In January on 2019, Hearthstone and Blizzard veterans Ben Brode and Hamilton Chu announced that Net Ease had invested whopping $30M into their newly founded studio.
The funding was deemed just enough for the team to reach the end of its first project without having to "scramble" for more funds partway through.
At that point, Second Dinner revealed that their first project just so happens to be a licensed Marvel IP, which the team has been working on for six months already and is currently beginning to playtest.
Fastforward to September of 2022 and the game, Marvel Snap, is finally out globally after a considerable amount of time in soft launch. What’s the best way to describe Marvel Snap? Well, it’s like Heathstone, Clash Royale and Marvel had a baby together.
What I mean by that it is easy to pick up and play, which for a card game is no small feat. The game is polished, fun, and accessible, which is a testament to the amount of time and effort that was put into its four year development.
Most importantly, the game was and is performing! During last 7 months it has amassed 16 Million installs, which is expectable for a Marvel IP. But what’s most important is that the Second Dinner’s first title, launched after the infamous ATT apocalypse, has amassed over $70M in net revenue till date and is on it’s way to crack 100M before the year is over.
As I walk you through the deconstruct, if you find yourself wondering how a new team was able to create such a high-quality game, the answer is straightforward: time, talent, and money, but most importantly, a lot of time!
Another thing that some of you might be wondering is: Why hasn’t the studio been acquired already? After all, they showed their ability to hire the best, get the biggest IP and execute flawlessly.
The funding of $30 million likely puts the value of the studio to around $200M, which would be a lot to pay for a studio with one title. But many companies would actually spend that amount if Second Dinner had published the game themselves. Problem is, Marvel Snap is published by ByteDance aka. the TikTok company.
So how much does Marvel Snap actually make Second Dinner after the minimum guarantee, lincensing cut and publishers cut? Clearly not enough to justify the price tag that would only get the acquirer the super talented team without publishing expertise and with a very expensive IP saddled on top of their first title.
What is Marvel Snap?
For a quick and general introduction of the game, it’s a player vs player only CCG game, which limits your cards to only 10 per deck, each game is less than 4 minutes, and it uses a very simple poker-like betting mechanic to keep things interesting.
Before diving into a detailed analysis of Marvel Snap, it's worth taking a deep dive into the game's unique approach to the initial user experience. Marvel Snap provides players with a complete, tailored game experience for the first 1-4 days (about 4 hours of gameplay). This approach helps guide players through the simplicity of the game, but it most likely also hurts the game as a business. Many games rely on a wide funnel of players entering the game, then offering them value right away through starter packs or other cheap purchases to keep them playing for a month or longer all while increasing the amount a player can spend as they progress through the game. Very few games limit the spend a player can do for very long if at all. As you’ll see with this teardown though, Marvel Snap severely limits spend, especially at the beginning.
The Beginning
Let me walk you through the beginning of the game to illustrate just how well done it is, while also explaining the game’s simple mechanics. At a high level just know that you have 10 cards to a deck. You place cards in 1 of 3 locations, those locations will compare the total power of the cards placed on them to decide who wins that location. Winning 2 out of 3 locations wins you the game.
Marvel Snap starts with a simple intro sequence featuring Nick Fury and Doctor Doom battling each other with you controlling Nick Fury. The game initially presents only one location (New York), and allows players to jump right into a battle without explaining moves or costs, or any of the complexities of the game; it saves that for later battles. This highlights the polished and impressive effects of the game. As players progress, the game gradually introduces the other two locations and clearly explains the objective of winning two out of three locations to win the match. They start you off with Spider-Man and leave out any abilities at first allowing for a smooth and enjoyable gameplay experience.
This intro makes it easy for players to get started and feel comfortable with the game mechanics. It's a great way to ease into the gameplay and get a sense of how battles work without feeling overwhelmed.
Once you have won, you are thrust into another battle and the game introduces you to the energy system, which is similar to other popular CCG games such as Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering. However, Marvel Snap has simplified this mechanic to make it even more accessible. Each card costs a certain amount of energy to play, and you gain +1 energy per turn. This allows the gameplay to escalate over the course of the 6 turns, with some cards or locations providing extra energy. Overall, the energy system is straightforward and easy to understand, making it simple for players to jump right in and start playing
Now things get interesting. After being awarded a card, Marvel Snap introduces you to the game's meta-progression system. To unlock new cards, you must upgrade your existing cards, which is a unique feature in the game. However, what surprised me is that the upgrade only provides a visual change and no actual in-game benefits. Upgrading cards requires two resources: Credits, which are common to all cards, and Boosters, which are specific to each card. For instance, to upgrade the Psylock card, you must obtain a Psylock Booster.
