Gaming isn't just about pixels on the screen. The people who make, play, sell and regulate video games are just as interesting as the medium itself.

Some of the original team behind Blizzard’s Hearthstone left to make a mysterious new game a few years ago, forming Second Dinner Studios. What they ended up working on in secret was a brand new CCG (collectible card game) called “Marvel Snap”, which combines elements of “Gwent'', “Artifact”, and poker to create a deceptively simple and fast-paced game.

And ever since former “Hearthstone” game director Ben Brode graced us with his iconic laugh in introducing Snap to the world, I’ve been waiting desperately for the open beta or official 1.0 release so more people can play what’s quickly become an addictive hobby for me on the daily (when I’m not writing for the magnificent Digg dot com).

But there are so many ideas and things to add to Snap before it goes live to more people, and while several have been floated by the dev team in Discord, Reddit, and Twitter Q&As, I made a wishlist of things the community would like to see added into Snap before it goes global.

This is a defacto open letter directed to the team making the game, but also a sort of round-up of all the critiques and criticism that hardcore players like myself have been hoping/asking for. Maybe this all falls on deaf ears, maybe most of these are already in the pipeline and are coming, who knows! With only a short video released every month, it’s hard to get a lot of feedback and updates.

P.S. No one on my staff knows I’m writing this, hopefully I don’t get fired for posting this on a Saturday. Typically when I wrote long editorials and thinkpieces about video games, it gets an audience of several thousand people, so here’s hoping this doesn’t go to waste. It’s very inside baseball and filled with jargon/complaints for a game that isn’t available at all, it’s still in closed beta, so if you’re reading this thank you!

First off, let’s tackle the Galactus-sized elephant in the room: the controversial progression system. The most discussed part of Snap isn’t the gameplay, but the way you unlock cards on a set reward track. The best way to build a collection is just by simply logging in every day and completing the meager few daily challenges offered, then waiting…and waiting. It’s outdated to slow roll the unlocking of cards like it’s 1988. The internet exists! There are no more mysteries out there, we know everything, and I know that since I don’t have Patriot I can’t make use of any cards in a Patriot deck.

I understand where the developers are coming from when they say they want everyone to have different cards in their collection, and experience the magic of discovering something no one else has. But so far, it’s incredibly narrow in its design; there are no options or choices of what to get, which really dictates what decks you can run for the first few weeks of play. It’s painfully slow, too, a real grind to get variants or new cards at a regular pace.

I’d love to see the ability to pick between a few choices when unlocking a new card, or getting more ways of moving up the track that isn’t just upgrading card rarities. There are a lot of weaker and unused cards that need to be upgraded to get you new cards, which just feels odd considering player choice and freedom is a top priority in other CCGs.

For a game that revolves around timers, it’s already too limiting and restrictive. There’s a cap on paying for gold and credits (good!) but a cap on daily booster and everything is seemingly tied to an hourly timer (bad). Don’t get me started on getting boosters for cards you don’t play as big-time rewards, that is an all-time mood killer. Is it too much to ask for card-neutral boosters so I can pick what cards I want to upgrade?

Also, why do certain cards get boosters after matches and not others? Why can’t I target specific ones? I don’t need 500 Iron Man boosters, I need just 5 measly Spider-Man boosters! It’s infuriating. In fact, boosters should not exist, you should upgrade the cards with XP and it shouldn’t be random at the end of matches by 5/10/25/etc. Getting boosters in a loot box or as a reward is insulting and useless.

Also, the current three unlockable pools of cards should be more clear, as well. I’d love to see them listed out, or just give me smaller pools that focus on core mechanics like Discard or Ongoing so I can make cohesive archetypes much earlier. It takes weeks to get important build-around cards, let alone the best meta-warping stuff (like Lady Death), and it’s a real bummer to have to be at the mercy of this deliberately chosen progression system to play semi-competitive decks and strategies.

So to sum this all up: I can’t get the cards I want. When I look at meta reports, I can’t make the decks I want. I can’t pay to get them, I can’t play my way to get them, I can’t grind my way to get them, and I can’t outlast or wait to get them. Anyone who gets into the game is already at a several month disadvantage for a collection. It feels vengeful and vindictive to players, and should be completely rethought.

Right now, there are a few things missing from Snap’s user interface. Obviously, the PC client isn’t done yet, and this game seems designed around mobile phones, but having experience on Android emulators (shhh don’t tell anyone) and tablets like the iPad, I have some suggestions.

There’s a lot of empty space if you’re not using a smaller phone to play, which could be used for a number of things. A tracker on either rail could show what cards have been played in previous turns, what’s been discarded or destroyed for each player, and I should be able to see how many cards are in our opponent’s hands without having to tap on their icon picture.

More music is definitely needed, since the few songs already in the game slap. I’d love the ability to rotate the game upside down (some charger ports aren’t conducive for games not in landscape mode), and there should be a much clearer indicator of how much time is left in a turn, and who is revealing their cards first each round. Actually, the game should explain that upfront, it’s a mystery right now without having to look it up.

