This is the crew I love. They offer 4 different views and have great banter. I wish we had more videos featuring this group (also I always prefer Tom explaining the rules)
I have played over 20 times at this point and really disagree with Zee. I find this to be more re-playable out of the base box than Pandemic and with a Theme that more people will pick up... also so much more variable. Eric Lang designed the game.... so it was not "produced" by CMON but made by Spinmaster. At 30 bucks, this has minis and more cards than Pandemic, with locations randomized, hero card decks, the villain deck and threats. Also if you remove wild cards from hero decks, there are like 11 cards and 3 are wholly unique (and not all heroes are the same for all 3).
Yikes, can't believe you think this is better than Pandemic. Outside of some hardcore Marvel fans, I doubt anyone would consider this better than Pandemic. I admit I haven't played it but there is nothing to indicate that the base game has much replayability.
@@SivaramVelauthapillai I own the games... so yes, I know it is better than Pandemic. A really generic game that has a broad base of appeal. Pandemic is, for what it is maybe a solid 7? Marvel United is better and pretty much the same price. Easy choice! The Yikes would be anyone peddling an older, inferior title ;) Unless of course you like games literally decided by the shuffle, like Pandemic on anything but baby mode and Solitaire :)
I was actually surprised by Zee's rating in the end, given his points of view during the review. His statement about being able to see everything the game has to offer in about two hours is more than enough for me to write this game off completely.
I think he was reviewing it as a mass market cheap Walmart game, I think for something that will hit $15 by Christmas and exists as a Walmart game that grandma picks up, it’s probably a 10. You couldn’t as a kid get a better Walmart game. As a game for Someone who can go out and buy anything in the history of gaming ? 5/10, mostly for the ultra cheap minis.
Man, I'm really enjoying that addition of Mike to the team, he brings such good points. Great job guys, more group reviews please, it's so cool to have a good discussion with different point of views, it really completes the review.
What I liked about Tom's stance in this review was that he was coming at it from the point of someone who just enjoys playing games. So he wasn't having the discussion going off rails talking about the standards we, as hobby gamers, have over components. I kinda felt bad for Zee though in that. I don't think he was trying to stress the point too much, but just giving a view and setting expectations for most of the people who would be watching this review early... and that's us hobby gamers with those perspectives. I really liked having the varied opinions on this one.
Appreciated Zee's points; felt like Tom was out of character and unnecessarily aggressive. I watched the live play and it isn't for me; that's fine, but conversely it sure didn't seem fine for there to be criticism in this review.
Yeah, unfortunately I noticed a lot that this channel is in love with CMON no matter what they produce. Any talking against the company and they get upset. I get it, you can have a favorite company. I love Flying Frog, but I can criticize them. I don’t just praise them like DT seems to do with CMON.
I think it's because Tom seemed very disappointed that they didn't like it as much. For Tom it was Marvel, cool minis, quick, light coop which kinda ticks all the boxes, while the others had more "distanced" review. It seemed a bit like Tom tried to bend their mind "well don't say it's that, just change the audience". The fact is I feel Zee pointed out what a gamer could be aware of before buying the game. If you're not playing with a family, it won't be that good. If you want a meaty game, it won't be what you look for. If you're playing a lot, the card quality will bother you and you might want to sleeve it. It was weird that in this case Tom tried to lighten the valid criticism.
Agreed. Also if you examine the base game characters, which seem to have the most basic unique abilities compared to the others the KS offered, the distribution of symbols and what symbols you can offer others (assuming you remove the wild symbols) are pretty different.
I think Zee's point of it being a Spin Master game that CMON helped develop and produce is spot on! It really seems like a family game that can be great for so many people. The $30 price point and theme is going to be a huge selling point. For me I'm not sure it has the depth with hero cards and even with expansions I'm not sure there is enough strategy there for me. Not saying I wouldn't play it, but after seeing more plays of it I'm not sure I need to own it. Thanks for the great review!
I played with my girlfriend today and we beat all 3 villians in less than 2 hours. We will play it again becaus is good fun and short but the game its too easy. It is a really good family game that kids can play. A good coop introductory game. And an ok game for some like me and my GF that expected a bit more of a challange. ( i have not yet played with the "harder" mods but it only takes cards out og your deck so i dont expect much.
View of the review: One person loved the game. One person mostly liked it. The other two tried REALLY hard to justify giving the game a much higher score than what they actually thought about it. It was like watching 4 people who desperately wanted to love the game all in different stages of denial.
Didn't back it as thought it was to expensive at the time but it does look interesting and a fun family game. The gameplay reminds me of The Reckoners.
Yeah, it seemed that Zee didn’t like the game and, had it been any other company, he would have trashed it more. But since it was CMON, he seemed afraid to offend Tom or CMON.
Feel like there was an awkward cut there where they had a big argument and then they came back very muted afterwards. Just before Tom asks Zee what he thought of the solo mode. Around 22:05
Looking at faces and listening this sounded more like a review of people wanting to justify their KS prices. No one seemed overly impressed other than Tom. I am glad I did not back but will pick up the base game for my kid at retail when its on sale. Thanks for the review guys!
Speaking personally i like the concept and i find it appealing but when i check the kickstarter and see theres like dozens of characters i'll never get to use because they are a kickstarter exclusive i feel less interested just knowing what i'll always be missing. Granted this won't affect someone whose just stumbling across it in wal-mart and never checked the kickstarter but there is like 36 individual heroes i counted that were kickstarter exclusive not including the characters in 2 Kickstarter exclusive expansions. I mean the marvel universe has one of the biggest character rosters of all time and this game does an amazing job of incorporating characters that wouldn't make the cut traditionally (beta ray bill, moon knight, etc) I'm sure whoever backed it will have a hell of a game though.
I played it this weekend. I didnt back the game but after playing I was quite impressed. Simple fun and it ain't easy at all which I appreciate. The villains are what make the game interesting. I will say the traitor Asgard expansion is where the fun really is.
This is the Best review. I love that you are looking at it from different perspectives. This is a get a group of any gamers from casual to hard core and they will love this game the same. It really evens the playing field for new players and experienced. It’s not intimidating, easy to learn and hard on the difficult setting. Simplest marvel game to most complex : Marvel battle worlds > 5 min Marvel > This game> Marvel champions > Marvel crisis protocol .
I just got my copy from Walmart Canada and it came with Wasp instead of Venom. Does anyone know if its supposed to be like this? Also my rulebook doesn't say what Crisis Tokens do, only that you accumulate them.
So did I. They had it for less then $8 over the weekend. I’m not a CMON fan, but for that price point I think it was worth trying out. Though I’m sad it didn’t have Venom in the box since it’s not the Walmart version. Man I hate exclusives with a passion.
@@GamingWithGeo yeah. Had to get it. And I almost bought another copy when it was $7 on Amazon. Just because. I played it three times so far. It’s fun. I played with my 73 year old mother so it was perfect weight for her.
So I hadn't looked at the kickstarter campaign till now, I am tempted to buy the game at Walmart, but I saw all the kickstarter exclusive figures, a few that I really want and almost puts me off if I can't get them. Does anyone know or have an opinion on whether they will release the kickstarter characters to retail or if the retailers pledge got the kickstarter items can they sell them?
You know if you ever followed CMON , everything on their KS campaigns are exclusive content. You won't get it anywhere else unless you spend a good amount of $$ on their KS campaign. They thrive on gamers for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) That was the case in this campaign. Other than possible expansions obtainable, All that extra content is exclusive to the campaign and not ever going to be released to the market unless you're a backer. How would you want to get Guardians of the Galaxy without Gamora?
Yeah, that stuff is really exclusive to the Kickstarter campaign and I hate it when they do that with substantial content. If it were only aesthetic, fine, do that. But, generally, their exclusives add a lot to their games. Wanted to get everything from Project Elite, but now that I know I won't be able to get all of it I may skip it 😔.
Live in Mexico and going to a convention like that would be hard. Also the time machine stuff disappeared in seconds and shipping was very expensive =/.
I feel this game can also be for hobby gamers. I know a ton who don't want a long campaign and much rather pack in 3-4 games in one night. There are some that are just meant to be played over and over, and by the looks of it, each game will have another experience as the difficulry goes up. The mechanics for Marvel united may look simple but the villains definitely don't look easy to beat.
Yes, I did expect the location cards to have been thicker than they where but I backed it for the light gameplay and the mini's. I can always laminate the location cards.