Upgrading your cards is the key to progressing your player account and unlocking new cards in Marvel Snap. While some players may not care about the visual upgrade, there's a significant benefit to upgrading: it increases your Collection Level. As your Collection Level goes up, you'll unlock new cards and rewards such as Gold, Variants, Credits, or Boosters. The simple loop is:
They do a great job at reinforcing the loop constantly during the tutorial.
Finally, after walking you through the simple loop, Marvel Snap opens up the Battle Pass which they call Season Pass, and in the beginning, they call it the Recruit Season. As well as the Daily/Weekly Missions.
Every player starts off with a Recruit Season (Battle Pass), where there is no paid track at all, and players complete specific missions to progress and gain points for Season XP. The pink icon represents Season XP, and by earning it, players progress through a track and unlock rewards like Cards, Boosters, Card Backs, Player Icons, Gold (the Premium Currency), Credits, Mystery Card Variants, Season Specific Variants, and titles (more on all of those currencies later). This is a big risk for the game because players must complete this Recruit Season before unlocking the current live Season Pass, which can be purchased. It's surprising that it takes 4+ hours of gameplay to finish the Recruit Season, and on average, players might only play for about an hour a day. So, it could take at least 4 days of playing before players are asked to spend money on the Season Pass.
Season Passes are a huge revenue boosting as well as retention increasing mechanic. Obviously, they sacrificed some revenue here in hopes of creating a great onboarding experience but I’m not sure that sacrifice is really worth it.
To progress your Season Pass, players must complete daily missions to earn a small amount of Season XP, or complete the Season-Specific missions which often take more time to complete but reward a larger amount of Season XP. The way a Season works is similar to most Battle Passes out there, where missions are unlocked over the course of several weeks. By completing a bundle of missions, players can earn a large amount of Season XP. For example, by completing all 7 missions (see third screenshot above, 5 of which are already completed, with only 2 remaining), the player will receive 2000 Season XP. This is a huge amount, it will grant you 2 levels of Season Pass rewards!
The Daily missions in Marvel Snap are a simple and well-known mechanic used in many games. Every X amount of hours, players receive two new missions, up to a maximum of six. Each mission rewards players with Credits and a small amount of Season XP. The missions also progress a track at the top, which is the Weekly Challenge. The weekly challenge has milestones at 5/10/15/20 and 25 missions completed. When players hit these milestones, they are rewarded with Credits, Gold, and Season Pass XP. The rewards increase in amount with each milestone.
As you continue to engage in battles and progress through the game, Marvel Snap gradually introduces you to some of the nuances of the gameplay. For instance, players are introduced to the special abilities that cards possess, as well as the unique abilities of different locations. During gameplay, locations, where you place your cards, are revealed in order from left to right for the first three turns, and there are over 50 different locations to randomly choose from. Of course, for this curated experience they limit you to very specific locations. This element of unpredictability keeps the game exciting and challenging, forcing players to adjust their tactics on the fly.
Finally, Marvel Snap introduces the unique feature of 'Snap'. This feature is not introduced until players have played for a few hours, and from what I can tell, players are always playing against bots until they are introduced to this feature. This tailored experience helps players feel powerful and accomplished throughout the initial stages of gameplay. The two games where they introduce you to the Snap feature are planned and pre-determined by bots as well while making it seem random. It’s impressive.
‘Snap’ is a betting system where players can earn Cubes, which serve as their PVP rank within the Marvel Snap universe. The betting mechanic is similar to poker, and can be quite enjoyable.
The learning experience in Marvel Snap is carefully crafted to introduce players to the Snap feature. Initially, players are put in a winning situation and encouraged to Snap. Next, they are given an explanation of how the Snapping mechanic works. Essentially, if a player feels confident, they can Snap, which gives their opponent a chance to retreat, continue, or Snap in return.
