Ready your goggles, friends.

Nuverse's Marvel Snap is still working hard to make the superhero-themed, mobile card game fun and rewarding. Besides tinkering with the cards, fixing bugs, and crafting new ways to play against opponents, Marvel Snap is big on frequently updating the art of the cards. These new styles are called variants, and they play a huge part in the game's store and events. During the newest update, the second-ever Variant Rush began. From March 21 through April 4, opening ?Collector's Caches could get you the newest variant theme: Steampunk!

Not every card is getting a Steampunk makeover, but there is a small list of cards and titles that players may snag while they play the game. The last Variant Rush was the Winterverse event, and I'm still longing for that winter Rogue card. Alas, variants offered during these events hypothetically won't be offered again once they're over. They are event exclusives?, so if you're really into this style, you'll want to clear your schedule.

Though I did see one Steampunk Variant in my Store, for the most part, these cards are obtained by opening Collector's Caches. When you update cards and move up Collection Levels, you'll continue to get new cards. After level 506, you'll have access to Collector's Caches and Tokens. This is ??when the "Series" or "Pool" three cards are revealed to players working their way up the ladder.

For this event, there is now an even higher chance of unlocking a Steampunk Variant. According to Stephen Jerrett, the leading product designer for Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner, the drop rate for Variants has doubled since the last event, likely in an effort to make it more worthwhile for ??players who are excited to par??ticipate.

The Prizes

Who has been reimagined in the retro-futurist style? Some interesting choices in ??my opinion.

• Bishop
• Falcon
• Shocker
• Cerebro
• Yellow Jacket

It's not that these cards don't look cool. I just think there we?re a lot of choices, and these just seem the tamest. Admittedly, Falcon does look very cool in Steampunk. Besides these car??ds, you can also unlock three titles.

• Steam Powered
• Fully Leatherclad
• The Goggles Do Nothing!

If you rushed to your app to start playing, here's a quick reminder that you may have to manually update to get the benefits. The patch notes came out on March 21, 2023, so there's plenty of time to play. Also, if you haven't done it yet, check out some of the new features from the update. For example, we all get to pick one Pool 3 card to have for free each season! And while we still only have the Friendly Battle Mode, it's nice to see that Nuverse and Second Dinner are working on a Conquest Battle Mode. Exciting ??things are coming our way??.

The post Don’t miss the Marvel Snap ??Steampunk Variant Rush ev??ent appeared first on Destructoid.

How to play Battle Mode in Marvel Snap

We all have that friend who would just destroy us in a one-on-one battle in Marvel Snap. Or maybe you are that friend! Either way, until now, players have been mostly playing against themselves. The goal has been to win matches to upgrade cards, which earns Collection Level points. Collection Level points lead to gaining more cards. After the most recent update, however, you can challenge your friends to a duel. Here's how you can utilize Battle Mode in Marvel Snap to compete against your friends.

Update that app

The new update can be found in your app store if you're using the mobile version of Marvel Snap. It's not necessarily an automatic update ??for many players, so go to the app page in whichever app store you used to download it. There wil??l be a button that says, "Upgrade." It doesn't take long at all to be ready to go again. When you open the game again, there will be a new Menu page to explore.

Game Modes

The Game Modes menu is at the bottom to the right of the Main Menu. The joystick icon will display the menu name when clicked on. At the time of writing, there is a front page to this menu. You have to click on the image taking up the scre??en that says "Friendly Battle" to move forward. The existence of this page makes me think that we ca??n hope for different types of game modes in the future. Why else have this extra step?

Once you are in the Friendly Battles page, you will have two options: Create or Join. If you're making the first move, click "Create." A match code will be generated for you to copy and share with your friend. This can be a little awkward if you're also trying to communicate via your phone. When I tried it, I had to copy the code and then swipe up out of Marvel Snap to share it via chat. Thankf?ully this doesn't end the match, and I was able to pick right back up where I left off. Joining a match is the opposite side of this coin.? If you have a code, choose "Join," and you will see a space for you to enter that code. Easy!

[caption id="attachment_360641" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A word of warning here: the deck you have selected when you join is the deck you are playing every round with. Make?? sure it's the one you want!

The Rules of Battle Mode

Battle Mode works a little differently than the us?ual matches. Each player begins the battle with 10 health. The winner is the player that can bring their opponent's health down to zero over a series of rounds. The amount of damage dealt each round is equal to the number of Cubes won. You can still retreat in Battle Mode to limit your damage the same way you would while playing matches. If you retreat before the final blow, you only lose one point of health instead of two. This means Friendly Battles can go on for a long time, especially if players are evenly matched.

By Round Five, however, the stakes are doubled by beginning the match with an automatic Snap. This means that only one player has to Snap in order for the stakes to be 8 Cubes. If you're unsure what that is still, here's an explanation of what the Snap does in Marvel Snap. ?So ??the loser of each round has their health docked by the total Cubes lost, and by Round Five, the loser can lose two, four, or eight points of health.

Playing in Battle Mode won't do anything for your journey to gain Collection Levels and rank. It's just a fun skirmish between friends. Up until now, matches have been based on the play?er's level, so it will be interesting to see how different they will be when you're playing against your friends. While you won't be gaining prizes, for some players, it's worth gaining practice in strategy. Players will have their decks locked for the duration of the battle, so with each round, you will have to be careful not to show all of your tricks right o?ff the bat.

Personally, I have a lot to gain from my friends who have achieved higher levels than me. My only concern with this mode is that the cards each player has is based on their level. And while strategy will get you far in this game, some players are just going to have better cards. Unless your friends are around the same level as you, Friendly Battles might be a lit??tle discouraging.