I appreciate Z bringing up the card quality, but not a big issue for me. Replay is a bit of concern but I think backers like Mike have nothing to worry about.
my copy arrived yesterday. Looking forward to playing it when my house isn't a mess lol I was ready to back it on KS, but needed to wait to hear more feedback. Glad to hear it is what I expected, fun and light goodness. Would have been nice to have those sweet KS exclusives, but I should be happy with the base.
@@MrSlade2814 everyone is wrong. 60 was the cost of the Base Game and Stretch Goals on KS. 30 is the cost of the retail edition. Confirmed by Spin Master.
For $30 I think the replay value is there, every villain changes the gameplay to play differently and every hero plays differently plus each location has unique abilities. When you buy more expansions and/or have Kickstarter items you'll have tons of replay value. I think more expansions beyond what is currently being offered in Kickstarter is coming later.
@@VaultBoy13 have you played it yet? I mean having all those extra exclusive villains and heroes.... Yeah don't count on the game being at cost on ebay unless they weren't exclusive after all...
From what I can gather...a different retailer is getting “Kang”, or he will be a promo. All the extra stuff looked like more of the same except for the GOTG vs Thanos stuff, and the Spider-Man sinister 6 stuff (which were more expensive). The other 4 expansions looked more of the same.
uhhh. . You guys are forgetting one part. I’m buying the game for the minis. I’ll play the game maybe. But picture these mini’s painted sitting on the desk!
Having watched the play through and now seeing this game im glad I did not back. For me the game is too light and would probally only get two to three games before it gathers dust. If i had kids who could play board games this would 100% change my thoughts on the game. I really appreciated zee's thoughts on the game.
I backed this all in on KS. I think this is fine for a retail version under $30. Will it be a game that you can play 4 times a night, 3 days a week, for months on end? No. But if it's part of your collection that you bring out in rotation with other games, and with new people, I think this will be a fun game.
I’m a KS backer, possibly feel a bit let down with the $30 retail price point, as an aside I don’t have anything in hand but I hope the card stock is of sufficient quality. Gameplay however seems fine, and I’m happy overall with the review.
The bad Notes You get sooo much more in the KS version though. All the stretch goal hero’s, dozens of them instead of just 7, like 3x as many villains, etc. You pay double but you got like 4x as much stuff.
The bad Notes Honestly if you wanted to trade I would pay you the full KS price you paid + send you the retail game too. I’m really bummed I missed the KS stuff as this is something my nephew is really interested in and I’d love all the stuff.
The bad Notes Lastly I will say the location cards are good quality, but the cards are some of the cheaper cards I’ve ever seen. Definitely going to have to sleeve them, they aren’t that thick.
That feeling about "where this game could go", that's what Marvel Champions gave me. I aven't pulled the trigger on expansions yet because why the core game is solid, it just lacked imagination. It seems that's a general approach for Marvel games if this one does the same.
Yeah this game looks light AF and Marvel Champions is great. I tend to lean on the lighter side of games as a hobbyist gamer, but this one really looks as deep as Monopoly or Risk. Color me disappointed. I won't pass full judgement though until I've played it for myself.
Tom is a great reviewer. He rates based on target audience, price, etc. So, for a light, family, game, rating seems fair (I would rate it a bit lower based on comments but that's just me). In contrast, Marvel Champions is more hardcore and you need to compare it to more serious games that are more complex and cost more.
I'm glad to see that a lot of viewers like this round table review format however I did not. It's not that I dislike round table formats, this one just felt incoherent and unstructured. I also recognize the fact that the online format breaks a level of spontaneity and real life discussion. Maybe I'm just used to watch more qualitatively content on this channel or maybe I'm just getting old. Anyhow I'm interested to try out the game however based on this review, I'm glad I didn't back it.
Throughout the entire review it seemed as if there were certain things the reviewers were not allowed to say. I say this because they seemed to qualify or justify anything they said that was in any way critical. It wasn't the usual sort of review I've come to expect from the Dice Tower crew.
@@thedicetower Thank you for responding but from my side there was no doubt about it. My suggestion would be to plan and organize the round table format just a little bit better but leave enough space for spontaneous reactions and discussions. That way you can tackle the doubting impressions that some viewers might have and make more qualitative content. Do I hear a win-win situation?
This looks like Legendary Marvel with a artistic makeover and maybe lightened mechanics. Why buy this if you already have Legendary? Seriously, why? Is it better?
Thank you Tom, Zee, Mike, and Roy for the great reviews and round table discussion. I loved that they all were coming at it from different perspectives and ideas. Zee provided excellent points on how it will be approached by many hobbyist who are itching to get their hands on that $200 investment, valid. Knowing you've put in that money and what game you may be expecting changes the way you feel about it but Tom is also spot on saying forget all that, and think of it as a fun time playing superheroes with your family for $30. As a "wannabe" hobby gamer, I am very excited about this game! I own a lot of games but I'm no expert and never even really get those heavier games to the table. i tend to play the lighter ones that I can get friends excited to play ie Horrified, Unmatched, Wingspan. I really think this will fit that cooperative itch my friends and I have to just get together, fight some baddies, and just have a good time. Ultimately, all that matters is did you have fun. From what I have seen, I believe I will.
He specifically pointed out his bias towards the franchise. What's that worth to you? A couple of points? Tom's word isn't gospel. Fortunately they chose to go with a roundtable review for this one, which gave all viewers some varied opinions. But the Dice Tower itself isn't gospel either. Take it all with a grain of subjective preference, watch a few reviews, and work out if it's a game for you... or not.
@@Manny-M If you have watched the channel regularly you will notice that Tom's score is generally low even in games with good ratings on BGG. There's always something fishy with their CMON reviews. The minis look cool though.
@@hubyxreds4177 Tom can have a bias towards publishers and franchises. Hell, he can have biases towards nice productions and cool minis. That's ok. But it's also why having a few different opinions is best. I think Tom is great, but I never take his word as gospel. I also love SUSD... but rarely do I agree with them. Bias exists. It's a good reason why I loved this format, because Tom's biases aren't shared by others and this review, in and of itself had some needed variety in opinion. I still am hanging for reviews of others to see what they think.
Read edit, sorry. The game is good but too easy. Me and my girlfriend defeated the 3 villians the day we got the game and we never had that feeling of danger or desperation of losing nor the excitement of overcoming a difficult situation. And the modifiers to make the game harder just takes some cards out of your decks. The things i liked. 1. Its short and thats is great for this game. 2. Art and theme are really nice. 3. Its a great family game. Kids will love it and its easy to play. 4. I love shild mode. At this time I played it wrong, I used to play all the cards from the other heroes you only use the previous card. Therefore it makes the game more challenging.
A bit surprised by the high ratings for this, particularly given the extensive amounts of games these reviewers have played. The gameplay, from the few videos I've seen on it, is lacking in just about every meaningful way. The theme, which should be rich given the source material, seems barely there and the mechanics feel simplistic with few interesting choices. It feels like the game was haphazardly designed around the miniatures. Just my 2 cents.
I've been watching Tom since he was shooting by himself on his Iphone. He has five things that really add points to his reviews in his reviews, Super Heroes (particularly Marvel), miniatures, food, animals, and quick satisfying experiences. This hits three of the five. Many people on the dice tower share his same likes. You'll notice 3 people in this review said they backed for nearly $200 dollars. In other words, unless you share those same likes you might want to look at another reviewer for their opinions on this one.
I agree that the game looks pretty simple and isn’t theme rich. But not every single game has to fit that. This game is quick, fast and you don’t have to overly think but there is still a variety of choices.
Dude, you cannot comment about the opinions of the reviewers who have played the game, when you're assessing it off a few playthrough videos. "I'm surprised they enjoyed it. Given I have no experience actually playing the game, and am forming ALL of my opinions in some videos I've watched, I have a contrarian opinion."
I think with one copy, some of these guys haven't played as much as some of us here. I've personally played almost 10 games in the first week just solo and multi-handed. I'm excited to bust this out with my wife and my nephews and nieces soon too and don't see myself getting tired of the base game before the massive amount of Kickstarter content comes in 8 or so months. I'm glad Tom addressed heroes DO feel different, they don't just have one different card as Mike said. Also, I can see Zee's point about some cards having some fiddly interpretations in Shield Mode (solo) for example, how would you handle a card like Captain America's special where he can give a wild token to "Another" hero. But 99% of the solo game makes perfect sense. I've played multi-handed and true solo and definitely prefer the Shield Mode. This is a $25 game. It's already at the caliber of gameplay and components of many other classic $25 games like Pandemic, Horrified, and King of Tokyo. I love the foundation this base game is opening us to. It's already a fun game. I think this game is getting a weird review tone because it's coming with some baggage of it being a strange partnership between CMON and Spinmaster, an unintended early release, and SO much anticipation for the remaining content which is where this game will show it's full potential.
