Marvel Snap....A Mobile Game I Actually Love?!

 Marvel is everywhere, from shows on streaming, to an ever expanding cinematic universe, and plenty of merchandise to match them all. Video games have been no different from some being amazing like Insomniac Studios take on Spider-Man and Miles Morales, to games we would like to forget like Fantastic Four on the PlayStation One. But recently a game tied to this comic book brand has captivated me, and many of my friends in a way I never expected, with cards, fun art, and fantastic gameplay. The game I am talking about is on mobile as well as steam and that is, Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap is a season based competitive card game tied to the comics with winks and nods to other iterations through the art variations on the card. Your goal is to get more points than your opponent in three zones. Each zone has a gimmick tied to it whether it be copying cards elsewhere, not allowing certain abilities, or destroying cards. Whoever locks down the zones and within six turns, sometimes seven, wins. To do so you have energy that can very from turn to turn to play your cards, some costing as low as one, some as high as 6, some with one time abilities, some that last the entire match, build off of other cards, and some with none. You are not given a set deck and tasked with building a deck with plenty of options, whether around a specific strategy, like discarding cards to boost others, or perhaps cards that get more power if your opponent plays a card at the same spot as you at the same time.

You play matches and earn EXP to unlock new cards, energy to upgrade cards faster, and gold to buy variants in an in game shop. Every game starts you off at rank ten and you can win matches and climb your way up. That is where one of the main mechanics of the game comes into play, snapping. At the top of the screen is a cube in which you can snap or your opponent can snap, if you do so, you raise the number. That snap cube is EXP you can wager EXP in matches thus raising the stakes for a big loss or a big pay out. You can also retreat and leave a match, if you do so, you lose half of the wagered EXP.

There are daily quests that encourage using different deck styles and cards. There is also a season pass that gives you new cards, and a shop to buy packages and variants. This is where one of my few gripes comes in because, I love that you can play the game without spending a cent and unlock some fun cards and variants and the season pass is handled well. The shop on the other hand has some very understocked bundles for some high costs, like two cards some upgrades and gold and that is it. So the shop is a mixed bag but this game is playable without the season pass which is well done or playing completely free. Though when buying the season pass I found myself grinding to upgrade cards easier and getting some gold as well, it definitely fulfills its cost.

There are tons of different locales which then also balance out, the sheer number of cards available. There are hundreds of cards and new ones keep being added each season, leading to plenty of ways to build decks and make your plan to secure victory. With the multitude of the cards and the zones with their different effects and abilities 

The card variety is not just in all the different artwork but all the different ways to make cards complement each other before heading into a match is so fun. Sometimes I try building a deck around one mechanic or style just to test how cards work with each other. All of the matches play online and the game runs well for the most part, I have had a crash or two or sometimes where the game gets a tad slow, but those instances are few and far between with the hundreds of matches, I have played. The game mostly has matches against random people online, but also you can now play against friends. I have done plenty of both and the PVP mode is a an absolute riot in the best way possible. I had some much fun with it, instead of playing for EXP you snap to wager more health to make matches last for less rounds then others.

This game is so fun to play, online or with friends, building decks, doing quests, or just playing a couple rounds. This game is fun to even play with friends without doing PVP, some friends and I just sit around helping each other with decks, chilling out and just playing the game. The rounds are nice and short, which can be great for short bursts or long quest grinds. This game is fun to just fire up and play a couple rounds even when I have no quests to do. It's so great to just build decks, retool them, try them out and play. It's a great game to put on some music and just play, it runs great and I am so glad to have friends to share it with. If you love a fun yet deep, simple to learn, hard to master card game, this is it. A card game has not gripped me so hard since the early days of Yugioh and it really captures that feel for me. If you have steam or a good phone, give it a try, it is worth your time.