Darrington Press LLC is a tabletop game developer and publishing company. It was announced in October 2020 as a subsidiary of Critical Role Productions LLC.[1] Unlike previous ventures, the Critical Role team is not looking to utilize crowdfunding for releases.[3] Matthew Mercer is the company's creative advisor, and it was headed by Ivan Van Norman from 2020 to 2025.[1][4] In June 2025, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford joined the company as Creative Director and Game Director respectively.[2]
Works[]
| Title | Description | Release date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uk'otoa | Tactical semi-cooperative card game | May 27, 2021 | [5] |
| Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn | Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign setting | January 18, 2022 | [6] |
| A Familiar Problem | One-page RPG written for Free RPG Day 2022 | June 25, 2022 (Free RPG Day) | [7] |
| Till the Last Gasp | 2-player storytelling game | March 14, 2023 | [8] |
| Illuminated Worlds System | D6 dice pool system for short roleplaying games | May 25, 2023 (partial) November 14, 2023 (full release) |
[9] |
| Queen by Midnight | Competitive deck-building card game, 3-6 players | August 2023 | [10][11] |
| Caper Cards: Bells Hells | Cooperative card game, 2-4 players | October 2023 | [12] |
| Daggerheart | RPG system for long-term fantasy campaigns and character progression | March 12, 2024 (open beta) May 20, 2025 (full public release) |
[10][13] |
| Solar Gardens | Board game | July 31, 2025 | [14][15] |
| Guardians of Matrimonia | Cooperative deck card game | Originally early 2024; delayed | [10][16] |
| Syndicult | Modern magic roleplaying game | Originally Q3 2021 (delayed) | [1][10] |
| Critical Role Adventures | Cooperative legacy-lite campaign game | on hold indefinitely | [1][10] |
Illuminated Worlds System[]
The Illuminated Worlds System is a d6 dice pool system built to run roleplaying games described as "shorter, arc-driven campaigns"[10] and designed to be setting-agnostic. The first released game built on this system is Candela Obscura.
| Game | Description | Release date | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candela Obscura | Gothic horror roleplaying game | May 25, 2023 (Candela Obscura Quickstart Guide) November 14, 2023 (Candela Obscura Core Rulebook) |
[17][18] |
Personnel[]
Current[]
- Chris Perkins — Creative Director[2]
- Jeremy Crawford — Game Director[2]
- Matthew Mercer — Creative Advisor[1]
- Spenser Starke — Senior Game Designer[19]
- Rowan Hall — Game Designer[19]
- Elise Rezendes —Senior RPG Producer[19]
- Alex Uboldi — Senior Games Producer[19]
- Brittany Walloch-Key — Director of Retail[20]
- Katie Lowther — Retail Partnership Manager[19]
- Darcy L. Ross — Publishing Marketing Manager[21]
- Ally De Simone — Procurement Director[19]
- Alex Hill — Community Manager[19]
Former[]
- Ivan Van Norman — Head (2020–2025)[1][4]
- Travis Willingham — Creative Director[19]
Bibliography[]
Announcing Darrington Press, Our Game Publishing Company on CritRole.com (backup link)- Darrington Press 101 on the Darrington Press official website (backup link)
- Welcome to Darrington Press! on the Darrington Press YouTube channel
External links[]
- Darrington Press official website
- Darrington Press (@DarringtonPress) on Twitter.
- Darrington Press on BoardGameGeek (backup link)
- Darrington Press on YouTube.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Announcing Darrington Press, Our Game Publishing Company on CritRole.com (backup link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 McWhertor, Michael (June 16, 2025). "Top D&D designers join Critical Role after quitting Wizards of the Coast". Polygon. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Christian Hoffer (October 27, 2020). Critical Role to Publish Their Own Board Games and Tabletop RPGs. Comic Book. Retrieved on January 15, 2021. (backup link)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Van Norman, Ivan (June 17, 2025). "As people have been reaching out, I wanted to let everyone know that I am no longer working at Critical Role". Retrieved June 18, 2025. – via LinkedIn.
- ↑
A Closer Look at Uk'otoa on the Darrington Press official website (backup link)
- ↑ Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn Releases January 18th! on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ A Familiar Problem on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ Till the Last Gasp (February 8, 2023) by Darrington Press
- ↑ HYPE! CANDELA OBSCURA – OUR NEW HORROR TTRPG SHOW PREMIERES MAY 25TH! on CritRole.com .
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Big News: Queen by Midnight and Two New RPGs on CritRole.com
- ↑ Queen by Midnight on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ Announcing Caper Cards: Bells Hells on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ Daggerheart on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ Solar Gardens on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ Solar Gardens: Pre-Order, Gen Con, How to Play, and More! on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ First Looks at Our Upcoming Games! (March 18, 2022) by Darrington Press
- ↑ HYPE! CANDELA OBSCURA – OUR NEW HORROR TTRPG SHOW PREMIERES MAY 25TH! on CritRole.com
- ↑ Candela Obscura on the Darrington Press official website
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 See the FAQ for Daggerheart on Daggerheart.com
- ↑ Brittany Walloch-Key's bio (@BWalloch) on Twitter: "Cat Enthusiast / I annoy my husband / I like making you laugh / Director of Events for Critical Role / Director of Retail for Darrington Press". (backup link)
- ↑ Darcy L. Ross (@DarcyLRoss) on Twitter: "!!! I can finally share what I've been working on for the last few weeks: / I am the Publishing Marketing Manager for @darringtonpress, the brand-new tabletop game company by @CriticalRole! / Announcement: / https://critrole.com/announcing-darrington-press-our-game-publishing-company/ / Join my newsletter won't ya? / https://darringtonpress.com" (2020-10-27). (backup link)