Food themed games seem to be everywhere these days, and Umami stands out as a delightful entry. As autumn approaches, I reach for my favorite sweaters and find myself looking forward to more cozy activities– the comfort food theme, playful aesthetic, and easy-to-learn style of Umami make it extra appealing.
Umami is illustrated by Ikuko Nakai and designed by Don Eskridge. The game plays at 2-5 players over about 30 minutes, depending on player count.
Gameplay Overview:
Umami is a light strategy, open drafting, and set collection card game. The premise is simple and direct: two to five players craft the best value hands— that is, tastiest dishes— of ramen, takoyaki, and miso to win the favor of discerning forest spirits.
At the beginning of the game, players take 4 ingredient cards and 1 recipe card into their hand. A community draw or market occupies the center of play. The market consists of both ingredient cards and recipe cards, of which four are available at any time. Over multiple rounds, your goal is to build up to five three-card dishes to claim the favorite recipes for your collection. Once you’ve assembled a winning combination, you claim that spirit’s favorite recipe card for your collection.
Play continues in rounds with each player taking a card from their hand and a card from the market to add to their collection. The gameplay offers a meaningful twist on what would otherwise be a multiplayer solitaire game: players can steal ingredients before opponents finish assembling their dishes. Players can also go head-to-head by assembling the same dish, with “tastiest dish” status going to the player who’s assembled the highest or lowest value ingredients cards using blossom symbols to break ties.
As new cards are revealed in the market, players will need to adjust and make choices to preserve end-game scoring opportunities.
Scoring comes at the end of the game once all recipes have been claimed or 12 cards are present in a player’s collection, and a final round is complete. Only the favorite dishes score, counting the stars on the cards.
Game Experience:
I’ve tested Umami at 2, 3, and 4 player counts, finding all to be engaging and well-balanced. Gameplay moves quickly at 20-30 minutes per game while being light enough to provide ample interaction amongst players. Although some in my group found the game relied too much on luck, I appreciated the strategic choices available: drawing from both your hand and the table, timing steal actions effectively, and managing the tension between collecting blossoms (which help maintain tastiest recipe status) versus stars (for end game scoring).
Despite initial appearances, all those cute forest spirits and pop art ingredients, Umami offers more strategy than pure luck. The ability to steal ingredients and compete for tastiest status creates meaningful decisions about timing and risk assessment. After our first two play-throughs, our group noted that we were underutilizing the stealing mechanic. We began to use the steal action a little more as we continued to play. I suspect that future plays will bring more stealing as we become more comfortable and branch out from protective play. And, it’s safe to say, there will be future plays.
As play unfolds, new favorite recipes and ingredients are revealed, which makes for some light competition. Here, the player’s personality and approach will really set the tone for the game. The more players adopt the steal tactic, the more the game can feel like you are subject to the whims of the other players, and you try your luck by replacing stolen cards from either the market or the draw pile. If players aren’t clear on the end game scoring (only stars in completed favorites count), they can feel betrayed– “but I have the most completed favorites!”
The climactic final round particularly shines—everyone simultaneously reveals the secret recipe from their hand. Those cards are placed in the center of the table, now up for grabs by players in turn order. This final “take that” opportunity brought the game to a dramatic close in our play-throughs. It provided opportunities for players who were behind but had a good hand to lay down missing ingredients and swipe the remaining ingredient cards.
Umami succeeds in bringing the setting to the gameplay. The forest spirits are charming and display their recipe preferences in an uncluttered, straightforward way that’s easy to learn. The ingredient cards maintain the food theme beautifully throughout play. It’s fun and bright and conjures images of steaming ramen with bright greens freshly doused in the heat of yellow broth.
My only aesthetic criticism is the slightly inconsistent art direction. The ingredients lean toward pop art styling, while the spirits embrace a cute Ghibli style. While both styles work individually, they don’t quite mesh into a cohesive visual experience.
Final Thoughts:
Umami delivers a solid light to mid-weight card game that’s both quick to teach and engaging in repeated play. The take that mechanic in the game is undersold in the game’s marketing, and while you can play the game cozy, gameplay styles in your group may make for a more competitive game than expected or preferred. The tight thematic integration and gameplay is an excellent choice for those who enjoy food themes, the beautiful Ghibli style art, and set collection.
Final Score: 4 Stars – fun and quick game play with a tight theme and great design suitable for various player levels.
Hits:
• Quick to learn
• Tight theme to play
• Take that packaged with cute forest animals
Misses:
• It’s 2025, and it’s another card game
• Nothing new here in the gameplay
