Marvel Snap is the fastest collectible card game in the West

While the MCU is riding high, Marvel Entertainment is looking to keep the audience invested with the release of Marvel Snap. The title is a collectible card game that apparently has the fastest CCG (collectible card game) gameplay in the west too. As long as we get to see Baby Groot, this is a win.

The game is the work of Second Dinner, a studio making its debut with Marvel Snap. The founders of Second Dinner are developers who worked on Hearthstone back in the day. Second Dinner partnered with Marvel Entertainment and Nuverse for the creation of Marvel Snap.

Marvel Snap‘s devs tried to make the best CCG on the market (on their first go), and it’s possible they have succeeded. In the words of Yong Woo, Second Dinner’s Chief Production Officer; “We stripped out all the stuff that gets in the way of fun, and gets everyone straight into the strategic action.”

Oh, Snap!

Matches only last around three minutes, and players take turns simultaneously. There’s no waiting for your opponent. Turns are “layered” on top of each other, so there’s no way your opponent can troll you by making you wait till the last minute, just to beat you right at the end. If you do that during other CCGs, look inward. You are the problem. But the speed here is one of the features that could draw CCG fans to Marvel Snap.

By the looks of it, the game revolves around controlling sections of the board, by putting your cards under three controllable areas. Winning involves taking control of two of these areas before your opponent can do the same. If a player is willing to take a little bit of risk, they can ‘Snap’ their opponents, potentially upping the reward for the game. Think of it as almost a bluff, unless you’re actually holding the cards needed to win. Either way, you might frighten your opponent off —  which means you win. The basic principles of Marvel Snap follow other CCGs. Cards have attack and defense powers, along with special abilities.

Launch day will see 150 unique character cards in Marvel Snap, based on famous Marvel characters. In the animated teaser trailer, the first characters you see are Venom and America Chavez kicking alien butt. Marvel knows which characters are popular in the Marvel zeitgeist, meaning we can expect new cards to be added as soon as new movies and shows premiere. When it comes to creating hype, Marvel knows what they’re doing.

Marvel Snap will be free on mobile app stores and PC. There is a limited closed beta for Android users, so you better be quick if you want a chance of getting in.