Direwolf Digital is quickly becoming one of the hot names in the board gaming sphere. Not only have they helped develop the various Clank! physical games, but they've also produced solid digital versions of games like Sagrada. Later this year, the team will add to that collection with a digital version of the popular asymmetrical game Root.

For those of you out of the know, Root is an excellent board game from Leder Games. It gives each player their own set of rules and conditions for victory. So, if you and I play together, we'll sort of be playing completely different games. Obviously, what I do has an effect on you and vice versa. However, the ways we engage with the game are completely different.

In some ways, this makes the physical version of Root a bit of a hassle to get to the table for some groups. Either everyone has to dive deep into their roles beforehand or your group's designated rules person needs to learn and teach several different games.  It's not a deal-breaker, but it does ask more from you than most other popular board games.

Which is what makes Direwolf's new digital version so exciting. If everyone has their own copy (admittedly, a relatively big ask), then the tutorials and hints can fill the role of in-person instruction. This should both clear up the confusion that inevitably comes about from teaching several games at once and lets that person just enjoy the game. As someone who often finds himself learning all the rules for my game group, I cannot wait for this to launch. It's also worth noting that the game supports cross-platform. That means just about anyone can play it.

Root doesn't yet have a release date; however, one should be coming shortly. I would be very surprised if the launch isn't timed about the virtual version of either  Gen Con or Essen. Either way, expect to have it by the end of 2020.