Review: UK'OTOA is a Solid First Board Game from CRITICAL ROLE's Darrington Press
Critical Role recently released their first board game through Darrington Press, Uk’otoa. The game is a semi-cooperative game where players try to make sure their units are the last surviving ones on the ship, while Uk’otoa feasts on the rest. The game was designed by Jeb Havens and Gabriel Hicks with art by Hannah Friederichs, layout by Vee Hendro, and Uk’otoa sculpt by Niklas Norman. You can get your copy from Darrington Press Guild stores and Critical Role storefronts now with an MSRP of $29.99.
Darrington Press was kind enough to send me a copy of Uk’otoa to play with my gaming group. Sadly, some recent developments meant that there are only three of us in my gaming group at the moment. On the bright side, you only need three people to play. The game is definitely one that makes more sense when you actually go to play it. You can read the rules and think you get it, but it didn’t click for my group until we were actually starting to play. I would definitely recommend playing this game multiple times to get a hang for it. Also, while my group and I had fun playing Uk’otoa, it definitely felt like a game that would be more fun with 4-5 players.
Uk’otoa is very interesting to play. Each player picks a color for the game’s setup, but then the colors that you are supposed to protect could very well not include that color. Each color is essentially given to two players which creates the semi-cooperative gameplay. It creates an interesting dynamic between you and the other players, especially in a 3-player game, as you try to move sailors, move Uk’otoa, and attack sailors. I haven’t played anything like this before and it was fascinating to me and felt very fresh. I applaud Havens and Hicks for their work.
Almost everything is absolutely gorgeous when it comes to the art for the game. The cards are beautiful, the sculpt is fantastic, the box art is incredible. However, I’m never sure how I feel about the sailor meeples. On the one hand, they make sense. They’re under attack by Uk’otoa and their ship is being destroyed. On the other hand, they look ridiculous and provide some laughs. It feels like a weird juxtaposition with everything else feeling more serious and then having meeples with mouths open, hands on their head, and weirdly proportioned feet. I like them and I don’t at the same time.
My only complaint about Uk’otoa besides my weird, unresolved feelings towards the meeples is the fact that you get 5 wooden or plastic discs (I’m not sure the material) to determine what two colors you’ll be in charge of and you have to put the stickers on them. I just don’t understand why the stickers weren’t pre-applied. Thankfully, one of my friends in the gaming group did a fantastic job of placing them. It’s a small complaint for sure and not a deal-breaker in any way.
Uk’otoa is a fun game and a great start to Darrington Press’ library. If you want a new twist on cooperative games, I would definitely check it out.
