''Marvel Snap'' is a

digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types ...

developed by

Second Dinner Ben Brode is an American video game designer. He was the game director and public face of '' Hearthstone'' until 2018 when he left to found his own game studio, Second Dinner, where he is now Chief Creative Officer. Life and career Brode joine ...

and published by Nuverse for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. The game features a collection of different

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

characters from the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

. The game was released on October 18, 2022, after a period of beta testing.

Gameplay

Players each have a deck of 12 cards. Each card depicts a Marvel character with cost, power level, and potentially a special ability. At the start of each round, players simultaneously put one card or more face down on one of three locations. Locations are randomly assigned for each match, and each location has a unique effect. At the end of each round cards are revealed and special abilities of cards trigger. Whoever has the highest power at a given location wins that location. The goal of the game is to win two out of the three locations. The game usually lasts six rounds, each of them giving an increasing "energy" to play more powerful cards. Players climb the game's ranked ladder by earning "cubes". A game begins with a single cube as its stakes, but a player may double the stakes at any time by "snapping", at which point their opponent has the option of retreating or acceding to the snap. Designer Kent-Erik Hagman compared the mechanic to the

doubling cube Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

of the traditional boardgame

Backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

. The gameplay of ''Marvel Snap'' is considered relatively simple compared to other collectible card games, and individual games typically last a few minutes. At the time of the global release the game featured over 170 characters, with the number increasing weekly.

Monetization

The game follows a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

-model featuring

microtransaction Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

s for the purchase of cosmetic skins and a

battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...

. The game's beta release included Nexus event with

loot boxes In video games, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or loot, ranging from simple customization options for a player ...

to acquire certain cards or in-game cosmetics, allowing players to gamble for new cards and skins with in-game currency or real money, which sparked controversy among the player base and was called out as predatory by video game journalists. Nexus event and its loot boxes were ultimately removed from the game, and in a later patch gold was refunded to anyone who bought loot boxes.

Development

''Marvel Snap'' is the debut game from game company

, a game development studio founded by former ''

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by u ...

'' developers

Ben Brode Ben Brode is an American Video game design, video game designer. He was the game director and public face of ''Hearthstone'' until 2018 when he left to found his own game studio, Second Dinner, where he is now Chief creative officer, Chief Creati ...

, Yong Woo and Hamilton Chu. Second Dinner is working on an update that allows for private games with friends.

Reception

According to the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, ''Marvel Snap'' has received "generally favorable reviews". In a review,

GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

noted the game is angled towards "a generation of players too distracted to keep track of an overly complicated

metagame Metagame, Hypergame, or game about the game, is an approach to a game that transcends or operates outside of the prescribed rules of the game, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by th ...

," while praising its approachability and replay value.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Marvel Video Game Crossovers 2022 video games Digital collectible card games Android (operating system) games IOS games Windows games Early access video games Video games based on Marvel Comics The Game Awards winners