UNO Valhalla

Outlandish crossover attempts are nothing new in the world of entertainment. Joining this list of crossovers no one saw coming is UNO Valhalla, a downloadable expansion that blends the classic UNO card game with the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. This expansion goes well beyond simply adding visuals and music from that game to existing cards. Instead, the developers took the time to add extra layers to the base design, changing up the rules and gameplay in ways that are inspired by the expansion on Viking culture as presented in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The result is a sense of familiarity that's also refreshingly new.

The first noticeable change to the gameplay is the addition of a map board, with each area numbered 1 through 9. Each time a player discards a numeric card from their hand, they are moved to that location on the map, picking up any cargo or activating any events present. Events can immediately change the course of the match with effects like allowing players to discard all of their odd-numbered cards or gaining cargo for each color in their hand. Building up cargo upgrades players' available actions, first adding a head-to-head Battle mode that pits players against each other in a quick match game, and then ultimately upgrading to a longboat that lets players discard all same-color cards in their hand during a turn. These tweaks to the classic UNO gameplay give matches an extra layer of strategy and luck, keeping things fresh without drawing the game out unnecessarily. But as interesting and unique as this may be, it might be a bit much for more traditional UNO fans to take in.