With the global release date for Marvel SNAP fast approaching (October 18th), the developers at Second Dinner have shared a roadmap for the game that hints at what they're working on getting into Marvel SNAP in the foreseeable future. Let's dive in, and discuss what they've shared.

On Discord, the developers shared this handy graphic that doesn't go into too much detail, but an in-game blog explained some of the specifics.

A Quick Run-down

  • "Coming Soon" features are in the final phase of development, and are related to the global launch of Marvel SNAP.
  • They did not share specifics for what the Welcome Bundle will contain.
  • The Variant Rarity system splits all Variants into two rarities (Rare and Super Rare), with Super Rare variants (around 25%) being available only in Daily Offers and from Season Passes.
  • Unranked Mode will be the "no-stakes" mode players are clamoring for.
  • PC Widescreen UI will not be available at launch, most likely.
  • Battle Mode will be a friendly challenge mode that uses a new ruleset to determine a winner across multiple games of SNAP.
  • Collector Tokens are an earnable currency used to acquire specific cards.
  • They didn't share any specific details about the systems "In Concept." These are mostly things that the team is thinking about adding to the game, with none of them truly set in stone.

Now that we've got the quick hitters out of the way, let's dive into the juicier aspects. We'll also share our thoughts on these highlights - the things that will likely have a big impact on Marvel SNAP when, eventually, they show up. There are some extra details from the in-game blog that we'll be discussing in each section.

Variant Rarity System

The Variant Rarity system will mostly impact Variant availability (and pricing) in the in-game shop. Rare Variants (around 75% of Variants) will be the lowest Rarity. These will cost 700 Gold in the Shop and can also be earned on the Collection Level. The other 25% of Variants will be Super Rare and will only be available in the Daily Offers shop for 1200 Gold. Some Super Rare Variants will also be available on the Season Pass.

This changes some aspects of Marvel SNAP's cosmetic system, mainly by shifting a small group of Variants into a "prestige" bracket. The game has a lot of Variants, but the right Variant could entice any player to drop some real money and making certain of them more expensive might make the game more profitable. It also looks like, somewhere down the line, the game could be getting a Mythic rarity for Variants.

Battle Mode VS Friends

The Battle Mode will be a friendly challenge similar to regular Marvel SNAP, except that each player will start with 10 Health. At the end of a game, the losing player takes damage equal to the number of Cubes at stake: if someone snapped, the loser takes four damage; if a player retreats early with one cube one the line, they take a single point of damage. Each player will play the same deck throughout the match (no deck-switching or sideboarding between games), until one player emerges victorious by reducing their opponent's Health to 0.

We're guessing that the unconfirmed (but likely looming) Tournament Mode will use similar rules, unless this ruleset is poorly received by the player base, in which case it will be summarily removed from the game and all references to it will be scrubbed from existence. It sounds to us like a really cool level-up of Marvel SNAP's basic gameplay, and should make for an interesting game mode and way for the community to run unofficial tournaments.

Collector Tokens

Collector Tokens will be the team's answer to the problem of targeted card acquisition. Tokens will be an earnable currency on the Collection Level Road and can be spent in the Token Shop for cards that you don't own.

The Token Shop will feature a card (guaranteed to be one that isn't in your collection), which will refresh every 8 hours. You will be able to freeze the card in the shop, if the one you really want shows up when you don't have the Tokens for it. It sounds a little tricky, and certainly not the most player-friendly way to address the problem of targeted card acquisition (opening the game every eight hours to see if the card you want has appeared in the shop doesn't sound very appealing to us), but it's better than the current system - which is to say, it's better than nothing. Also, if a player already has a complete collection, the developers have stated on the Discord that there will be other uses for Collector Tokens, which is nice.

With no word on how many Tokens it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop buy a card, or how many you earn on the Collection Level Road, we'll have to say that the jury's still out on whether this system will solve the problem of targeted card acquisition in Marvel SNAP.

Have your own opinions on this roadmap? Share your thoughts in the comments below!