They can't base their review of content that isn't their yet. For all anyone knows, all the KS extras might be even more fiddly. And they all gave it a positive review (rating from 7-8).
So in what way do the heroes (and villains) feel different? This aspect was sorely missing from the review and right now this game looks extremely light with a pasted on theme based off of the review and gameplay explanation they gave.
@@SeanUCF That's super valid to feel that way based on early reviews and impressions. Hulk is a go to when I want to clear locations. He is consistently good at that and you notice this after multiple plays. Captain Marvel will hit hard and help your team be more mobile. Black Widow is a strong adversary for Task Master because you can use her to track where he'll be on his turn. Order of characters matters too. If Black Widow is at the start of the heroes turn you have much better success with her abilities. There is definitely a different feel even from the small combination of heroes we get here. And it's going to be incredibly satisfying to pick teams when even more heroes are available. I wrote up a pretty detailed post on my thoughts after playing every hero and villain here if you want to check it out. boardgamegeek.com/thread/2468512/my-thoughts-after-playing-solo-game-every-hero-and
The funny thing is, forgiving/ignoring the crappy card quality (as they say, I haven’t felt it myself yet) despite being aware of the best of what the industry has to offer is pretty lame.
Passed on the KS.. just looked like mehh of game play and the cost was way too much for what the game is, IMO. Also chibi minis are ok but for as large of a marvel fan as I am I would much rather have more realistic miniatures. And Spin masters, they did 5-min dungeon and other very light and family/children games. I just don’t see them as a $100+ KS company even with CMON minis. If my son was older I might be more interested but as of now, still a hard pass. Also I might be way off base but isn’t this similar to thanos rising. Deck shuffle vs dice roll aside. I have not played either.. but I could have sworn spin master did that too, but I looked it up and realized they didn’t.
what you get is a bonkers game quick to learn replay value fun for all and solo mode as a bonus...Easy to homebrew cards and with a 3d printer more heroes and vilains!
Not sure why it’s being considered a $30 game in this review, when the base pledge was $60 on Kickstarter. The extras are supposed to be extras for helping fund this game as stretch goals. They weren’t guaranteed or even daily unlocks. So what would the review be if it’s a $60 game.
Chris Peach so the kickstarter was above MSRP but they decided not to tell anyone? Makes it even worse especially when they keep talking about $60 value in the Kickstarter (before any of the stretch goals had been hit)
NOTH ING I agree. I thought them not mentioning having to pay extra for split shipping to get it at the same time as retail was already pretty shady. The game looks fine. I’m just unhappy at the duplicitous behaviour. What’s to stop them doing this again on their next Kickstarter
@@KamranZaffar I cannot nor would I speak to the ethics or intentions of CMON. It's possible that Spin Master did not communicate the Base MSRP before the game was produced, it's possible CMON knew the whole time and the 60 pledge was with the idea of building in all the "stretch goals". CMON has never been fully transparent, and consumers may make different buying choices based on that (see retail expansions that never made it to retail), but yes, confirmed that the 30 MSRP is indeed what Spin Master decided on and is official. So anyone positing 60 is the MSRP is being disingenuous and trying to mislead normal consumers who would pick this up at Walmart and have never heard of Kickstarter.
But the price for the game is $60, not les than $30. Walmart just set it on $30 on this release. I'm a backer and that price difference and hearing you Mike saying "at $60 I'll be disappointed"... Well... Guess what...
Spin Master has verified the retail edition is 30 Dollars so no, Walmart did not set that price. I would pay 60 for what's in this box even without KS Exclusives. Inevitably this will be a preference, not a binary "if you paid 60 you will be disappointed".
If this game didn't include the miniatures, which are completely unnecessary (more unnecessary than usual), it would retail for $15. There's no real value here for me (for me, being the operative phrase). I just feel it's a lazy design hiding behind the Marvel brand and some nifty, but ultimately unnecessary, miniatures, which is a shame.
@@thedicetower Extra content is for most people totally meaningless. Like you said, the base box has quite a lot of content, and people in general don't play one game too many times, and you can probably play this base box quite a few times already. Do you think that some extra character options is going to justify game being 150% to 200% more expensive than this retail option (remember backers also had to pay shipping)?
@@thedicetower Yeah I got that point but based on that then all the Stretch Goals in that KS are not Stretch Goals then it is a Deluxe Version then. My point is that the base game would be the base game, as in Arcadia Quest and like Blood Rage, as backers we paid the cost of the base game and have the extras as extras. So now the game is $30 but we pay $60 for the game and the "extras".
Looks like a good game for the mass market that doesn’t play a ton of games. Looks like a disappointing game for hobbyists. I felt like Zee wasn’t aloud to have an opinion.
I am a hobbyist and i freaking adore this game. Played it almost 10 times now and can't get enough. He did only play the solo game which looks very boring to me...
Hobbiest come in different varieties. I don't think Zee was bullied into an opinion or score. There's no reason a light game can't get a 7-8 score (or even a 10 score).
As a hobbies with heavy games, I have played this over 20 times and cannot get enough. Zee's favorite game series is Pandemic. The base game here offers far more than base Pandemic for a similar price with a much better theme IMO.
Folk (me too) are dirty in the KS shipping issues I feel. Which is fair enough, I'm not thrilled about having to wait until March for my copies when it's out now to play in some capacity. If I put that aside, from what I've seen and read so far, the game is simple and leans into the theme heavily. That's great if you enjoy Marvel and want to have that story telling, imaginative component to the game, building a team, working through scenarios and watching things unfold. The strength will be in the extra content, I believe. If at its heart, it is a simple, fun co-op that you can put a few games into and still have time on games night for something else, I'll be pleased. Fingers crossed the expansions really crank it up a notch and add to the experience.
As much as I like the Marvel Franchise, I don't see this getting to the table that much. I'm 'older' gamer and my son is out doing other things. (Well not these days but you know..) I was intrigued by the KS campaign but I really hated the exclusives. If you don't back it, you don't get that extra content. Never like that policy and never will. Typical of CMON and it irks me. It's kind of ridiculous when you're dealing with the way life is right now financially. I digress I'm sure there are ways to get it second had if I choose to get the base game but I'm not going to waste my energy doing so.
Yeah honestly, the only reason I backed it was for the exclusives and I'm disappointed I gave into to CMON's tactics. I won't let that happen again. This game looks completely vapid. I may end up being completely wrong and I may enjoy the hell out of it when it actually shows up to my door, but for now, this just looks paper thin and have no excitement for it anymore.
Tom. Jeezuz. Could you be any more serious? Everyone else was quite relaxed but Tom looked like something bit him. Relax man. You are reviewing a Marvel Board Game and not an ebola outbreak
I actually had to stop watching. Tom was overreacting to Zee's points and it was hard to watch. Zee had some valid points of what people should expect. Honestly, most people who watch this review are hobby gamers, already. I think that Tom is worried a newcomer will look up this review and be offended by Zee's criticism. That he wasn't as tactful as he could have been in describing mass-market games / gamers.
@@jonl4883 Disagree. It was clear Tom just didn't want the review to get hung up on aspects of the game a 'mainstream/family' gamer would not give a thought about... like card quality. Tom wanted to focus on the gameplay itself and how it will be perceived by their assessment of the target market. I think Zee made some fair points too, for us hobbyists, but he was sticking to the point of card quality a little too much. BTW, I'm no Tom apologist. Zee is, without a doubt, my favourite reviewer out there. I just agreed with Tom wanting the review to focus on what is truly important for the average person who would play this game.
@@Manny-M The issue I have with Tom's reaction is that they are not here to review "family games" or what could be considered a mass market game. If a game comes off that way, then it is absolutely a negative in the eyes of hobbyist board gamers because it eludes to an over all "cheapness" value of the game. This channel is for hobbyists and that is the background people watching this channel are going to have. Hobbyists expect more out of our games. So if the game is mechanically light or the components are cheap, that is a huge negative in our eyes and it should weight heavily in the final score. It was weird to see him get all hot and bothered over Zee making those comments about it when he emphasizes those critiques in other games.
