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Playing in Spring season
I'm ready to play Umataka. This is my first time playing.
Umataka was a fun game! Play time was 100 minutes for 4 players.
Overall Gameboard
Workers

UMATAKA (2024)

Players
2–4
Best: 4
Playing time
60–90 min
Age
10+
7.85
Average rating
72
Ratings
2.67/5
Weight
#11689
BGG rank
Outside top 5,000
Alternate names:馬高
Designer:無界 (Mukai), Napopora
Publisher:bronze bell house(銅鐸舎)
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 10, Luck 4, Interaction 5, Complexity 5.3, Theme 5
Strategy10.0
Luck4.0
Interaction5.0
Complexity5.3
Theme5.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

PrehistoricSet CollectionWorker PlacementTurn Order: Claim ActionTech Trees / Tech TracksVariable Set-upContractsWorker Placement, Different Worker TypesHidden Victory Points

Overview

UMATAKA is a board game themed around the Jomon period in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, a region known for its distinctive "flame pottery" artifacts. Players take on the roles of family leaders among the Jomon people, competing through the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—to earn points by crafting pottery, hunting, and cooking nuts. The region's historical trade value of jade also plays a crucial role, as players must also gather this precious material.

UMATAKA utilizes a worker placement system where players use human and dog pieces as workers, placing between one and four workers in designated spaces. Dogs, which are relatively easier to acquire during the game, must work alongside humans due to several restrictions. After placing workers and taking actions, the number of workers influences the advancement of a piece on the "Exploration Track." The action located at the space where this explorer piece stops is also executed. This mechanism forces players to think strategically about the number of workers they deploy, and sometimes strategically placing extra workers can provide an advantage in the game.

Expansions

UMATAKA: A Life of Jamon Era Flame Shaped Pottery and Crown Shaped Pottery expansion
Not available yet

Player reviews, retailers/pricing and rules videos have no real data source for this game yet.

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