Test of Marvel Snap: fast-paced games and accessible gameplay

Let's dive into the world of superheroes together with test of Marvel Snap, the trading card game from Nuverse and Second Dinner, available since October 15, 2022 on Android, iOS and PC. Let's take a closer look at this game that shakes up the TCG codes to make the games faster and the rules more accessible.

Test of Marvel Snap: the game process

Let's get straight to the heart of our test of Marvel Snap with the way the games work. In Marvel Snap, you face an opponent in 1v1 in short games of 6 rounds with a deck of 12 custom cards. Each card costs 1-6 energy points and most cards have an additional special ability that affects the game.

As in a classic TCG, you will have to balance the costs of the cards in your deck to play as many of them as possible or put down more powerful cards. You recover your energy and gain a maximum of one energy point per turn until turn 6.

But where Marvel Snap differs from other trading card games is in the developers' choice to keep only the essential fun and get rid of the complicated and unnecessarily repetitive mechanics that are usually found and that can scare off new players.

So when you play your cards strategically, you must choose to place them on one of the 3 locations on the field that represent iconic places in the Marvel multiverse.

However, you are limited to 4 cards per location, so think carefully before playing, or you may find yourself stuck at the end of the game. At the end of the sixth round, the player who has the most power in 2 of the 3 locations on the field wins the game.

A more complex gameplay than it seems

Even if the gameplay seems simple at first glance, our test of Marvel Snap allowed us to discover a title that does not lack tactical depth. Nuverse has made the smart choice to simplify the TCG genre, while keeping essential strategic elements, with simple, but effective mechanics.

Imagine, for example, a snap of Thanos' fingers, which completely changes the course of the game and creates confusion for the player, to start again on a new and creative basis.

Simple to understand, but hard to master, Marvel Snap's gameplay system innovates by focusing its progression curve on mastering the abilities of the cards you play, but more importantly the effects of the slots, active or passive, that are revealed during the game and change from game to game.

You have to anticipate your opponent's actions and use strategy to hope to climb the rankings.

A permissive progression in the first hours

In the beginning, it will be easy to progress, as most of your first opponents will probably be bots or players who are less than 10 years old, which translates into a lack of competitiveness during the first hours of play. Rest assured, once you get past the Silver level, you will encounter fewer and fewer of these and more and more adversity.

As you progress through Marvel Snap, you'll find the collection feel that enriches the card game experience with great visual effects and immersion, without throwing the matches off balance.

Even if the game leaves room for a lot of RNG, and it will sometimes be almost impossible to win the game because of its random effects, you will still have all the cards in your hand to climb the different levels.

For example, with the Snap mechanic, you can bet on your win and earn more points if you win the match. However, a failed bet will cause you to drop down the leaderboard faster.

A fun and entertaining collection system

On the collection side, you can upgrade your cards using credits and boosters that you get while playing. The upgrades do not give you any additional stats in your duels and only improve the aesthetics of your cards.

On the other hand, it will increase your collection level, which allows you to unlock new cards and thus build better decks, or at least have more choices in your deck-building.

In terms of gameplay, our test from Marvel Snap offers us a game that takes the fun basics of the known TCGs, like Hearthstone or Legends of Runeterra, but without their complexity which can be a real barrier to entry for some types of players.

Nuverse's game is very accessible in this respect, while remaining entertaining and addictive. Each time you finish a game, you'll want to start a new one.

I still regret thelack of in-gamecard history, like in Hearthstone for example, and of a community tab that would allow to exchange cards or to fight with friends.

Let's hope that these features will be added later, which would erase the biggest weakness of our test of Marvel Snap. In the meantime, we can still enjoy the content in 1v1 and fully translated in French, without ads.

An immersive atmosphere thanks to quality effects

As for the graphics, we were totally won over during our test of Marvel Snap, both by the very successful visual effects of the characters' abilities and by theanimation of each card played on the field, which becomes more beautiful as you progress with the card upgrades.

Theinterface of Nuverse's TCG is clear, intuitive and fluid, which makes it even more accessible to those new to the genre. And what better way to immerse yourself in this universe than with the official French voiceovers of our favorite heroes?

In addition to the official voices, Marvel Snap benefits from a sublime adaptation of the original Marvel comics design on mobile. Really, it's a faultless work on this side.

An honest business model

Since there's nothing to complain about in terms of atmosphere and graphics, not even a major bug ignored by the developers on the horizon, let's move on to the business model part of our test of Marvel Snap.

In Marvel Snap, you won't find any ads for a lousy game, no abusive incentives to buy, but investing money in the game still allows you to unlock new cards faster and thus create more varied decks than free-to-play players.

In-game purchases remain at a medium cost, like TFT or Wild Rift, as the Season Pass is priced at 11 euros, but buying it will earn you a lot of premium currency if you play enough.

In practical terms, spending money will make you progress faster, but as a free-to-play player, you can compete with other players if you are patient and play regularly.

Marvel Snap should therefore be considered as a pay-to-fast, far from being abusive at its launch, even if we have to keep our fingers crossed that this gap between premium and free-to-play players doesn't widen with time.

Conclusion of my opinion on the test of Marvel Snap

To conclude this test of Marvel Snap, Nuverse offers a title that shines by its simple, effective and deeply tactical mechanics, all enhanced by a design and visual effects and animation more than successful.

It leaves a lot of room for theorycrafting with its deckbuilding system and allows the free-to-play player to have many hours of fun without giving him the impression that he has to pay to keep up.

Thanks to these innovative and intuitive gameplay mechanics, Nuverse's TCG stands out from the crowd without being a skin of another game and will reconcile many players with trading card games on mobile.

We still regret theabsence of some communityfeatures and we hope that they will see the light of day in the next updates.

But what do the people want? An immensely popular license, a worthy adaptation, and a refreshing game in its class. Marvel Snap has everything to appeal to both new and experienced trading card game players and we'll be following its development very closely.

If our test of Marvel Snap convinced you, the game is available for free on Android, iOS and PC.

Positive points

• Accessible to novices
• High-quality visual effects
• Official character voice-overs
• No advertising

Negative points

• No community functionality
• No card history