@@SeanUCF That's some world class gatekeeping there. I don't think you're in any position to dictate what The Dice Tower are here to do. As evidenced by Tom's myriad of top 10 lists that cover every facet of gamer, it's clear to me that they are marketing to ALL gamers, and not just hobby gamers. You're not in a position to speak on behalf of us either. And Tom wasn't getting 'hot and bothered' over him making those assessments, it's that Zee came back to it a couple of times as his main point.
This might be the first game I regret backing. After watching the review, this game seems paper thin. Doesn't seem like there is any difference b/w the heroes and very little difference b/w the villains. The theme seems completely pasted on and these light mechanics could be used on anything.
Yeah, the only difference in the game is in what the villains offer (which isn't much), and the new rules/twists the various expansions add. Each hero is basically the same as the next. I was really looking forward to the game, but it looks pretty meh. If I had kids, I'd probably pick it up
@@egyptfreaka even with kids, it seems there is a lot of text on the cards for a simple game. Would rather have less text or more complex game with that text.
@@egyptfreaka So after talking with some people who own and have played the game, it seems there is a bit more difference b/w heroes than originally thought. It just seems the Dice Tower did a piss poor job of showcasing that. However, the game is still definitely on the lighter side. I always hold final judgement until I've experienced it for myself, but the wind has definitely been taken out of the sails on this one.
I just wish that funkopop toys weren't so UGLY. Their entire catalog is nothing but a handful of bad shapes that don't map well onto any characters of any kind, from ANY IP. Funkopop doesn't even make chibi characters look good, and you'd think that would be their one strength. I'd much rather have lego characters, even just minifigs. Proper toys should start at G.I. Joe action figures, and improve from there, not get worse. Micromen were even better, they had articulated wrist joints! ( And spring-loaded missile launchers! )
Might I inquire as to why?? they are doing the Marvel United: X-men kickstarter at the moment(which I'm contemplating) so I'm curious as to what factors dissuaded you from backing the game? I love the theme and all the character... it does look a little on the light side tho.
@@gregwilkinson8127 Hmmm, I changed my mind a bit and I'm most probably backing X-Men... my first impression was that the game was on the light and easy side and also I wasn't crazy about the minis. But I like X-Men much more over other Marvel stuff and also they made the game a bit more complex so....
@@1AngelAlita cool beans, thanks for the prompt reply :D I'm just doing some information gathering as well but I agree, I like the additional mechanics they are adding(the nice thing is if you back the X-men one you can get the marvel stuff too :D haha) The X-men are really cool, a little saddened that I don't see Colossus, Deadpool, Rogue and Gambit in the lineup but maybe they are coming in one of those campaign style addons🤷♂ Still not sure if I'll back it yet, I'd like too though so it probably will happen.
this might be the most CMON game ever with 10 minis for a big box price of $30 (aka $15). Worst game I've ever seen in the big box category in the past 10 years, funko/prospero hall et all are making absolute banging games, but the best value ever if you're comparing 4 mini pops @ $40 ($10-$20) to 10 minis @ $30 ($15). Very much wish I wasn't geeting poor cheap cards for $165 + shipping pledge. I think that'll end my streak of Cmon backing, I'm fine with getting their core sets at $45 a year later.
I've found that for most CMON games I've backed that the Kickstarter contents aren't worth the extra costs. It's more expensive content. It's more expensive shipping. And, it's often pretty lackluster extras. However, every once in awhile CMON offer garbage retail components. Like the plastic forts in Rising Sun vs the cardboard prototype quality ones at retail. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. They do a great job and making it so that neither customer base feels valued.
Phew. Totally dodged the bullet here on KS. Even then the game looked weak, and I was more interested in the minis, but this is even weaker than I thought. Maybe entertaining for a game or two, but almost $100 with shipping? Not anywhere near worth it, at least for me. Edit. Also funny how they are all saying that hey it's an ok $30 dollar game. Well, the KS backers must be really thrilled about this. The base pledge was $60 plus shipping, which for started at $15, and $30 for europe. Sure, you get more miniatures, but I doubt the game play is any better, and those extra miniatures and characters probably don't make the game significantly better.
The $60 Kickstarter base game has 43 heroes and 14 villains compared to the 7 heroes and 3 villains you see here. I am thrilled by this, more than twice the content for less than twice the price.
@@BryceChristiansen With that logic if this game would come with 500 heroes, and 100 villains it would be worth $1000? Sadly the amount of contents stops to matter at some point. And I would wholeheartedly argue that the point is reached far before you have played even fifth of the KS content. Honestly, the game play doesn't look long lasting. If you like the game, or have kids to play it with, awesome! But I doubt that is the case for most of the backers.
Yeah, it seems like a $30 light, co-op game. I can't imagine finding enough gameplay there (even with all the Kickstarter content) to justify $190+ shipping (and even more if you added the game mat). I just don't think most gamers (whether hobbiests or not) would go that deep into a game this simple. Retail also has the issue of expansions offering very few villains which means very little variability. It's also expensive variability at $25 per villain. So, for $100 MSRP retail owners can get a little more than double the current content. I get that the core game is priced low to bring in more profit from expansions, but the expansions look very overpriced. The other issue is that Kickstarter exclusive nonsense walled off some of the more interesting content. Want to play out Avengers? Too bad, there's no Infinity Gauntlet. How about re-enacting Guardians of the Galaxy? Well, you'll have to do that without Drax, Gamora, Mantis, Nebula, and even Yondu. How about Spider-Man? Wait? You expected to fight some of his most popular foes? Nope. Oh, you just want to do some Defenders street level justice? We'll only make Daredevil available. You wanted to fight Kingpin? That's a no too.
Who is going to buy a $25-$35 expansion at retail with 4 mini when the base game is $30 for 10. Really weird pricing structure and I expect these to be 66% off like funkoverse was.
Fast forward two years later and this is Zee’s favorite co-op game.
Fast forward 10 more months and it’s now his favourite game of all time.
@@Adrock_Uyou beat me to it 😂
Fast forward 3 years and it's Zee's number 1 game of all time!
This is the crew I love. They offer 4 different views and have great banter. I wish we had more videos featuring this group (also I always prefer Tom explaining the rules)
Agreed. They've got a great dynamic, and I appreciate that they all come from different perspectives.
Agree, love the format. Kind of has a Miami Dice vibe
Mike??? Gotta be kidding me
@@nothing3376 don't feed the trolls.
I appreciated Zee reviewing the game.
Glad to have Zee injection some reality.
I have played over 20 times at this point and really disagree with Zee. I find this to be more re-playable out of the base box than Pandemic and with a Theme that more people will pick up... also so much more variable. Eric Lang designed the game.... so it was not "produced" by CMON but made by Spinmaster. At 30 bucks, this has minis and more cards than Pandemic, with locations randomized, hero card decks, the villain deck and threats. Also if you remove wild cards from hero decks, there are like 11 cards and 3 are wholly unique (and not all heroes are the same for all 3).
100 percent man
@@tdizzle2144 I would literally recommend tossing your pandemic and upgrading to this if you like Marvel.
Yikes, can't believe you think this is better than Pandemic. Outside of some hardcore Marvel fans, I doubt anyone would consider this better than Pandemic. I admit I haven't played it but there is nothing to indicate that the base game has much replayability.
@@SivaramVelauthapillai I own the games... so yes, I know it is better than Pandemic. A really generic game that has a broad base of appeal. Pandemic is, for what it is maybe a solid 7? Marvel United is better and pretty much the same price. Easy choice! The Yikes would be anyone peddling an older, inferior title ;) Unless of course you like games literally decided by the shuffle, like Pandemic on anything but baby mode and Solitaire :)
I was actually surprised by Zee's rating in the end, given his points of view during the review. His statement about being able to see everything the game has to offer in about two hours is more than enough for me to write this game off completely.
I think he was reviewing it as a mass market cheap Walmart game, I think for something that will hit $15 by Christmas and exists as a Walmart game that grandma picks up, it’s probably a 10. You couldn’t as a kid get a better Walmart game.
As a game for Someone who can go out and buy anything in the history of gaming ? 5/10, mostly for the ultra cheap minis.
Man, I'm really enjoying that addition of Mike to the team, he brings such good points. Great job guys, more group reviews please, it's so cool to have a good discussion with different point of views, it really completes the review.
