Early Access Review: Marvel Snap

destructoid.com:

I recently went on a little book-buying bonanza, readying my little library for the cold autumn and winter nights that’ll soon be coming to my wee corner of the world. Most of my purchases were novels designed to make me look intelligent and well-informed when guests see them on my shelves. But one was a pure nostalgia purchase. Earlier this year, Abrams Books released a compendium of The Uncanny X-Men trading cards that were illustrated by Jim Lee. These cards were a massive part of my childhood. I used to have an incredibly thick binder that had hundreds of these cards in it, and every once in a while, I would thumb through its pages, gawking at my collection.

While sentimental, the book’s decision to limit one side of one card per page makes it a rather annoying read. But I’ve enjoyed reading it because of all those wonderful memories it unearths in the catacombs of my mind. The cards of Marvel Snap have had a similar effect.

Marvel Snap (Android [reviewed], iOS, PC)Developer: Second DinnerPublisher: NuverseReleased: October 18, 2022MSRP: Free-to-play w/ microtransactions

From developer Second Dinner, a team founded by several people who helped develop Hearthstone, Marvel Snap is a quick-paced card battler that pits characters from the Marvel universe into a numbers game. The rules are simple: each player will build a deck of 12 unique cards from those they’ve unlocked and then play those cards in one of three locations. Each card has an associated cost and power, and the player who can build the most power at two of the three locations, or by a larger margin if you tie at one or two of the locations, wins.

Most cards are equipped with either ongoing or on-reveal abilities that can boost your hand or set back your