# Root: The Clockwork Expansion

Root: The Clockwork Expansion is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 60–90 minutes and is meant for ages 10 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 1. It is rated 7.9 out of 10 by 14 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $34.99 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 1)
- **Playing time:** 60–90 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 10+
- **Complexity:** 4 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2020
- **Categories:** Expansion for Base-game, Wargame
- **Mechanics:** Cooperative Game, Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Action Queue, Point to Point Movement, Area Majority / Influence, Solo / Solitaire Game
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.9 out of 10, from 14 reviews
- **Owned by:** 153 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 19
- **Unique players:** 19

**Designers:** Benjamin Schmauss, Cole Wehrle

**Artists:** Kyle Ferrin

**Publishers:** Leder Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 34.99 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/root-the-clockwork-expansion/ |
| Alphaspel | 459 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/111584-root-the-clockwork-expansion-1-en |
| Game Ninja | 499 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/root-clockwork-expansion/ |

## Expansions

- [Root: The Clockwork Expansion 2](https://www.ludoya.com/games/root-the-clockwork-expansion-2)

## Rules questions

### If a bot has several clearings that match an action, how does it pick which one?

A bot first follows the action’s targeting rules; if multiple clearings still qualify it chooses the clearing with the highest priority marker (1 is highest). If no prompted clearing is legal it cycles through tied clearings then to the next priority until it finds a legal target (Clearing Target Priority / Target Legality). (page 2)

### Can bots craft items without workshops, and how many victory points do they get for crafted items?

Yes — bots craft items without activating crafting buildings, but whenever a bot crafts an item it scores only 1 VP (and bots cannot craft cards with persistent effects). (page 2)

### When I include bots, where and when do I place the priority markers and pick bot difficulty/traits?

After you choose the map place the clearing priority markers according to the map chart, and between setup Step 1 and Step 2 choose each bot’s difficulty (easy–nightmare) and any trait cards, placing those cards near the bot’s faction board. (page 3)

### How does the Electric Eyrie’s Decree resolve, and what makes it fall into Turmoil?

The Eyrie adds revealed order cards to its Decree and resolves each Decree column left-to-right (recruit, then move, then battle for that column); in Daylight it must also try to build a roost in a ruled clearing, and if it is ever prompted to place a roost but cannot it immediately falls into Turmoil (Humiliate, Purge, Rest). (pages 6–7)

### What triggers an Automated Alliance revolt, and can a revolt fail?

In Birdsong the Alliance revolts if the order card is not a bird and the ordered base is not already on the map, removing enemy pieces from the ordered sympathetic clearing and placing the base; revolts can fail for three reasons (the order card is a bird, the base is already on the map, or no sympathetic clearing matches that base) and failures trigger Public Pity instead. (pages 8–9)

### How do the Vagabot’s items, exhaustion, Battle Track, damage, and repairs interact?

The Vagabot treats all items identically, exhausting undamaged items to take actions; when it takes hits it damages exhausted items first (then unexhausted), and when it has 6/9/12 undamaged items items fill the Battle Track to raise its max rolled hits (and give an extra hit at 12). Repairs and refresh happen in Evening (repair unexhausted damaged items before exhausted ones and refresh depends on whether any items are damaged). (pages 10–12)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/root-the-clockwork-expansion)
- [Root: The Clockwork Expansion in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/root-the-clockwork-expansion)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/287220)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._