So far, this update has been really fun though! Competing against friends in a way that doesn't harm your overall game is a nice low-stakes bonding experience. Some players are already thinking up ways to play tournaments now, which seems like a logical step forward for a card game. For help with deck builds, we have a few guides to help, including the best destroy deck builds and the best decks to build around Black Panther.

The post Fight your friends with Marvel Snap’s ‘Battle Mode’ update appeared first on Destructoid.

At least so far.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying Marvel Snap! I play a few matches every day, and I have favorite cards that I keep in my deck purely? out of?? sentimental value. I like figuring out deck builds on my own rather than looking them up. Not that there's anything wrong with looking up the tried and true ways to combine cards that work together, but I like the challenge of figuring it out as I go. Which is probably why it is taking me so long to climb the ladder.

Realizing how behind I am, I started thinking about things like the Season Pass or the bundles that I occasionally see. Usually, my eyes just glaze over these things. I have had zero interest in buying anything from Marvel Snap, no matter how much fun it is. When I finally paid attention, I almost spit out my coffee. They want how much for the "Starlit Connection" bundle?!

I clicked on the bundle to get more information. Surely, there have to be powerful, game-changing cards here. Instead, I found ?two cards that most people will already have in their collection. Sera isn't revealed until you hit the Pool Three cards around Collection Level 486, but still, that isn't a hard card to get. Angela has been in my hand for a while because she's a Pool One c??ard.

The other items are 4,000 credits and two avatars. So what's the selling poin??t that makes this bundle worth $49.99? The cards and?? avatars are "Anime Variants."

Marvel Snap loves variants.

I think Marvel Snap's love for variant?s is interesting. The game seems to have a soft spot for reimagining each card under different themes. Variant changes are purely cosmetic. Each card still behaves the same, and you end up with a copy in your collection. I think the idea behind the variants isn't just to add personality to your deck though. They give player?s something to splurge on that won't turn the game into a pay-to-win monstrosity.

In Marvel Snap, gathering cards is free, so we all end up with the same base cards eventuall??y. Limited-time offers for cool variant art can be tempting. I'm certainly tempted by the new "Savage Land" style, and I wanted that Winterverse Rogue card. There's nothing wrong with wanting a certain style, as that's the essence of collections. Variants are achieved through unlocks and upgrades, so hypothetically, a??ny player can achieve them with or without paying.

So what do you pay for?

As I'm writing this, there are a few things you can put your money towards. The "Welcome Bundle" includes a Captain America variant card and avatar as well as 700 gold for $2.99. That's honestly not a bad price. Even with the variant and avatar aside, 700 gold will buy you one low-level variant in the "Daily ?Offer" section of the Shop. If you see something you like, you don't have to save up for it.

Speaking of which, gold is something you can buy in Marvel Snap too. The lowest price available right now is 300 gold for $4.99, and the highest is 8,000 gold for $99.99.?? So there's quite the range. That 700 gold that you can use to buy a variant is $9.99 typically, so the "Welcome Bundle" is a nice one-time deal.

Gold is also earned in-game,? but very slowly. You can use gold to buy credits as well, but the number of credits, and how often you can buy them, is time limited. For example, 120 gold will get you 150 credits, and 400 gold will get you 500 credits. Credits are then used along with boosters to upgrade cards and move up Collection Levels. The limit keeps you from buying your way to the top too quickly.

Next up is the Premium Season Pass at $9.99. Each new season comes around about once a month and offers a new variant art theme. This month, if you pay $??9.99 for the Premium Season Pass, you have the ability?? to earn three cards, three avatars, two card backs, up to 2600 credits, and up to 1200 gold. I say "ability to earn" because you don't just receive these items. You unlock them by completing missions.

The missions are pretty easy and can be completed just by playing the game. While I will oc??cassionally add a card to my deck if it looks like it will complete a mission, I usually just let them happen naturally. Some of the Season Pass rewards are free, but many will be locked for Premium purchasers only. Th??is month, I'm eyeing that Zabu card because I don't have him yet, love the art, and would have already won him if I had Premium. He is the first prize!

So Premium, while something I wouldn't buy every month, is not an outrageous deal. You make your money back in gold and credits? if you play regularly. Plus, it's nice to support a cool free-to-play game that I'm enjoying. If you pay $14.99 for Premium+, you get the same perks but also immediately advance by 10 levels. Since most regular players are likely to get to about 40 or 50 levels, it's a nice boost but not unfair.

The most outrageously priced thing is this optional cosmet?ic bundle??. There's no reason to buy it at all, let alone for $49.99.

Is it a FOMO thing?

This is the only reason I can think of as to why they would ask for this kind of money for a couple of pretty, ??digital cards. Is it an exclusivity thing? If people are buying these cards just to show off, it's not the flex they think it is.

Maybe I'm being too cynical. Maybe it's just a way to easily support the game creators. Marvel Snap is so detailed and dynamic. Every month brings new art and new cards. Plus, the cards are all planned out in such a way that building decks is fun and easy. It really is a great game, and that amount of work should be rewarded. But pricing these cosmetic variant bundles at the ?same price?? point as some brand-new games is not a great way to do that.

I'm thinking about what I would be willing to pay for as someone who is kind of cheap but still lacks a certain amount of impulse control. I would say $19.99 would be more reasonable. If they offered Winterverse variants of Gambit and Rogue, I would pay $19.99. I would feel a little guilty about it, but I would buy it. I think if they lowered the price of these bundles, the??y would sell a lot more of them.

Wha??t is the most you've spent on cosmetic items in-gam??e?

The post Marvel Snap cosmetic bundles are missing the mark appeared first on Destructoid.