Marvel Snap is a new Digital Collectible Card Game from Marvel Games and Second Dinner. Marvel Snap is a fun, quick, strategic card battler. Games only take 3-5 minutes to play. The game is available on Google Play, the Apple App Store, and on your PC via Steam.
Marvel Snap is Player vs Player (PVP). You will start off battling against computer opponents during training missions, but you will eventually be playing against real people – in real time.
Each player makes a deck of 12 cards to play with. There are over 140 cards to choose from at this time, so you will see many different cards, and deck styles along the way.
During the game, you and your opponent will have 6 rounds of card playing. There are 3 locations to try to control. Whoever controls at least 2 Locations at the end of 6 rounds wins the game.
Marvel Snap is a “Free to Play” (FTP) game. And, I would not call this a “Pay to Win” game. Every season, there is a seasonal Battle Pass that players can buy into – similar to Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys, etc. The Battle Pass will net you upgrades, avatars, alternative art cards, and a brand new card. The battle pass allows players to access to one new card earlier than FTP gamers, but FTP gamers will eventually earn the same card for free as well in a later season. In November 2022, the seasonal card is the Black Panther, and I rarely see it played in my division.
The Cards
The above images are variations of Captain marvel. All the versions play exactly the same. You can try to collect all of the variations, or just collect the cards that you find the coolest. Many are available for purchase with in-game gold that you earn while playing.
Snap cards don’t have nearly as much game text on them as most Magic: the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. The gameplay is simpler than most paper TCG’s, as the games are only supposed to take 3 to 5 minutes.
Here are a few examples of cards from Marvel Snap. The energy cost to play the card is in the upper left hand corner, and the card’s total power is in the upper right hand corner. As you can see, the Hulk has a lot of power!
Card collecting is mostly random after you obtain your introductory starting cards. You don’t get a certain card at a certain level. You might get Killmonger, while someone else are your exact level is getting Storm.
Building Decks
Everyone builds a deck of 12 cards to face each other. As a beginner, you will have a very limited cards pool. But your pool of cards builds quickly as you play more and more games – win or lose.
Marvel Snap lets you save many decks to your profile. Below is an example of some of my cards, and a Sandman deck I’m testing.
Gameplay
Marvel Snap reminds me of a mash-up of the online CCG Hearthstone and a board game called Smash-Up. I believe Snap was designed by the same folks who created Hearthstone.
Hearthstone took a unique twist on the mana needed from Magic: the Gathering, and gives everyone ramped mana (energy) every turn. The same thing happens in Marvel Snap. You get 1 energy on turn 1, 2 energy on turn 2, etc., etc. … all the way up to 6 energy on turn 6.
Smash Up is a multiplayer board game where players smash up different decks of cards and play for control of various bases with various powers. Smash Up is great for small groups, and fairly inexpensive that I recommend having in your collection.
Marvel Snap is played over 6 rounds. In the first round you get 1 energy to spend. If you have a card that costs one energy, you can play that card at one of the “Locations”. There are 3 Locations, and each Location has Special Power (which can be good or bad). Check out some of the locations powers below.
Each game is ultimately worth 2 Cosmic Cubes to help your ranking, and help you earn daily and seasonal rewards. At any time, if you think you can win the game, you can “Snap!” and double the cubes you are wagering. If you think you are losing, you can also “Retreat”, and only lose 1 cube in your ranking. Games will ultimately be worth 1 cube, 2 cubes, 4 cubes or 8 cubes (if both players Snap!).
In the game below, the opponent Snapped with Galactus in hand, but Dr. Doom’s Doombot snuck in, and ninja’d a victory for me.
After each game (win or lose), you will collect card upgrade points to make your cards cooler looking (ex: give the an animated effect, make them 3D, make them gold, etc.) As you upgrade cards, Marvel Snap gives you access to more cards to build decks with. You have to upgrade your existing cards in order to earn new cards.
Final Thoughts
I have personally found Marvel Snap to be a very fun game to play on my phone. I have only played the App version. I have not played the Steam version. It’s a fantastic time filler while your wife is shopping for fabric in the quilt store. 😉
The game play is quite gratifying for a game that only lasts a few minutes. The game requires knowledge, cunning, and a willingness to gamble your cubes away if you think you have outsmarted your opponent.
Building different decks from your ever-growing card pool is enjoyable as well. As you, and your cards gets better, so will your opponents. You will continually see cards played against you, that you wish you had in your own collections. Don’t worry, you will eventually get those cards too. The first time Killmonger wipes out all your Level 1 cards you will make sit there and cry. And then you have to plan to stop that from happening in the future.
The animations are great. Each card has a unique animation when you drop it on the field. Reed Richards can add 2 power to each neighboring location with his stretchy arms. The animations will show his arms ping each side location when he is played. Sandman will reach out and grip players avatars if they try to play more than one card per turn. Korg stomps the ground and shoots a wasteful rock card into your opponent’s deck. These little animations are very nice touches to a fun little game.
I don’t feel this is a “Pay to Win” game at all. I haven’t lost games because my opponents have paid more money into Marvel Snap than I have. I lose because I am outplayed, or the random Locations aren’t going my way, or I happened to draw a very bad hand of cards. And if I lose, I just requeue up again and try my luck against someone else. The game moves along Snappily. 😉
Marvel Snap can be completely free if you want it to be. Though, you if like the game and play it regularly, you should definitely consider the monthly Battle Pass to reward the designers. If you are a CCG’er, I think you might want to give Marvel Snap a go.