Retreating means losing only the amount of Cubes the player is currently on. If they decide to press on, they will now be playing for double the amount of Cubes, with the stakes doubling again on turn 6. If the opponent snaps back, the game quickly intensifies, with the stakes skyrocketing from 1 Cube to 2 Cubes to 4 Cubes, and eventually 8 Cubes by turn 6.
The Snap feature adds an element of excitement and unpredictability to the game, allowing players to progress faster if they are confident, or bluff and scare their opponent into retreating. However, once a player snaps, they can't retreat until the following turn, so it's important to be confident in their decision.
Marvel Snap also teaches players how to retreat by having them purposely lose a game, without it feeling forced. This is quite clever and not easy to pull off. This is a nice touch, as it shows players the importance of strategy and risk management in the game.
We are almost done covering the beginning! Which once again I do believe is worth covering as this is the first time I’ve ever seen a game tailor the beginning so much, and to such an extent that I have a feeling many games will follow suit going forward.
Let’s talk about the store and the starter packs. What you can buy with what currency etc.
The store is one big long scrolling list, and it’s broken up into 6 main sections, but let’s focus on the main four first.
- Daily Offers, here you will find 6 different card variants (I’ll cover variants more in depth later) for cards that you already have, and it costs Gold. Anywhere between 700 and 1200 Gold. So somewhere between $10-$20 USD per variant
- Fast Upgrades, this is where you can buy the next level worth of Boosters for three specific cards, for credits
- Credits, you can claim 50 free Credits a day here or buy more credits for Gold
- Gold, you can pay real money for Gold
There are 2 other sections to the shop but I’ll talk about the Token Shop a bit later as you don’t unlock this until you finish the Recruit Season.
Let's discuss monetization, which I believe is an area where the game falls short and leaves a lot of potential revenue on the table. It was perhaps the biggest gamble the developers took with the game, and I'm not entirely sure if it has paid off for them.
Although the game is doing well for itself overall, I can't help but feel that it could be doing even better if the monetization system was stronger.
For example, before completing the Recruit Season Pass, which takes over four hours of actual gameplay to finish, players can only spend real money on two specific packs (apart from Gold, which only offers cosmetic variations and no real utility). These packs are the Welcome Bundle and the Pro Bundle.
The Welcome Bundle is a decent value pack that includes a Captain America variant, an avatar, and 700 Gold for $2.99. However, I had a disappointing experience with it. I thought I was purchasing an exclusive card, but later found out that it can also be earned through the Collection Levels path. As a result, I ended up feeling like I wasted my money. While the bundle is a good deal overall, it's important for the game to make it clear that the card can also be earned through gameplay to avoid any misunderstandings or dissatisfaction.
The Pro Bundle is an incredibly expensive pack that lacks clarity. At first glance, it doesn't seem worth the price as it only includes 12,500 Credits and 155 Boosters, which isn't a lot. The value proposition is not immediately apparent, and it's not intuitive to understand how buying this pack will allow you to level up your Collection Level to level 250 and unlock new cards.
The lack of transparency and steep price point make it a difficult sell for players. In fact, there are many articles online that discuss how the Pro Bundle is not worth it. The game could benefit from better communication around the benefits of the Pro Bundle, or even throw in a unique variant, or some Gold! Anything really. This is an easy fix for them, to address and would stop the many articles about how terrible the pack is (read: I purchased the pro bundle so you can all laugh).
As the Welcome Bundle and the Pro Bundle are the only options available for purchase during the first few days of gameplay, the game is leaving a significant amount of potential revenue on the table. It seems that the developers are banking on players playing the game for a long time and gradually spending money on it.
Personally, I was so hooked on the game that I was ready to spend $50 on it. However, I was disappointed to find out that I couldn't open a booster pack, and that I couldn't even purchase the Recruit Season Pass. This left me feeling frustrated, as I was eager to support the game and contribute to its success, but was unable to do so. The game could benefit from offering more options for players to spend money early on in the game, in order to capitalize on their engagement and willingness to invest in the experience.
Depth - Marvel Snap
While I've covered a lot about Marvel Snap so far, CCG games are known for their depth and complexity, and this game is no exception. It's packed with features and functionality that make it easy to engage with socially (outside of the game), including forums and the ability to share card ideas. These features allow players to change the card meta and contribute to the ongoing development of the game.
