development roadmap<\/a> were going to look like, however, Brode was tight-lipped about it. With the crazy cosmetic combinations you can get now with existing variants, borders, splits, and effects, it was difficult to imagine just how much more over-the-top mythic variants were going to be in Marvel Snap.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI expressed this to Brode, who let out a laugh and said: “Yeah, right?! It’s something we’re still working on. I know the team’s got some dreams, but I don’t have any details right now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In-game cosmetics have also become a key part of Marvel Snap’s ranked rewards, and it’s often brought up as a point of contention on Reddit and in the game’s official Discord server. The cosmetics introduced in each season of Marvel Snap are exclusive to that season, which means there’s no way of getting them again once the season has ended. Unfortunately, this also applies to the highly sought-after card backs that have been offered as Infinite rank rewards in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the beta days, Second Dinner had previously stated that they were still evaluating whether card backs were an appropriate reward for Infinite rank. When I asked Brode where the team had landed on that discussion, he mentioned that the team was still experimenting, and nothing was set in stone just yet. However, he was firm about keeping things like card backs exclusive to that season, even the ones locked behind Infinite rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We do want to have rewards that are compelling and encourage people to play, and push themselves to reach new heights,” Brode explained. “Having goals is a very motivating thing in game design. It’s important to have some goals that are aspirational. Our thinking is that these card backs are not like the cards themselves; you’re not meant to be able to get all of them. These are cosmetics that are not critical for gameplay. We just wanna give you a bunch of cosmetic options for texture, so that’s kind of our strategy right now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That being said, he certainly wasn’t opposed to the idea of changing the Infinite rank reward to other forms of cosmetics. “I think we’re gonna continue to add more cosmetic types to the game to just give more texture to the season pass and ranked rewards. I think it’s really fun to do cosmetic rewards, and we’re gonna continue to experiment. I’m sure this is not, like, the last version of our ranked rewards system so we’ll definitely consider other stuff.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nImage via Second Dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWith the core gameplay and monetization plans for Marvel Snap now set on a solid foundation, Second Dinner is ready to start working on other game modes to flesh it out even further. The team has previously talked about a casual mode, where players can test new decks and complete missions without having to worry about battling for cubes. There’s also Battle Mode, which will allow friends to play against each other with their chosen decks, and each player starts with 10 health. The idea here is to keep going back and forth until one player’s health is completely depleted, so there’s a clear winner and a clear loser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all these new modes in the pipeline, I asked Brode if there were any plans to change how the current iteration of how ladder mode works. After all, if you browse the Marvel Snap subreddit, it won’t take long before you stumble on a post complaining about RNG-dependent locations like Ego, Subterranea, and District X. These are locations that actively mess with your deck and your entire game plan. Were there any plans to filter these polarizing locations out of ladder mode while players were trying to rank up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brode didn’t actually say no, but his response to this question made it pretty clear that the team had no intention of removing that element of variance in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“It’s the concept of rough edges. We can over-polish, and then everything feels the same.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nHe pondered the question further for just a second before saying, “It’s interesting. There’s this philosophy in game design my old boss taught me, which I like. It’s the concept of rough edges. And the philosophy goes like this: as designers, we have a desire to have a really polished experience where everything feels really good. That’s important. But we can go too far. We can over-polish and then everything feels the same, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And locations like Ego, District X, and Subterranea add a huge amount of texture to the game, but they don’t come up that often. It’s not like every game’s got weird locations, but it does change the experience and adds some emotional variance to playing the game, and I think that matters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brode also emphasized the importance of variance in locations, especially in how it affects card balancing in Marvel Snap: “In some ways, Marvel Snap is the least affected by imbalance in cards because locations will continue to give you new experiences and new problems to solve even if you’re playing against the same deck over and over again. It’s nice. The Hot and Featured Locations also reduce this feeling of facing the same thing over and over again because they create new metas in a little pocket.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all of these different elements coming together to create a truly fresh and exciting card game in Marvel Snap, I asked Brode what the team’s hopes and aspirations were for a competitive scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He smiled and said, “It was not our intention to build an eSport. We wanted to build a really fun card game, and I think we accidentally made a game that has the potential to be a really fun eSport. It’s so much fun to watch people play Marvel Snap, so yeah, our Battle Mode is integral to that. And then it’s kinda up to the community, and what the community wants, right? If people are like hey, somebody ran a tournament and people loved watching it and people love playing it, then that opens the door for more competitive stuff.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I asked Brode what his least favorite card in the game was. His response? A lot of thinking and a lot of self-checking to make sure he didn’t accidentally talk about unreleased cards before finally landing on an answer: Elektra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My least favorite card…,” he checks his computer to make sure he doesn’t let anything slip. “Elektra. She just keeps killing my stuff! I play a lot of Ebony Maw, so Elektra is like, the bane of my existence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarvel Snap is now available on PC and mobile devices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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