Tom seems like hes pushing the product. When he gets assertive he changed other peoples mind. Theres no enthusiasm in any of them
This was like watching 12 Angry Men where Tom is slowly changing the perspectives of the other guys. lol Looks pretty fun for a family game.
Reminds me of their original Blood Rage review.
Hilarious!
@@ralelunar yes that blood rage review was very memorable. Can't believe it is now Sam's fav just from watching that interview.
What I liked about Tom's stance in this review was that he was coming at it from the point of someone who just enjoys playing games. So he wasn't having the discussion going off rails talking about the standards we, as hobby gamers, have over components.
I kinda felt bad for Zee though in that. I don't think he was trying to stress the point too much, but just giving a view and setting expectations for most of the people who would be watching this review early... and that's us hobby gamers with those perspectives.
I really liked having the varied opinions on this one.
@@ralelunar Yeah, It is very reminiscent of that review.
Appreciated Zee's points; felt like Tom was out of character and unnecessarily aggressive. I watched the live play and it isn't for me; that's fine, but conversely it sure didn't seem fine for there to be criticism in this review.
Yeah, unfortunately I noticed a lot that this channel is in love with CMON no matter what they produce. Any talking against the company and they get upset. I get it, you can have a favorite company. I love Flying Frog, but I can criticize them. I don’t just praise them like DT seems to do with CMON.
I think it's because Tom seemed very disappointed that they didn't like it as much. For Tom it was Marvel, cool minis, quick, light coop which kinda ticks all the boxes, while the others had more "distanced" review. It seemed a bit like Tom tried to bend their mind "well don't say it's that, just change the audience". The fact is I feel Zee pointed out what a gamer could be aware of before buying the game. If you're not playing with a family, it won't be that good. If you want a meaty game, it won't be what you look for. If you're playing a lot, the card quality will bother you and you might want to sleeve it. It was weird that in this case Tom tried to lighten the valid criticism.
@@SnowDragonka great points.
Agree with Roy. The card play and cooperation involving shared actions is really appealing to me.
Agreed. Also if you examine the base game characters, which seem to have the most basic unique abilities compared to the others the KS offered, the distribution of symbols and what symbols you can offer others (assuming you remove the wild symbols) are pretty different.
I think Zee's point of it being a Spin Master game that CMON helped develop and produce is spot on! It really seems like a family game that can be great for so many people. The $30 price point and theme is going to be a huge selling point. For me I'm not sure it has the depth with hero cards and even with expansions I'm not sure there is enough strategy there for me. Not saying I wouldn't play it, but after seeing more plays of it I'm not sure I need to own it. Thanks for the great review!
I played with my girlfriend today and we beat all 3 villians in less than 2 hours. We will play it again becaus is good fun and short but the game its too easy. It is a really good family game that kids can play. A good coop introductory game. And an ok game for some like me and my GF that expected a bit more of a challange. ( i have not yet played with the "harder" mods but it only takes cards out og your deck so i dont expect much.
@@JesusGonzalez-it2sv play Gloomhaven jaws of you Lion super nice
@@killer_bro_empireitsme3613 I have it on my radar.
Thank you Zee for your unbiased opinion.
I picked this up at Wal-Mart for $10 USD today. Glad I made the choice to pick it up this time.
View of the review: One person loved the game. One person mostly liked it. The other two tried REALLY hard to justify giving the game a much higher score than what they actually thought about it.
It was like watching 4 people who desperately wanted to love the game all in different stages of denial.
Haha, it really did. It was almost like they were afraid to rate it lower for fear of Tom laying down the ban hammer.
Don't think the game is for me, but I like the round table style discussion.
I love the round table style, too.
The discussion was top notch for sure!
Totally agree!
Didn't back it as thought it was to expensive at the time but it does look interesting and a fun family game. The gameplay reminds me of The Reckoners.
There's three copies of this game at my local Burlington Coat Factory game for 17.99. it looks tempting to buy at the low price point
Seems like too little difference between the heroes
Hope you don't feel bad, Zee. I always appreciate your input 😌.
Yeah, it seemed that Zee didn’t like the game and, had it been any other company, he would have trashed it more. But since it was CMON, he seemed afraid to offend Tom or CMON.
@@christopherbrown9529 I doubt that. He hasn't had that problem in any other videos not sure why he would here.
Makes me think of The Reckoners big time
I get that impression, too.
Yeah, reminds me of a lighter/easier Reckoners too.
Feel like there was an awkward cut there where they had a big argument and then they came back very muted afterwards. Just before Tom asks Zee what he thought of the solo mode. Around 22:05
Appreciate the review panel approach. Cant wait. Looks super fun.
Looking at faces and listening this sounded more like a review of people wanting to justify their KS prices. No one seemed overly impressed other than Tom. I am glad I did not back but will pick up the base game for my kid at retail when its on sale. Thanks for the review guys!
People need to realize that for some people a good implementation of theme goes a long way.
@Dr. D counterpoint: yes, they do
Speaking personally i like the concept and i find it appealing but when i check the kickstarter and see theres like dozens of characters i'll never get to use because they are a kickstarter exclusive i feel less interested just knowing what i'll always be missing. Granted this won't affect someone whose just stumbling across it in wal-mart and never checked the kickstarter but there is like 36 individual heroes i counted that were kickstarter exclusive not including the characters in 2 Kickstarter exclusive expansions. I mean the marvel universe has one of the biggest character rosters of all time and this game does an amazing job of incorporating characters that wouldn't make the cut traditionally (beta ray bill, moon knight, etc) I'm sure whoever backed it will have a hell of a game though.
makes you wonder if one should help kickstart a game with the biggest IP out there.
@@Lwilibert LOL that's actually a really good logical point.
I played it this weekend. I didnt back the game but after playing I was quite impressed. Simple fun and it ain't easy at all which I appreciate. The villains are what make the game interesting. I will say the traitor Asgard expansion is where the fun really is.
This is the Best review. I love that you are looking at it from different perspectives. This is a get a group of any gamers from casual to hard core and they will love this game the same. It really evens the playing field for new players and experienced. It’s not intimidating, easy to learn and hard on the difficult setting. Simplest marvel game to most complex : Marvel battle worlds > 5 min Marvel > This game> Marvel champions > Marvel crisis protocol .
I just got my copy from Walmart Canada and it came with Wasp instead of Venom. Does anyone know if its supposed to be like this?
Also my rulebook doesn't say what Crisis Tokens do, only that you accumulate them.
Looking forward to playing this with my kids and nephews. Great review guys.
Just got it on Amazon for $12 no brainer for what’s in the box
So did I. They had it for less then $8 over the weekend. I’m not a CMON fan, but for that price point I think it was worth trying out. Though I’m sad it didn’t have Venom in the box since it’s not the Walmart version. Man I hate exclusives with a passion.
@@GamingWithGeo yeah. Had to get it. And I almost bought another copy when it was $7 on Amazon. Just because. I played it three times so far. It’s fun. I played with my 73 year old mother so it was perfect weight for her.
So I hadn't looked at the kickstarter campaign till now, I am tempted to buy the game at Walmart, but I saw all the kickstarter exclusive figures, a few that I really want and almost puts me off if I can't get them. Does anyone know or have an opinion on whether they will release the kickstarter characters to retail or if the retailers pledge got the kickstarter items can they sell them?
You know if you ever followed CMON , everything on their KS campaigns are exclusive content. You won't get it anywhere else unless you spend a good amount of $$ on their KS campaign. They thrive on gamers for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) That was the case in this campaign. Other than possible expansions obtainable, All that extra content is exclusive to the campaign and not ever going to be released to the market unless you're a backer. How would you want to get Guardians of the Galaxy without Gamora?
Yeah, that stuff is really exclusive to the Kickstarter campaign and I hate it when they do that with substantial content. If it were only aesthetic, fine, do that. But, generally, their exclusives add a lot to their games.
Wanted to get everything from Project Elite, but now that I know I won't be able to get all of it I may skip it 😔.
AlicePlaysYT well I mean really exclusive except for at conventions and the Time Machine when they need to clear there warehouse lol
Live in Mexico and going to a convention like that would be hard.
Also the time machine stuff disappeared in seconds and shipping was very expensive =/.
