Yesterday, the Critical Role team announced their very own tabletop company called Darrington Press. Likely named for Sam Riegel’s character from Campaign 1, Darrington Press will launch with Ivan Van Norman at its head, and CR‘s Dungeon Master and Chief Creative Officer Matt Mercer as its Creative Advisor. Seeing as some of the upcoming titles are based on Mercer’s work for Critical Role‘s Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, this comes as no surprise (though it’s surprising he has time for it).
Fans have been made aware of four new games from Darrington Press, all set to release in different quarters of 2021. Official launch dates have yet to be made public, but the games will be available on Critical Role‘s online shops, and probably in local game stores as well.
The Critical Role team is simultaneously working on an animated series, a tabletop company, and somehow still manages to stream weekly games. The work ethic of this company seems to know no bounds. Here’s every new game coming from Critical Role’s Darrington Press next year.
Darrington Press’ Flagship: Uk’otoa
![What Critical Role’s Four New Tabletop Games Are](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Critical-Role-Darrington-Press-Art.jpg)
Uk’otoa is the first game, and will launch in Q1 of 2021. Fjord’s (CEO Travis Willingham’s Campaign 2 character) ex-Warlock patron is demolishing a ship in this title, and the goal is to be the last sailor faction standing. The game was created by Jeb Havens, will run $29.99, and is a card game made for 3-5 players. Rated 12+, games of Uk’otoa should go from 30-45 minutes.
Though deemed “semi-cooperative,” the game’s details also state: “you’ll have to run, push, and sacrifice others to win!” The idea likely being players can choose to fend for themselves, or choose to team up in factions and betray other shipmates (though there’s no way that ends well). Whatever tactics used, Uk’otoa was designed by Gabriel Hicks, features art by Hannah Friederichs, sculpting by Niklas Norman, and layout by Vee Hendro.
Darrington Press’ Critical Role Adventures
![Critical Role Legend of Vox Machina Emon setting art](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Critical-Role-Legend-of-Vox-Machina-Emon-setting-art.jpg)
Critical Role Adventures is set to release in the second quarter of 2021. This game is also in Exandria, and lets players play as Vox Machina! As the protagonists of both Critical Role‘s first campaign and their upcoming animated series, fans of the show finally get to play as the legendary group of adventurers.
Said to include an in-depth storybook, the legacy-lite game currently doesn’t offer too much in the way of more specific details, though the announcement does say it features a cooperative “unique, narrative mechanic for social and combat encounters.” When more details are released, this one will likely be the one that sells the best, if Critical Role‘s Kickstarter is any indication of how much their fans love the characters of Campaign 1.
Darrington Press’ Syndicult & Guardians Of Matrimonia
![Darrington Press Logo](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Critical-Role-Darrington-Press-Logo.jpg)
Syndicult is described as a “low-magic world,” and is a roleplaying game based around mob families. Designed by Mercer, Syndicult is set to release in Q3 of 2021. Again, there’s not much detail so far for this one, but it does say a “storytelling dice mechanic” is involved. Likely a territorial game based on players’ respective mob families, Syndicult also sounds like it would lead to a lot of interesting roleplaying and combat interactions. Mixing the already traditionally complex dynamics of mob families with a magic system seems quite a fun combo indeed.
Lastly, Guardians of Martimonia is due for a Q4 release in 2021. Guardians of Martimonia is said to be a cooperative card game, and puts players against monsters known as “Party Crashers.” The goal is to beat the entire Party Crasher deck before anyone runs out cards. The decks are pre-built, and this one sounds the simplest tabletop game of the bunch. This is not necessarily a negative, though, as fans unfamiliar with more complex card games might prefer something like this. Details as to the amount of players, however, were not included.
Whichever route fans of Critical Role go, the company has no shortage of entertainment options. However, this does beg the question: When is Critical Role Land going to be added to the roster?