This past weekend, Root by Leder Games took home the Tabletop Game of the Year award at SXSW, and it now sits among the company of previous winners such as Gloomhaven and Arkham Horror: The Card Game. SXSW (South By Southwest) is a large festival in Austin, Texas that, each year, brings together and celebrates multiple creative industries, from gaming to music to film. That's partly what makes this award so nice: it's in recognition of a game by a conference that's not strictly gaming-centric and is undoubtedly awarding Root for all of it's artistic merits. While I can go on-and-on about how amazing artist Kyle Ferrin's work is, the illustrations in the game weren't the only thing being recognized fully at SXSW, and that's definitely something worth praising.

"Patrick and I were in attendance and it was our honor to accept the award on behalf of the entire staff at Leder Games. Needless to say, this award would have been impossible without the support of our backers. We are incredibly grateful for your continued support." - designer of Root, Cole Wehrle

Not long after this announcement came the next biggest news for Leder Games - the expansion currently on Kickstarter broke 1 million U.S. dollars in funding, easily dwarfing the money raised by the base game in late 2017. It's a major feat, demonstrative of the love, care, and hard work that went into making it and it's ripple effect across the gaming communities. That much recognition is bound to be overwhelming, but it is well deserved - congratulations, everyone! If you're interested in learning more about this award-winning game and it's expansion, be sure to check out it's campaign page for the full rules, print-and-play, FAQs, and updates.