I feel this game can also be for hobby gamers. I know a ton who don't want a long campaign and much rather pack in 3-4 games in one night. There are some that are just meant to be played over and over, and by the looks of it, each game will have another experience as the difficulry goes up. The mechanics for Marvel united may look simple but the villains definitely don't look easy to beat.
Yes, I did expect the location cards to have been thicker than they where but I backed it for the light gameplay and the mini's. I can always laminate the location cards.
Which of the United games are best at 2 players?
I appreciate Z bringing up the card quality, but not a big issue for me. Replay is a bit of concern but I think backers like Mike have nothing to worry about.
my copy arrived yesterday. Looking forward to playing it when my house isn't a mess lol I was ready to back it on KS, but needed to wait to hear more feedback. Glad to hear it is what I expected, fun and light goodness. Would have been nice to have those sweet KS exclusives, but I should be happy with the base.
How much did you pay? They're saying $30, but everyone else is stating the msrp is $60
@@MrSlade2814 Walmart apparently had it out early, so it could change but I paid $30+shipping
@@MrSlade2814 everyone is wrong. 60 was the cost of the Base Game and Stretch Goals on KS. 30 is the cost of the retail edition. Confirmed by Spin Master.
Love the round table discussion. Hope to see more of these in the future
I can only hope the KS has a better card quality but I doubt SM/CMON ran a different production line for retail vs KS.
For $30 I think the replay value is there, every villain changes the gameplay to play differently and every hero plays differently plus each location has unique abilities. When you buy more expansions and/or have Kickstarter items you'll have tons of replay value. I think more expansions beyond what is currently being offered in Kickstarter is coming later.
I didn’t back it and I’m filled with regret. FILLED! I wonder if different retailers are getting different exclusive heroes.
Given how light it is, you probably won't have trouble finding a second-hand Kickstarter copy at cost (or close to it).
@@VaultBoy13 have you played it yet? I mean having all those extra exclusive villains and heroes.... Yeah don't count on the game being at cost on ebay unless they weren't exclusive after all...
From what I can gather...a different retailer is getting “Kang”, or he will be a promo.
All the extra stuff looked like more of the same except for the GOTG vs Thanos stuff, and the Spider-Man sinister 6 stuff (which were more expensive). The other 4 expansions looked more of the same.
uhhh. . You guys are forgetting one part. I’m buying the game for the minis. I’ll play the game maybe. But picture these mini’s painted sitting on the desk!
Really like this style of review with all four of you chipping in. Hope it becomes a regular addition to the bigger releases
Love Zee's approach and viewpoint on this review. Overall solid panel of discussion.
Having watched the play through and now seeing this game im glad I did not back. For me the game is too light and would probally only get two to three games before it gathers dust. If i had kids who could play board games this would 100% change my thoughts on the game. I really appreciated zee's thoughts on the game.
I backed this all in on KS. I think this is fine for a retail version under $30. Will it be a game that you can play 4 times a night, 3 days a week, for months on end? No. But if it's part of your collection that you bring out in rotation with other games, and with new people, I think this will be a fun game.
Really liked hearing from a bigger group on the review!
I’m a KS backer, possibly feel a bit let down with the $30 retail price point, as an aside I don’t have anything in hand but I hope the card stock is of sufficient quality. Gameplay however seems fine, and I’m happy overall with the review.
The bad Notes You get sooo much more in the KS version though. All the stretch goal hero’s, dozens of them instead of just 7, like 3x as many villains, etc. You pay double but you got like 4x as much stuff.
The bad Notes Honestly if you wanted to trade I would pay you the full KS price you paid + send you the retail game too. I’m really bummed I missed the KS stuff as this is something my nephew is really interested in and I’d love all the stuff.
The bad Notes Lastly I will say the location cards are good quality, but the cards are some of the cheaper cards I’ve ever seen. Definitely going to have to sleeve them, they aren’t that thick.
How come you got Venom instead of Wasp? Strange. They doing different minis per Box or something?
Venom is a Walmart exclusive
Whoa, whoa! You got Venom in yours? I got Wasp!
That feeling about "where this game could go", that's what Marvel Champions gave me. I aven't pulled the trigger on expansions yet because why the core game is solid, it just lacked imagination. It seems that's a general approach for Marvel games if this one does the same.
This does sound like a slam dunk for the box store game audience. I am glad that it is also at a really approachable price point too. Very cool!
I knew nothing of this game and I may have missed this answer but will the kickstarter extras also come to stores?
If you mean non KS exclusive expansions then yes most likely. If you meant KS exclusive stretch goals or expansions then no.
Odd that there was no discussion comparing it to Marvel Champions
I’m surprised Tom rated this one higher than Marvel Champions.
Yeah this game looks light AF and Marvel Champions is great. I tend to lean on the lighter side of games as a hobbyist gamer, but this one really looks as deep as Monopoly or Risk. Color me disappointed. I won't pass full judgement though until I've played it for myself.
Tom is a great reviewer. He rates based on target audience, price, etc. So, for a light, family, game, rating seems fair (I would rate it a bit lower based on comments but that's just me). In contrast, Marvel Champions is more hardcore and you need to compare it to more serious games that are more complex and cost more.
I thought multi-person reviews are called "Miami Dice" ?
Miami Dice are reviews with Tom and Sam. If Sam ever returns, so will Miami Dice!
@@jonl4883 sure, but they had Zee sometimes. Mike and Roy could be stand ins for Sam.
Maybe i just miss the miami dice music :)
@@LuisMontes I miss the music, too. 😁
But Tom has said in the past that Miami Dice were reviews by him and Sam.
4 dicemen of the boardocalypse.
What would you rate it's weight out of 5 (BGG system)?
1.5/2 would be my guess
Is this game worth buying in 2022?
I'm happy that these were Chibis, it saved me a ton of money by steering clear.
I'm glad to see that a lot of viewers like this round table review format however I did not. It's not that I dislike round table formats, this one just felt incoherent and unstructured. I also recognize the fact that the online format breaks a level of spontaneity
and real life discussion. Maybe I'm just used to watch more qualitatively content on this channel or maybe I'm just getting old. Anyhow I'm interested to try out the game however based on this review, I'm glad I didn't back it.
Throughout the entire review it seemed as if there were certain things the reviewers were not allowed to say. I say this because they seemed to qualify or justify anything they said that was in any way critical. It wasn't the usual sort of review I've come to expect from the Dice Tower crew.
Not true. People can say what they want in our reviews.
@@thedicetower I believe that, but it certainly felt that way.
@@thedicetower Thank you for responding but from my side there was no doubt about it. My suggestion would be to plan and organize the round table format just a little bit better but leave enough space for spontaneous reactions and discussions. That way you can tackle the doubting impressions that some viewers might have and make more qualitative content. Do I hear a win-win situation?
Really happy you went with a round-table on this review. Gave some varied opinions on the game and interesting perspectives.
Love this reviews going this way. Thanks for do it.
I backed it but then canceled. I was in it for the minis but probably would have never gotten around to paint. The gameplay just seems too simplistic.
This looks like Legendary Marvel with a artistic makeover and maybe lightened mechanics. Why buy this if you already have Legendary? Seriously, why? Is it better?
Thank you Tom, Zee, Mike, and Roy for the great reviews and round table discussion. I loved that they all were coming at it from different perspectives and ideas. Zee provided excellent points on how it will be approached by many hobbyist who are itching to get their hands on that $200 investment, valid. Knowing you've put in that money and what game you may be expecting changes the way you feel about it but Tom is also spot on saying forget all that, and think of it as a fun time playing superheroes with your family for $30. As a "wannabe" hobby gamer, I am very excited about this game! I own a lot of games but I'm no expert and never even really get those heavier games to the table. i tend to play the lighter ones that I can get friends excited to play ie Horrified, Unmatched, Wingspan. I really think this will fit that cooperative itch my friends and I have to just get together, fight some baddies, and just have a good time. Ultimately, all that matters is did you have fun. From what I have seen, I believe I will.
I'm a loyal fan of The Dice Tower but sadly this review looks biased. Tom giving 8.5 really?
He specifically pointed out his bias towards the franchise. What's that worth to you? A couple of points?
Tom's word isn't gospel. Fortunately they chose to go with a roundtable review for this one, which gave all viewers some varied opinions. But the Dice Tower itself isn't gospel either. Take it all with a grain of subjective preference, watch a few reviews, and work out if it's a game for you... or not.
I could argue that rating is low.
