Marvel Snap reviewed by Cam Shea on iOS with iPad Gen 9 (2021). Also available on Android and PC (Early Access).
“Marvel Snap upends the collectible card game genre with some truly fresh ideas, impressive strategic depth, wonderfully slick presentation, and a fantastic use of the Marvel licence. Its high variance gameplay can be frustrating at times, but is mitigated by the short games and ability to retreat mid-match, while the collection system represents a bold move away from the norm, even if it eventually becomes slow and unsatisfying. Despite this, Marvel Snap deserves a place in the pocket of card game players and Marvel fans alike.”
All right When I have the Guardians of the Galaxy In the palm of your hand leaping into Play guns blazing and even fighting Alongside yondu once more About putting together your Ultimate Avengers crew and doing battle at Stark Tower and other well-known Marvel Locations these are the kinds of Scenarios that Marvel snap Revels in and Its excellent use of the Marvel license Is packed into a Punchy portable card Game where matches are short the Gameplay is easy to understand and You're encouraged to check in every day It's not all rainbows and unicorns close Enough as the actual process of building Out your card collection is a real grind But overall this is a hella good time Well most of the time Marvel snap is wonderfully streamlined Your deck consists of only 12 cards and Games last for only six rounds each of These is a bit like rock paper scissors Both sides act simultaneously and then See how things play out with three Locations to contest revealed in turn as The match progresses the goal is to have The most power in two of three there's An impressive amount of strategy in Choosing where to play your cards and How to work with the locations you have On top of this at any point you can Choose to snap to double the stakes of
That match for the next round onwards And your opponent can snap back to Double them again opponents The cubes you're playing for raise or Lower your ranking and losing only one Versus losing eight is a huge difference So knowing when to go all in and when to Retreat is a critical part of Marvel Snaps gameplay and for a game where each Individual match takes around three Minutes there are a lot of decisions That have to be made and of course so Much of what you do is based on what Your opponent is doing how they're Utilizing the locations and what lines Of play they're likely to take based on What you know about their strategy and Win condition it really can be Incredibly engrossing Marvel snap has a Diverse range of deck archetypes Supported by a host of interesting Mechanics and keywords there are decks Built around destroying your own cards Discarding from your hand utilizing Ongoing effects moving cards between Locations cheating big minions out Repeating on revealed triggers and even Taking advantage of cards with no Abilities no really that deck can be an Assassin The cardpool has a little too much Disruption for my tastes as there are a Number of decks out there that look to Shut you out of any attempt to execute
Your game plan and that's not exactly Fun Mind you the locations themselves often Do a pretty good job of shutting you out On their own and the whole concept of Having three random gameplay modifiers Each match is very much a mixed blessing Yes it means that every game is Different and you need to think on your Feet but it also means that there'll be Combinations of locations so Antithetical to your strategy that the Best players to retreat before the Stakes are raised Time This is a high variance game where High Rolls and low rolls often determine the Outcome of matches thank goodness for The option to retreat The locations really shine are when They're less binary when you're able to Overcome a bad location or work around Significant limitations to still snag a Victory so there's certainly some upside To the system They also bring yet more Marvel flavor Complementing the exciting roster of Characters both iconic and Niche that Are available so far the current set has Been fantastically realized that each Character plays into their comic book Origins to some degree Mystique copy is An ability for you Storm floods location
Magneto pulls opposing cards to him Pokey Barnes transforms into the Winter Soldier when destroyed Are a joy as well waves splashes the Screen Nightcrawler bamps into position Devil dinosaur roars Miles Morales flips And America's Chavez bursts through a Portal and into your hand The card art is largely excellent too And ties into Marvel snaps collection Track which is how you unlock new cards Playing earns you resources which you Can then spend to cosmetically upgrade Cards shiny logo and boost your Collection level System that ditches the tried and true Card packs of games like magic and means There's no way to quickly buy your way Into a collection Instead you accrue cards through playing At first your collection builds at a Steady clip but once you've completed The first couple of card pools the Guaranteed drops turn into rolls of the Dice and things slow right down this is Also where you start to play against More advanced strategies and it can be Quite frustrating grinding to unlock the Key cards in pool 3 while facing off Against players lucky enough to already Have them it took me quite some time to Get enough new cards to build a viable Pool 3 deck which meant I was stuck Playing the same old strategies while I
Waited to open something good and as for Actually completing my collection I Think I need to roughly triple my Current collection level it feels Agonizingly slow Foreign There isn't a great deal of incentive to Spend money in Marvel snap beyond the Paid track of the season pass which Offers acceptable rewards if you play Enough to complete it each month Spending money on gold meanwhile offers Very little prospective value given how Expensive it is to turn it into new Daily missions credits or card variants The last of which are just absurdly Overpriced All told Marvel snap offers a unique Journey compared to other card games It's a slow and steady path that rewards You for dipping in and playing a modest Amount each day the lack of card packs Feels very different to the typical Model where there's a relatively high Cost to keep up but you are up and Running immediately Marvel snap is more Of a mountain that you climb steadily Over time and if you're prepared to be Patient You'll reach the top eventually It's the collectible card game genre With some truly fresh ideas impressive Strategic depth wonderfully slick Presentation and a fantastic use of the
Marvel license Its high variance gameplay can be Frustrating at times but is mitigated by The short games and ability to retreat Mid-match while the collection system Represents a bold move away from the Norm even if it eventually becomes slow And unsatisfying despite this Marvel Snap deserves a place in the pocket of Card game players and Marvel fans alike For more reviews check out our verdict On God of War Ragnarok and WRC Generations if you can stand that weird Australian accent and for everything Else you're in the right place IGN Foreign
