I’ve played Root twice and both times I won only to discover I fucked up the rules.
The thing is it’s not my game, it’s my friend’s but when it comes to the table I seem to end up with the responsibility for the rules because I’m the one who cares if we play games right. And I really dislike how this preference is somehow treated like a character deficiency or moral failing.
A healthier dynamic would be “hey, you can’t do that to me because it’s against the rules!”
It makes it embarrassing when later I figure out “Oh wait, the woodland alliance can’t overthrow a place if their same fortress is already out and that’s the only reason the Marquis lost” because it’s like I cheated to win.
Don’t play games with people who don’t care about playing games. Do some other social activity with them instead. If you must play games with them, play games where it doesn’t matter if you play right or wrong, like Cards Against Humanity or something. Alternatively, play video games that can’t be played wrong. Jack box?