There’s a lot of history and love in all of the characters and locations Snap has, from classic Marvel heroes and villains to newer faces and places unfamiliar to some. Being able to go into our collection and read up on who Sword Master or Aero is would be awesome, especially if it gets players interested in going directly to shows/movies/comics if the game links to storefronts through Disney’s websites for purchase.

Snap should have an in-game list of locations (there are over 100 and counting), collectible variant artworks, and a glossary of terms and mechanics. Even though Snap is more minimalistic than other CCGs, it can still be complex and unwelcoming to those who aren’t familiar with the genre or Marvel comics ahead of time.

This one is simple; the more accessibility features and options to tinker with in the settings, the better. Colorblind mode, FPS selection, auto squelch, sliders for graphics, pretty much anything that can be added to tweak the experience for the better is appreciated.

Right now, there is one mode (more on that soon). Once you’re out of the tutorial, you just start playing online, and while it seems initially like there are a lot of bots, it gets pretty blurry very quickly when you’re actually facing real opponents (bots can appear at any rank to reduce queue times). And let me know who is a bot and who isn’t! Farming cubes could be much more fun against the AI.

And there isn’t a casual ladder, only ranked. There are just 10 unique markers to get through for rewards. There’s no floor that saves your progress, like in Hearthstone, and the MMR is a total mystery. Maybe adding more tiers and reward checkpoints can ease the pain of being stuck on a level, or losing your cubes and sliding down several ranks.

Leaving aside the tantalizing prospect of single-player content ala Gwent’s expansions or roguelike games like Slay The Spire and Inscryption, I really want more modes. As of this writing, it seems that tournament mode has been leaked, and is in the works, but being able to add a draft mode or something similar to Hearthstone’s Tavern Brawl with wacky pre-set rules would go a long way to replayability. Anyone up for all Ego boards and Agatha Harkness decks?

Spectating friends, playing against them, and practice modes are in several other competitive games. Why not Snap? An in-game friends list is surely on its way, but since the closed beta is very limited and bare bones, giving people the chance to invite their friends and grow this already small community would do wonders. It’s hard to positive word of mouth to work when it’s hard to even download and try Snap at the moment. Speaking of which…

If you live in the Philippines, New Zealand, or got an exclusive invite, congrats, you get to play Marvel Snap unimpeded! If not, you either are waiting to get in or used some nefarious methods to sneak in. Right now, the way you experience things in Snap feels like being a QA tester. Typically mobile games are released in other countries for a few weeks to balance monetization, and then they’re quickly released to the rest of the world to build on that momentum.

Snap feels unfinished, yet it’s already getting seasons, battle passes, unique cards and player icons, and card backs. Anyone who hasn’t gotten in is missing (what feels like) essential moments early on in the life of this live service game. If content creators like RegisKillbin and Zeddy and Trumpsc are slowing their roll on covering your game, it’s time to inject some fresh blood with new players and a faster rollout.

The majority of the player base going in on day one will be so far behind on their collection, it's going to cause a lot of problems if they don't do a player reset. CCG competition is the greatest it's ever been, and yet it seems like the hype for Snap fizzled for the mainstream after its initial reveal. Unless you’re playing, it’s hard to care about any announcements, and the beta testers are going to just smoke new players with limited collections and beginner decks.

When Hearthstone started, everyone ended up having access to a base set, and could choose to craft cards/decks that they wanted. In Snap, you are at the mercy of RNG and playing for days on end before you can be set up for success. Snap should seriously consider reintroducing these seasonal events, rewarding newer players to catch up, or doing a post-beta reset of some kind especially if they come to consoles. But let as many people into the game now as possible, and give access to as many platforms as is humanly possible.

Marvel Snap has a lot of potential yet to be realized, and I know the folks at Second Dinner are working on some marvelous stuff. Listing what I want from the game might seem like I’m disparaging what’s already on offer, but being critical of a work-in-progress (in this case) is a good thing, as Ben Brode has already stated the team is listening and incorporating all the feedback thus far. They got rid of the Nexus Events! They upped the daily booster acquisition limit from 200 to 1000, and have successfully patched the dreaded Nova + Carnage and Moon Girl + Devil Dinosaur package meta (if you don’t remember the first month or so, it was everywhere).

I hope this was helpful to anyone who plays this game, since there are seemingly not a lot of us around. But if the hardcore fanbase has all of these problems, then imagine millions of people bouncing once they don’t like what they see.

Login to leave a comment

We’ve curated the best of the Internet so you don’t have to spend hours scrolling.

Sign up for Digg’s daily morning newsletter to get the most interesting stories of the moment delivered directly to your inbox. Sent every morning.

Sign in to your Digg account.

By signing in you agree with our communications and usage terms.

Not a member yet? Sign up

Thanks for creating an account! Your accounts lets you Digg (upvote) stories, save stories to revisit later, and more.

Enjoy your new account! As a reminder, you can change your profile and email settings in your profile.

Return to browsing View account

Get started by creating an account.

By signing up you agree with our communications and usage terms.

Already have an account? Sign in

Thanks for creating an account! Your accounts lets you Digg (upvote) stories, save stories to revisit later, and more.

Enjoy your new account! As a reminder, you can change your profile and email settings in your profile.

Return to browsing View account