What's surprising is that the game is also accessible on PC, even though it was designed primarily for mobile. This move to make it available on Steam is a huge bonus, as it opens up the game to a whole new audience of players who may prefer to play on their computers.
As you progress and level up in the game, you'll discover new features and mechanics that add to its complexity and depth. I'll walk you through some of these features and systems in more detail, so you can get a better sense of what sets Marvel Snap apart from other CCG games.
Cards
Cards are the cornerstone of any card game (obviously!), and Marvel Snap is no exception. At the time of writing, there are approximately 223 cards available in the game, which is roughly equivalent to the number that Hearthstone had at launch (240). This may seem fine, however it is far less than most other CCG’s. Even Hearthstone became very aggressive with how many new cards were added, with every expansion adding over 130 cards about three times a year. So far Marvel Snap is on track to add about 60 cards per year. This is significantly less than all CCG’s, which is what helps make it more appealing and casual to a greater number of players.
One of the best resources for exploring all of the cards and seeing what decks are currently successful is Marvel Snap Zone. This website provides a comprehensive database of guides and information about Marvel Snap, as well as a helpful card builder tool that allows you to easily filter and sort through your collection.
Unlike other card games that are built around specific heroes or mana colors, Marvel Snap has a more flexible deck building system. However, there are still key strategies and card types that players should focus on, which is made clear through the game's card builder feature. The filtering system in the card builder is particularly well done and user-friendly, making it easy to find the cards you need to build your ideal deck.
Cards abilities can be typically split into the following:
On Reveal: When the card turns over, it will trigger some sort of ability
Example: When M.O.D.O.K is played, then is revealed which happens once it has been placed in the location on the board, it will discard your entire hand. So you will play M.O.D.O.K, he will sit ont he playing field, once all players have played he will be ‘revealed’ (flip over) and activate his On Reveal ability.
Ongoing: This ability is just ‘constantly activated’ as soon as the card is on the playing field
Example: Blue Marvel gives all of your other cards on the playing field +1 Power all the time
Discard: These abilities only get triggered when they are discarded from your hand, so before they go onto the playing field.
Example: Apocalypse, whenever he is discarded from your hand, it gains +4 Power (Its Power usually starts at 8, so this one has been discarded a lot!)
Move: These cards do something when they are moved from one location on the playing field, to another. So let’s say from the left lane, to the center lane.
Example: Multiple Man, when he moves, he leaves behind a copy of himself at the old location
Destroy: These cards revolve around getting destroyed, or destroying other cards on the playing field, as opposed to in your hand.
Example: Carnage destroys other cards in the location it has been placed in as it reveals, and gains +2 power per card destroyed. Deadpool when he is destroyed returns to your hand and doubles its power. So as you can see these combos tend to work really well together.
No Ability: Cards with no abilities, such as the Hulk, and Shocker are the cards you start with. They just don’t have abilities at all.
Example: Hulk is just a high powered 6 Cost, however when you pair the ‘no abilities’ Cards with Patriot who has an ‘Ongoing’ which gives cards with ‘no abilities’ +2 Power, it can make for a good deck
Every card in Marvel Snap is associated with one of these six attributes. While there are many guides available that focus on the best On Reveal or On Going decks, there are also many powerful synergies that can be created by pairing cards together.
Marvel Snap Zone is an excellent resource for exploring these synergies and building powerful decks. The website provides a variety of guides and tools that help players build decks around specific archetypes or collections. These resources can help you create a deck that is optimized for your playstyle and preferences.
Card Pools (Series) & How to Get New Cards
The game uses the term "pools" to describe the different ways that players can obtain cards, as well as how rare they are.
Currently, there are five card pools in the game, each of which is unlocked based on your Collection Level. This system allows players to gradually unlock more cards as they progress and level up, providing a sense of progression and achievement.
Each of the five card pools in Marvel Snap has a different set of cards, with more advanced abilities and rarities the higher up you go. For example, pool 1 cards are unlocked from Collection Level 18-214.
Players have created a "best cards per pool" list, which is a subjective ranking voted on by the community. While this list is not official, it provides a good indication of which cards are considered to be the strongest in each pool.
As you progress through the Collection Level from level 18 onward, you will stop receiving direct cards and instead receive a mystery card. This card will randomly pull any card from the pool as you progress up the track by upgrading your existing cards. This system provides a sense of excitement and anticipation as you never know which card you will receive next.