@@Manny-M If you have watched the channel regularly you will notice that Tom's score is generally low even in games with good ratings on BGG. There's always something fishy with their CMON reviews. The minis look cool though.
The others seemed hesitant to offer any real criticism and were quick to qualify any criticism they did provide.
@@hubyxreds4177 Tom can have a bias towards publishers and franchises. Hell, he can have biases towards nice productions and cool minis. That's ok. But it's also why having a few different opinions is best. I think Tom is great, but I never take his word as gospel. I also love SUSD... but rarely do I agree with them.
Bias exists. It's a good reason why I loved this format, because Tom's biases aren't shared by others and this review, in and of itself had some needed variety in opinion. I still am hanging for reviews of others to see what they think.
Just found base game with spider verse and Dr strange on Amazon for $15
Easy purchase
Read edit, sorry.
The game is good but too easy. Me and my girlfriend defeated the 3 villians the day we got the game and we never had that feeling of danger or desperation of losing nor the excitement of overcoming a difficult situation. And the modifiers to make the game harder just takes some cards out of your decks. The things i liked.
1. Its short and thats is great for this game.
2. Art and theme are really nice.
3. Its a great family game. Kids will love it and its easy to play.
4. I love shild mode.
At this time I played it wrong, I used to play all the cards from the other heroes you only use the previous card. Therefore it makes the game more challenging.
So even with the wildcards removed you found it too easy?
@@MrMaltavius I edited my comment. I played the game wrong so it will be more challenging. For the price is worth picking up. Kids will love it.
A bit surprised by the high ratings for this, particularly given the extensive amounts of games these reviewers have played. The gameplay, from the few videos I've seen on it, is lacking in just about every meaningful way. The theme, which should be rich given the source material, seems barely there and the mechanics feel simplistic with few interesting choices. It feels like the game was haphazardly designed around the miniatures. Just my 2 cents.
I've been watching Tom since he was shooting by himself on his Iphone. He has five things that really add points to his reviews in his reviews, Super Heroes (particularly Marvel), miniatures, food, animals, and quick satisfying experiences. This hits three of the five. Many people on the dice tower share his same likes. You'll notice 3 people in this review said they backed for nearly $200 dollars. In other words, unless you share those same likes you might want to look at another reviewer for their opinions on this one.
I was sceptical as well, but I have played it a couple of times on TTS and it actually holds up pretty well
I agree that the game looks pretty simple and isn’t theme rich. But not every single game has to fit that. This game is quick, fast and you don’t have to overly think but there is still a variety of choices.
Dude, you cannot comment about the opinions of the reviewers who have played the game, when you're assessing it off a few playthrough videos.
"I'm surprised they enjoyed it. Given I have no experience actually playing the game, and am forming ALL of my opinions in some videos I've watched, I have a contrarian opinion."
@@Manny-M sure you can.
Got some heavy "shill" vibes from Tom in this video. He was SO aggressively-defensive of the game.
Love Zee, as always. The voice of reason!
Funny how the voice of reason always agrees with you.
This is now Zee's number 1 game of all time
Love the format!
I think with one copy, some of these guys haven't played as much as some of us here. I've personally played almost 10 games in the first week just solo and multi-handed. I'm excited to bust this out with my wife and my nephews and nieces soon too and don't see myself getting tired of the base game before the massive amount of Kickstarter content comes in 8 or so months.
I'm glad Tom addressed heroes DO feel different, they don't just have one different card as Mike said.
Also, I can see Zee's point about some cards having some fiddly interpretations in Shield Mode (solo) for example, how would you handle a card like Captain America's special where he can give a wild token to "Another" hero. But 99% of the solo game makes perfect sense. I've played multi-handed and true solo and definitely prefer the Shield Mode.
This is a $25 game. It's already at the caliber of gameplay and components of many other classic $25 games like Pandemic, Horrified, and King of Tokyo.
I love the foundation this base game is opening us to. It's already a fun game.
I think this game is getting a weird review tone because it's coming with some baggage of it being a strange partnership between CMON and Spinmaster, an unintended early release, and SO much anticipation for the remaining content which is where this game will show it's full potential.
They can't base their review of content that isn't their yet. For all anyone knows, all the KS extras might be even more fiddly.
And they all gave it a positive review (rating from 7-8).
@@johna6108 I don't get where anything I said has to do with that.
So in what way do the heroes (and villains) feel different? This aspect was sorely missing from the review and right now this game looks extremely light with a pasted on theme based off of the review and gameplay explanation they gave.
@@SeanUCF That's super valid to feel that way based on early reviews and impressions.
Hulk is a go to when I want to clear locations. He is consistently good at that and you notice this after multiple plays. Captain Marvel will hit hard and help your team be more mobile. Black Widow is a strong adversary for Task Master because you can use her to track where he'll be on his turn. Order of characters matters too. If Black Widow is at the start of the heroes turn you have much better success with her abilities.
There is definitely a different feel even from the small combination of heroes we get here. And it's going to be incredibly satisfying to pick teams when even more heroes are available.
I wrote up a pretty detailed post on my thoughts after playing every hero and villain here if you want to check it out. boardgamegeek.com/thread/2468512/my-thoughts-after-playing-solo-game-every-hero-and
@@BryceChristiansen
Excellent, thank you! I'll give it a read!
The funny thing is, forgiving/ignoring the crappy card quality (as they say, I haven’t felt it myself yet) despite being aware of the best of what the industry has to offer is pretty lame.
To be honest, I was on the fence about backing this game on KS, and I ultimately decided not to, and I'm glad I didn't now.
I'm devastated I missed the KS of this. Nice review everyone.
Passed on the KS.. just looked like mehh of game play and the cost was way too much for what the game is, IMO. Also chibi minis are ok but for as large of a marvel fan as I am I would much rather have more realistic miniatures. And Spin masters, they did 5-min dungeon and other very light and family/children games. I just don’t see them as a $100+ KS company even with CMON minis. If my son was older I might be more interested but as of now, still a hard pass.
Also I might be way off base but isn’t this similar to thanos rising. Deck shuffle vs dice roll aside. I have not played either.. but I could have sworn spin master did that too, but I looked it up and realized they didn’t.
what you get is a bonkers game quick to learn replay value fun for all and solo mode as a bonus...Easy to homebrew cards and with a 3d printer more heroes and vilains!
Not sure why it’s being considered a $30 game in this review, when the base pledge was $60 on Kickstarter. The extras are supposed to be extras for helping fund this game as stretch goals. They weren’t guaranteed or even daily unlocks. So what would the review be if it’s a $60 game.
The Base Pledge on KS was 60, but Spin Master has confirmed that the MSRP of the Retail Box is 30 USD.
Chris Peach so the kickstarter was above MSRP but they decided not to tell anyone? Makes it even worse especially when they keep talking about $60 value in the Kickstarter (before any of the stretch goals had been hit)
Kamran Zaffar, yep. While the game looks fun, it’s extremelyyyyy shady business practice.
NOTH ING I agree. I thought them not mentioning having to pay extra for split shipping to get it at the same time as retail was already pretty shady. The game looks fine. I’m just unhappy at the duplicitous behaviour. What’s to stop them doing this again on their next Kickstarter
@@KamranZaffar I cannot nor would I speak to the ethics or intentions of CMON. It's possible that Spin Master did not communicate the Base MSRP before the game was produced, it's possible CMON knew the whole time and the 60 pledge was with the idea of building in all the "stretch goals". CMON has never been fully transparent, and consumers may make different buying choices based on that (see retail expansions that never made it to retail), but yes, confirmed that the 30 MSRP is indeed what Spin Master decided on and is official. So anyone positing 60 is the MSRP is being disingenuous and trying to mislead normal consumers who would pick this up at Walmart and have never heard of Kickstarter.
Venom for the win!
This game looks sooo boring and overtly simple to me, different strokes for different folks!
But the price for the game is $60, not les than $30. Walmart just set it on $30 on this release. I'm a backer and that price difference and hearing you Mike saying "at $60 I'll be disappointed"... Well... Guess what...
The box we reviewed was the base retail game. The $60 box backers will get will have significantly more content.
Spin Master has verified the retail edition is 30 Dollars so no, Walmart did not set that price. I would pay 60 for what's in this box even without KS Exclusives. Inevitably this will be a preference, not a binary "if you paid 60 you will be disappointed".
