idea in a BoardGameGeek forum.
In that post, Leder stated that he’d like to do frogs and bats and already had a design for bats. However he added that: “I’m trying really hard to let Cole [Wehrle] direct this one”.
Clearly, there’s a decent amount of interest in these animals, as a fan-made expansion released on Tabletop Simulator adds both to the game. The Winged Menace and Croakers Coven (pictured below) appear in that fan-made pack, alongside factions consisting of tortoises and dogs.
In the recent stream, what Wherle said about the next big Root expansion is basically that it’s still all up in the air. He added that Leder Games might release two factions and a pair of maps, or perhaps a three faction expansion, saying: “there’s a lot of different ways to take it.”
Before we get anything new from Root however, Leder Games is releasing its brand new space board game, Arcs, coming out in 2024. The studio has also revealed that an expansion for Oath is Wehrle’s next project. This is planned to be a card-based release which may be small enough to squeeze into the base Oath box.
We love Root, and think it’s a worthy candidate for the title of best board game. The components are things of beauty, but if you lack the table space, one of the easiest ways to play Root is online, with the official port. Check out our Root Digital Edition review to find out more.
Source: Wargamer
