Talking of Laser-Beam-Face Guy, I’m reminded to ask why a character as recognisable as Cyclops got such a crappy card. And it’s a really unappetizing door if behind it you’ve got Stabby Hands and Laser-Beam-Face Guy.” “Sure,” says Brode, “but something has to get you in the door. I love Spider-Man, I told Brode, but I don’t play him in any of my decks. Thinking on this, I realise I quickly lost all my sentimentality when playing. You’re like, ‘Oh, I got like, Daggers Hands and Telepath Man,’ you’re just like, ‘Yeah…’ But at the same time, open Wolverine, you know?” Cyclops is one of the most boring, annoying X-Men. Like, it’s just such a different experience when you’re collecting stuff. “I think, especially for a collectible game, you have an emotional connection, that you are that Marvel character. I begin our hour-long Zoom chat by asking if Brode thought the game could have worked as well without the Marvel licence. Personally, I don’t think I’ve missed a single day since its release, meaning I’ve given a lot of thought as to why it’s so compelling, and so very sticky.The more I play, the less I think it’s about anything to do with Marvel superheroes. Marvel Snap is a game Kotaku has been playing an inordinate amount. Since then, with a hefty investment from NetEase and a licence from Disney, the team has been developing Marvel Snap, released last October to enormous acclaim. In 2018, he left Blizzard to form a new studio, Second Dinner. At Blizzard, he was the face of Hearthstone, the enormously popular Warcraft-themed CCG, that at one point was earning between $US25 ($35) million and $US40 ($56) million a month. Why are the store prices so astonishingly high? Why does it demote everyone 30 levels every four weeks? Why won’t they just get rid of Leech because it ruins my deck? So rather than wondering, we put these exact questions to Marvel Snap’s project lead and Hearthstone’s former lead designer, Ben Brode.īrode has been the public presence of some of the most successful digital card games for almost a decade. And with such popularity comes great scrutiny. While the exact number of users hasn’t been shared, Google Play reports over five million downloads, even before you include iOS numbers. Marvel Snap is just shy of three months old, and it’s fair to say it’s been a success.

Ben brode