I play a lot of video games throughout each platform for work, however my most-played recreation in 2023 was one I primarily engaged with for private enjoyment. Whereas I sunk dozens and dozens of hours into video games like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Fireplace Emblem Have interaction, Fortnite, Starfield, and extra, my most performed recreation was one thing that didn’t even come out in 2023.
That honor goes to Marvel Snap, a collectible card recreation from Second Dinner for PC and cellular
Enjoying it for prolonged durations every day, I racked up over 300 hours in Marvel Snap all through 2023. It’s been a 12 months of ups and downs for the deck-building recreation because it discovered its footing after a wildly profitable launch in late 2022. Via every little thing, it has retained its core strengths, benefitted from clear communications from its builders, and continually added thrilling new playing cards that shook up the meta. With all of that, Marvel Snap has turn out to be a consolation recreation I can play irrespective of the time or the place I’m at.
Protecting me hooked
The core gameplay loop of Marvel Snap is simply as fascinating to me now because it was the primary time I performed it over a year-and-a-half in the past. Matches are fast and exhilarating, eradicating a lot of the fluff that may lengthen or drag down different card video games. It has additionally stayed contemporary because of the number of viable decks and random areas. The carrot of development is regularly dangled in entrance of me, as there’s all the time a every day or weekly mission for me to finish, a brand new card to gather, or boosters for me to earn.
These gameplay strengths have been current when the sport entered beta in Might 2022 and nonetheless are. Whereas the meta has advanced considerably over time, the core recreation expertise has remained intact. Second Dinner has proven restraint in relation to altering what works for Marvel Snap, and that has labored within the recreation’s favor as a result of the sport’s methods encourage experimenting with totally different decks.
Explicit standouts embody a discard-focused deck centered round M.O.D.O.Okay. and Apocalypse, which I performed rather a lot all through the primary half of the 12 months, and a summoning deck the place The Collector and Loki served because the spine. At the moment, I’m having a variety of enjoyable looking for which deck compositions work finest with Blob, a card that absorbs and positive factors the ability of each card left in my hand. Even when Second Dinner have been to cease including playing cards altogether, I nonetheless suppose I might proceed to play the video games for years, experimenting with corners of the meta I haven’t even explored but even after a whole bunch of hours of play.
Fortunately, Second Dinner exhibits no indicators of slowing down. A brand new card is added to the sport nearly each week, and we’re on the level the place Second Dinner checks some actually off-the-wall concepts, like Blob. On prime of that, a patch or over-the-air (OTA) hotfix comes nearly each week to regulate recreation steadiness. Its characteristic set has additionally expanded, with new playing cards now being simpler to acquire because of the Token Store .Highlight Caches and Conquest additionally present a longer-lasting battle mode. The sport can be on PC now, though most of my playtime continues to be on cellular.
Second Dinner is underappreciated as probably the most clear live-service builders working right this moment, because it totally explains each choice made in an OTA or patch and continuously responds to participant questions on the official Discord. That’s to not say each replace is flawless. Marvel Snap is ending the 12 months on a considerably decrease word for me, as a December 2023 replace added a flawed deck-builder system, a controversial change to America Chavez’s card, and a few new bugs. I’ve additionally observed that gold costs for brand new card variants have elevated, with new emotes locked as albums of bought variants.
Heading into 2024, Second Dinner has some work to do when it comes to balancing playing cards and making radical modifications with out a lot discover. I respect the fixed communication the builders present and the way continuously Marvel Snap updates, although, and I hope it doubles down on this subsequent 12 months. As a result of Second Dinner is so clear, I really feel secure spending a lot time (and a few cash) on the sport, even with the troubles writer Nuverse encountered this 12 months.
Only a few live-service video games click on with me, and Marvel Snap addresses many points that are likely to disappoint me with these sorts of video games. Its builders are readily clear, updates are frequent, and development methods give me a purpose to play it not simply daily, however a number of occasions inside a day. Above all, Marvel Snap is a enjoyable consolation recreation for me. It’s the one factor I might will myself to play after my canine handed away earlier this 12 months, and it’s one thing I can play to de-stress or distract myself when life will get too hectic.
Numerous video games I play can really feel like work, even when they’re implausible. Whereas I got here to phrases with that a number of years in the past and don’t have many issues anymore, when a title like Marvel Snap connects with me on a deeper stage, it nestles itself into my every day routine in a manner few video games can. That allowed Marvel Snap to come back out on prime as my most-played recreation in one of many trade’s most hectic years ever.
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