Marvel Snap: Ex-Hearthstone dev Ben Brode on why this new project is “the best entryway” into card games

In the modern age, collectible card games are doing very well. Titles like Hearthstone, YuGiOh, and Magic the Gathering have established their own entrenched positions in the video game market, bringing the decades-old pastime to PC, console, and especially mobile devices. Get into marvel addona new challenge for heavy hitters with the word accessibility on the back in bright gold letters, and the team at Second Dinner Studios trying to recapture the spirit of an older, more youthful card game experience.

To guide me through the game and the team’s goals for it, there’s Ben Brode: flannel shirt aficionado, former member of Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone team, and currently Director of Development at Second Dinner Studios. While the studio obviously has a long list of content courses that it would like to offer through seasonal releases and ongoing updates, can it make a dent?

But before we get into the details, what is Marvel Snap? Well, it’s a fast-paced card game where each play fills three spaces on the board, each with four card slots and their own active modifiers ranging from buffs to cards played there to limits on what you can place there. In six turns, both competitors must try to fill these spaces with cards from their deck, each card possessing its own figure power and abilities. In my opinion, it’s the perfect type of game for phones, super fast and easy to understand.

“We wanted to make sure the mobile experience was accessible, it was the main focus for us,” says Brode. “We challenged ourselves to make a game that was super simple to learn, super fast, but still had a lot of depth.” The result of this balance is a game that starts out incredibly simple (perhaps too simple for my money) but gradually introduces its variety of mechanics and complexities.

What’s interesting is that it does this through a collection-centric, non-linear approach. As you collect and upgrade cards, you as a player work through a collection level that acts as your only source of new cards. Cards cannot be purchased. Not with money or in-game currency. The reason for this? To force players to play with their new cards as they come instead of throwing them aside.

“So when you get a new card, it’s a chance to put it in your deck, level it up a little bit, and unlock extra stuff. So you get a chance to spend time with each card, cards that you might not think are too good at At first, but after a few games it proves to be quite good! It allows you to explore the collection and get comfortable with deck building.”

However, this also plays into a subterranean goal for Ben and the team: trying to bring back a long-vanished card game experience, which sat in playgrounds and living rooms around the world many years ago.

“When I was a kid we used to collect Marvel cards, we’d go down to the local card shop or comic book store and buy a pack of cards, or even other sets of cards. None of my friends had all the cards, it wasn’t something what people did back then! It was more about slowly collecting cads, building decks with what you had. It was such an amazing time, and when we made the game, we were trying to bring back that old-school style of card game. “

One of the aspects of Marvel Snap that the inner child and comic book nerd will obviously love will be the presence of numerous Marvel characters. There are some pretty deep cuts in there, all of which have been linked to a card effect that represents your background.

“A lot of times we design cards from the top down, meaning we sit down and think ‘what would Rogue do in Marvel Snap’ before choosing which ability makes sense? You usually create fun designs that way. Sometimes we knew we needed an ability, like increasing the effectiveness of current cards, to find a character that would fit the ability.”

Brode mentioned Zero as a great example, a card that takes away abilities from other cards. He describes “scouring the Marvel encyclopedia” for characters that fit the effect.

To wrap up my questions about Marvel Snap, I wanted to ask Brode what his goals were for the game (other than obviously “making a billion dollars” or “being the most popular card game out there”). The answer reflects what he wants for the game and what he wants for himself. “With Marvel Snap, my goal is to have a big impact. I want Marvel Snap to increase the audience. When I was a kid, card games were a niche, not many people played them. Card games are so much fun.

“One of my favorite things to do in life is introduce people to the things I love, and I love card games. So I can’t wait to introduce people to Marvel Snap, it’s the best entry to the genre.”