[4] In October 2020, Critical Role Productions announced a "new board and card game" imprint called Darrington Press; it is led by Ivan Van Norman with Matthew Mercer as the creative advisor.

[5] Darrington Press initially announced a slate of four upcoming games: Uk'otoa, Critical Role Adventures, Syndicult, and Guardians of Matrimonia.

The announcement stated that while Guardians of Matrimonia, being redesigned by Banana Chan and Yeonsoo Julian Kim, and Syndicult are still in development, Critical Role Adventures is now on indefinite hold.

[22][23][24] Charlie Hall, for Polygon, stated that "Darrington Press has had mixed success so far with its creations" and commented that Illuminated Worlds was "perhaps the most interesting of the three new products" announced given co-designer Layla Adelman's background as "an accomplished game developer" who is also a member of the Off Guard Games team which has produced titles such as "the well-regarded Band of Blades and Scum and Villainy".

Additionally, many have wondered whether Critical Role would potentially switch to an in-house TTRPG system for a future campaign, thus breaking away from Dungeons & Dragons altogether".

[25] In May 2023, Critical Role Productions announced a new monthly horror–themed actual play web series titled Candela Obscura which will use the Illuminated Worlds System.

[1][6] Charles Theel, in his review of Uk'otoa for Polygon, wrote: "The good news is that, as a visually attractive curio, this product makes a great collector's item.

[...] I was hoping for a design that captured some of the feel of friction-heavy board game classics, such as Lifeboats or Survive: Escape From Atlantis, dressed up in the trappings of Exandria.

[45] King concluded that "despite not being a truly system agnostic book, this is an incredibly well-realized world filled to the brim with interesting characters and stories to tell.

Even if it just ends up sitting on your coffee table to peruse during regular Thursday-night livestreams, Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn is well worth the $49.99 price tag".

[45] Benjamin Abbott, for GamesRadar+, commented that "Tal'Dorei Reborn reminds me of the lavish, encyclopaedic companion books for franchises like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars that I used to obsess over as a kid".

This is a singular design which offers a structured yet story-oriented tabletop experience that pulls from traditional board games as well as indie RPGs.

[19] In a review of For the Queen 2E, Jenny Melzer of CBR commented that "One thing that Critical Role and Darrington Press have always done well is work within the gaming community.