Movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gave us a taste of what the multiverse can bring to the MCU, indicating that absolutely anything is possible. You can have any dead Marvel superhero come back for any MCU movie since they exist in other timelines. But what if you could assemble your own Marvel superhero team and snap others in multiplayer battles on iPhone and Android?
That’s what you’ll get when you play Marvel Snap, a brand new collectible card game from some of the makers of Hearthstone. As you’re undoubtedly aware, Hearthstone is one of the most popular CCG games on the planet.
But Marvel Snap doesn’t come from Blizzard, the giant studio behind Hearthstone. Instead, we’re looking at a Second Dinner creation here. But the good news is that it’s also an official Marvel title. That means all the Marvel comics superheroes you know and love can be part of the gameplay, whether they’re Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, or any other groups.
Like any CCG game, Marvel Snap delivers multiplayer games between players who craft decks using a specific set of rules. But unlike other turned-based CCG games, you don’t have to wait your turn to play.
Each player plays their turn in real-time, and the action resolves itself simultaneously. The point of Marvel Snap is to get the cosmic cubes, which act like points.
How to play Marvel Snap
Each player gets to build a deck of 12 superheroes out of more than 150 cards — and the collection will increase in time. Individual Marvel Snap heroes have different strengths and unique abilities that will influence the battles they are fighting.
You’ll then have to use up to four heroes over six turns in one of the three locations on the screen. The game will randomly offer three locations from the Marvel universe, each featuring certain battle conditions that will influence the way you play the game. And players only get to uncover each site one turn at a time.
To win the game, you’ll have to outscore your opponent in two of the three locations. That’s how you get the cosmic cubes, which will let you advance your ranking. Losing will negatively impact your rank, of course.
Finally, there’s a bit of a poker element to the game. You can double the number of cosmic cubes to tell your opponent that you mean business, considering what’s revealed on the board. You might have a play that lets you win two locations. Or you might be bluffing to steal the cubes.
Also, if you reach turn five out of a maximum of six, the number of cubes automatically doubles.
If your opponent calls your snap, then you’ll complete the game, fighting for all the points. But a fearful rival might want to retreat, thus only losing the initial cubes. You can see two Marvel Snap gameplay demos below, where the snap mechanism is shown in action.
How to download Marvel Snap
All that might seem like a lot, but each game only takes about three minutes to complete. That’s a lot faster than a game of Hearthstone, for example.
Marvel and Second Dinner just announced the game, but you can’t play it just yet. You can read about it on Marvel’s website, and you’ll find promo videos on Marvel’s official YouTube site. But unfortunately, it’s not yet ready for release.
Marvel Snap will be a mobile-first title when it launches, hitting iPhone and Android free of charge. But there’s no telling when the game will hit the App Store and Google Play.
The only good news for Marvel fans excited about Marvel Snap is that you can register right now for a closed beta on Android devices. However, it’s a limited beta so not everybody will get in.
More Marvel coverage: For more MCU news, visit our Marvel guide.
