What is Marvel Snap and how do you play it?

There’s a new card battler out there that has been climbing up the charts for both Steam and mobile app stores: Second Dinner Studio’s Marvel Snap. It’s a fast-paced card game with new mechanics and a change of pace for the genre from Ben Brode, the former game director of Hearthstone, Blizzard’s genre-defining card game.

Marvel SnapPlayers create decks with 12 cards, and then battle other players. Like other card battlers, each card has an energy cost (from one to six) and a power level (but no health – these cards do not fight each other). You have one energy on turn 1. Turn two gives you two energy, and turn six brings you six.

Each battle takes place over three locations – neutral cards that have their own effects (e.g. “Cards can’t be played here after turn 4” or “Cards here get +1 power.”). On the first turn the location that you see is revealed, while the second turns reveal the location of the second. And the third location appears on the third. You don’t need to be a master of each location to win the battle. You can win 2 of the 3 locations. The total power is what determines the tiebreaker.

That’s all well and good, but why is it so successful? These are the key ingredients:

These games are very short

Since Marvel Snap Six rounds are included in each round. However, there may be occasions when they run a little longer or shorter. Each game lasts approximately five minutes and no more than ten. That’s the perfect length for a “pick it up and put it down” mobile game.

Image by Marvel/Second Dinner Games

These cards are cool

The game and the cards are built primarily to be played on your phone – as opposed to many other games in the genre that are designed for computers or tablets and then adapted to phone use. The cards are great on smartphones because they can be viewed vertically. You can also upgrade them to get more cards. The first upgrade will remove the card from its frame. Later, your card may become animated or 3D.

The genre’s formula gets new spins

Location mechanics are always fresh because each battle has a unique set of stakes, which unravels as the game goes on. The “two out of three” locations mechanic also encourages different sorts of strategies, and guessing where your opponent will likely play their cards.

And perhaps most crucially…

It’s free and not pay-to-win

Yes! It’s true! You can purchase a season pass to unlock more benefits, but you cannot buy any card games in the game without paying money. You cannot buy specific cards or create cards using in-game currency. It’s all random! It’s all random, which makes it more fair or less unfair depending on your perspective.

Marvel Factor

Your mileage here varies – for some people, it’s the reason to be interested in the first place, but for others, it’s a reason for skepticism. There’s no doubt the ever-present Marvel IP has helped this game get more attention on launch. From my point of view, I’m glad it doesn’t lean so hard into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, instead relying on the rich comics history of characters and style variants.