The new card battler Marvel Snap has enjoyed an excellent first few weeks, even without a way to play against friends. However, friends will soon be able to duke it out online in the game's upcoming "battle mode."
A spokesperson for the game's developer, Second Dinner Studios, Inc., said battle mode will release "this calendar year," meaning fans will likely be battling their besties by the holiday season. The Washington Post reported on the unique structure of these online matches, which aren't simple one-off encounters but pit players against each other for multiple rounds. Each player has an overall pool of 10 health, and they can gain or lose health points each round, meaning tight matches could potentially last a while until either player loses all their points.
The game's signature "snapping" mechanic should speed up matches, though. Snapping in battle mode allows players to "bet" health points on winning the current round, adding another layer of strategy to a game that currently has 263 cards to choose from, including headliners like Iron Man and Thanos but also less obvious picks like Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. "We think Battle Mode is the best way to play against friends, or run community tournaments, because it provides a clear winner while still incorporating the SNAP mechanic. We can't wait to see the community play in Battle Mode!" said Second Dinner in the game's road map.
A Number of Features Are Coming To Marvel Snap
Second Dinner's update provided details on other features and additions that are in development for the game, including a widescreen mode for PC, a "Guilds" system to expand social features and an unranked online mode in which "players face-off against other players without the risk of losing Ranks or Cosmic cubes while still making progress on your Missions." Still listed as an "Early Access" game on Steam, Second Dinner warns that "features and systems" in development "can change dramatically."
Marvel Snap released on Oct. 18 for mobile and Steam. It earned over $2 million in its first week, shooting to the top of the App Store and Google Play's top 10 lists and reaching 5.3 million downloads in its first week. This impressive success wasn't so certain a few months ago, however, as the game had a very bumpy beta stage. Back in July, beta players were furious with the game's monetization model, which was set up to cost around $900 a month for those determined to unlock all the content in the game. It seems the developer has tweaked the reward systems since then, but only time will tell if the game has found a payment model that will satisfy both sides.
Marvel Snap is available to play now on iOS, Android and Steam.
Source: Second Dinner, via The Washington Post