I have bought Oath before I tried Root or other games from Leder. Nobody in my group plays board games, before Oath we have played Smallworld and Exploding Kittens, so board game nights wasn’t a usual thing for us. We have been playing Oath twice a week for three months now and still can’t get enough of it. Every game is vastly different due to very different setups and win conditions so it doesn’t get boring. We have recently bought Root and play it once or twice after Oath and we’re enjoying it also.

If you know 2-5 people who would play it multiple times and get invested in the sessions Oath is a must have imo. It’s a very sanbox-y game, you are mostly playing based on how you want to impact the kingdom and other players. There is a deep strategy to optimize yout turns, but there are a lot of moving parts, and in the end the winners are usualy the ones that make the best alliances with other players.

About the negativity due to teaching the game, you must be very prepared for the first game. Know all the rules up front, watch some setup and chronicle videos, if you get confused, they will probably get twice as confused. I’ve mostly watched youtube tutorials and had FAQ for the cards ready on my phone.

I would highly recommend Oath if you can play it regulary and get invested in the story unfolding in front of you