Marvel SNAP is a PC and mobile card collecting game created by Second Dinner Studios, a team of former Activision-Blizzard employees who worked very closely with Hearthstone, another popular CCG. Marvel SNAP follows similar rules: energy is spent to play the cards, but turns happen simultaneously, and matches take three minutes or less to finish. Marvel SNAP also introduces a different way of collecting cards.
Marvel SNAP‘s beta has been underway since its soft launch last May, and players who have been lucky enough to land the cards they want through the randomly generated card ladder have been having a blast. However, Marvel SNAP‘s microtransactions and progression system have received some backlash — even before the recent Nexus Event and the patch news, Marvel SNAP has not made it easy to collect all the cards in one go.
Instead of buying traditional card packs and collecting whatever randomly generated cards they produce, Marvel SNAP has players climb a leveling tier ladder to collect cards. Players can climb the ladder by upgrading cards. While some say it’s a great way to keep players from rushing and buying packs until they have every card, others have noticed that it progressively becomes more challenging to collect the higher-level cards.
In perspective, the ladder has over 1,000 levels, and the cards that players get are randomly generated as they level up. Some players can get lucky and get meta-breaking cards early on, but most players will get useless cards. The 400-plus levels have some of the best cards in Marvel SNAP, but it could take weeks or even months to earn these levels. This is where the criticism and monetization for Marvel SNAP lies.
Players can purchase upgrade materials for cards, but they need to play with the cards to upgrade. Materials for cards are also locked out of purchasing for 24 hours. It eventually becomes extremely difficult to progress in collecting cards without dedicating a substantial amount of time to Marvel SNAP, and players have been speaking out about it. Second Dinner claimed they would find a way to fix this progression problem for players with the new monthly Nexus Event.
The Nexus Event was released with the latest patch on July 19 and was met with harsh criticism. The event made it so that players can now purchase packs for a chance at a bunch of cosmetics and upgrade materials, along with two cards, The Mighty Thor and Destroyer, which can eventually be earned on the ladder. Players have determined that in order to get everything in the Nexus Event, players must pay up to $400 or more — all that for cards players can eventually earn, and some claim to already have the cards in their collection.
Players had no idea what to expect from the Nexus Event. Many were hoping for an arena draft type of game mode to help players earn more resources and play with cards they don’t usually play with. Some were saving the resources they earned to get a chance at whatever the event was, only to be let down by the price it takes to get these two cards and cosmetics. Many players feel that Marvel SNAP is starting off on the wrong foot.
Second Dinner has already stated that they would try to rectify their mistake with in-game progression and future events, but it might be too late for some players who have entirely given up on the game. Marvel SNAP has been implementing excellent ideas regarding digital card collectors, and players are having fun with its quick-style gameplay. No card collecting game is perfect, as each one does something different to get both free-to-play and pay-to-play players on board. Second Dinner needs to find a balance between free-to-play and pay-to-play before officially releasing Marvel SNAP worldwide later this year.