New to Root?

While a tutorial for the game of Root is outside the scope of this site, there are tons of great resources out there to help you learn the game of Woodland Might and Right!

Official Resources

• Learning To Play — The official Learning To Play guide from Leder Games; it's a well-organized explanation with lots of illustrations and diagrams, which make it easier to understand what's going on.
• Law of Root — This is the official rulebook of Root which has all the nitty-gritty details laid out in exact language. Not amazing for learning the fundamentals of the game, but an important reference anytime questions come up. This is the October 2025 version of the rules.
• Walking Through Root — This guide has you setup a game with the four base factions (Marquise de Cat, Eyrie Dynasties, Woodland Alliance, and Vagabond) and then walks you through the first two rounds turn by turn, dictating each action and explaining the reasoning or alternatives. Best if you have a copy of the game to follow along with, this guide is perfect for those who like to learn by doing.
• Leder Rules Library — Though essentially just a digitized version of the Law of Root (see above), this site is far better laid out for the web, including anchored links for each individual rule, making it much easier to share links to specific sections.

Video Guides

• How to Play Root — From Geek & Sundry presented by Becca Scott, this quick, 7-minute video is a great introduction to the basics of Root, as well as a quick overview of the four base factions. They also have a full game playthrough if that interests you, though be warned that there are numerous rule mistakes according to the comments.
• Root - How To Play - Start Here! — At roughly 20 minutes, this video from Modern Cardboard gives a much more complete explanation of the fundamental rules of Root. However, this video doesn't cover any faction-specific gameplay, only the fundamental rules that apply to all players (moving, battling, cards, etc.). For their guide to the four base factions, watch this video.

Miscellaneous

• Root Automated Setup — A great tool from EwenDC that handles all the specifics of setting up a game of Root using the Advanced Setup rules. Just pick the options you want to play with and follow the instructions to get everything set up in a breeze!