If this game didn't include the miniatures, which are completely unnecessary (more unnecessary than usual), it would retail for $15. There's no real value here for me (for me, being the operative phrase). I just feel it's a lazy design hiding behind the Marvel brand and some nifty, but ultimately unnecessary, miniatures, which is a shame.
@@thedicetower Extra content is for most people totally meaningless. Like you said, the base box has quite a lot of content, and people in general don't play one game too many times, and you can probably play this base box quite a few times already. Do you think that some extra character options is going to justify game being 150% to 200% more expensive than this retail option (remember backers also had to pay shipping)?
@@thedicetower Yeah I got that point but based on that then all the Stretch Goals in that KS are not Stretch Goals then it is a Deluxe Version then.
My point is that the base game would be the base game, as in Arcadia Quest and like Blood Rage, as backers we paid the cost of the base game and have the extras as extras. So now the game is $30 but we pay $60 for the game and the "extras".
Looks like a good game for the mass market that doesn’t play a ton of games. Looks like a disappointing game for hobbyists. I felt like Zee wasn’t aloud to have an opinion.
I am a hobbyist and i freaking adore this game. Played it almost 10 times now and can't get enough. He did only play the solo game which looks very boring to me...
Hobbiest come in different varieties. I don't think Zee was bullied into an opinion or score. There's no reason a light game can't get a 7-8 score (or even a 10 score).
As a hobbies with heavy games, I have played this over 20 times and cannot get enough. Zee's favorite game series is Pandemic. The base game here offers far more than base Pandemic for a similar price with a much better theme IMO.
I thought Zee was allowed his opinion. Tom's was just louder.
@@cjpeach11 so you like it? ;)
My version came with wasp instead of venom. What gives? Haha
Venom was a Walmart exclusive for the retail version.
I also like simple coops like Tom, however, Marvel has been overplayed and I can't get into another Marvel game. I'd prefer generic fantasy, lol.
$15 on Amazon right now 😁
This looks like a card version of The Reckoners aimed more at kids.
I just bought the ultimate edition on ebay, I cannot WAIT to get that sh#t when it ships. The hype is real 😆
Zee da man 👍
Folk (me too) are dirty in the KS shipping issues I feel. Which is fair enough, I'm not thrilled about having to wait until March for my copies when it's out now to play in some capacity. If I put that aside, from what I've seen and read so far, the game is simple and leans into the theme heavily. That's great if you enjoy Marvel and want to have that story telling, imaginative component to the game, building a team, working through scenarios and watching things unfold. The strength will be in the extra content, I believe.
If at its heart, it is a simple, fun co-op that you can put a few games into and still have time on games night for something else, I'll be pleased. Fingers crossed the expansions really crank it up a notch and add to the experience.
This is amazing! I'm so hyped!
As much as I like the Marvel Franchise, I don't see this getting to the table that much. I'm 'older' gamer and my son is out doing other things. (Well not these days but you know..) I was intrigued by the KS campaign but I really hated the exclusives. If you don't back it, you don't get that extra content. Never like that policy and never will. Typical of CMON and it irks me. It's kind of ridiculous when you're dealing with the way life is right now financially. I digress I'm sure there are ways to get it second had if I choose to get the base game but I'm not going to waste my energy doing so.
Yeah honestly, the only reason I backed it was for the exclusives and I'm disappointed I gave into to CMON's tactics. I won't let that happen again. This game looks completely vapid. I may end up being completely wrong and I may enjoy the hell out of it when it actually shows up to my door, but for now, this just looks paper thin and have no excitement for it anymore.
Tom. Jeezuz. Could you be any more serious? Everyone else was quite relaxed but Tom looked like something bit him. Relax man. You are reviewing a Marvel Board Game and not an ebola outbreak
He telegraphs what he wants them to say and if they don't pick up on it or change their mind and start agreeing with him he behaves like that.
I actually had to stop watching. Tom was overreacting to Zee's points and it was hard to watch. Zee had some valid points of what people should expect.
Honestly, most people who watch this review are hobby gamers, already. I think that Tom is worried a newcomer will look up this review and be offended by Zee's criticism. That he wasn't as tactful as he could have been in describing mass-market games / gamers.
@@jonl4883 Disagree. It was clear Tom just didn't want the review to get hung up on aspects of the game a 'mainstream/family' gamer would not give a thought about... like card quality.
Tom wanted to focus on the gameplay itself and how it will be perceived by their assessment of the target market. I think Zee made some fair points too, for us hobbyists, but he was sticking to the point of card quality a little too much.
BTW, I'm no Tom apologist. Zee is, without a doubt, my favourite reviewer out there. I just agreed with Tom wanting the review to focus on what is truly important for the average person who would play this game.
@@Manny-M
The issue I have with Tom's reaction is that they are not here to review "family games" or what could be considered a mass market game. If a game comes off that way, then it is absolutely a negative in the eyes of hobbyist board gamers because it eludes to an over all "cheapness" value of the game. This channel is for hobbyists and that is the background people watching this channel are going to have. Hobbyists expect more out of our games. So if the game is mechanically light or the components are cheap, that is a huge negative in our eyes and it should weight heavily in the final score. It was weird to see him get all hot and bothered over Zee making those comments about it when he emphasizes those critiques in other games.
@@SeanUCF That's some world class gatekeeping there. I don't think you're in any position to dictate what The Dice Tower are here to do. As evidenced by Tom's myriad of top 10 lists that cover every facet of gamer, it's clear to me that they are marketing to ALL gamers, and not just hobby gamers. You're not in a position to speak on behalf of us either.
And Tom wasn't getting 'hot and bothered' over him making those assessments, it's that Zee came back to it a couple of times as his main point.
This might be the first game I regret backing. After watching the review, this game seems paper thin. Doesn't seem like there is any difference b/w the heroes and very little difference b/w the villains. The theme seems completely pasted on and these light mechanics could be used on anything.
Yeah, the only difference in the game is in what the villains offer (which isn't much), and the new rules/twists the various expansions add. Each hero is basically the same as the next. I was really looking forward to the game, but it looks pretty meh. If I had kids, I'd probably pick it up
@@egyptfreaka even with kids, it seems there is a lot of text on the cards for a simple game. Would rather have less text or more complex game with that text.
@@egyptfreaka
So after talking with some people who own and have played the game, it seems there is a bit more difference b/w heroes than originally thought. It just seems the Dice Tower did a piss poor job of showcasing that. However, the game is still definitely on the lighter side. I always hold final judgement until I've experienced it for myself, but the wind has definitely been taken out of the sails on this one.
I'll wait until it inevitably ends up in the bargain bin at $20 or less. There is no excitement in this review or the KS or the game play videos.
Agreed, glad I ended up not backing it
I just wish that funkopop toys weren't so UGLY. Their entire catalog is nothing but a handful of bad shapes that don't map well onto any characters of any kind, from ANY IP. Funkopop doesn't even make chibi characters look good, and you'd think that would be their one strength. I'd much rather have lego characters, even just minifigs. Proper toys should start at G.I. Joe action figures, and improve from there, not get worse. Micromen were even better, they had articulated wrist joints! ( And spring-loaded missile launchers! )
There's a funkopop of Laura Palmer's corpse. Talk about just sticking any character from any IP without quality control.
I'm sure glad I didn't back this. :)
Might I inquire as to why?? they are doing the Marvel United: X-men kickstarter at the moment(which I'm contemplating) so I'm curious as to what factors dissuaded you from backing the game?
I love the theme and all the character... it does look a little on the light side tho.
@@gregwilkinson8127 Hmmm, I changed my mind a bit and I'm most probably backing X-Men... my first impression was that the game was on the light and easy side and also I wasn't crazy about the minis. But I like X-Men much more over other Marvel stuff and also they made the game a bit more complex so....
@@1AngelAlita cool beans, thanks for the prompt reply :D I'm just doing some information gathering as well but I agree, I like the additional mechanics they are adding(the nice thing is if you back the X-men one you can get the marvel stuff too :D haha) The X-men are really cool, a little saddened that I don't see Colossus, Deadpool, Rogue and Gambit in the lineup but maybe they are coming in one of those campaign style addons🤷♂
Still not sure if I'll back it yet, I'd like too though so it probably will happen.
@@gregwilkinson8127 I'm quite sure those you named will appear during the campaign, they're all important characters.. ;)
OH no, another cmon game with a potential longer setup than the play.
Literally my only complaint about Starcadia Quest.
This has never happened in my 8 plays so far. It takes about 5 min setup and about 20 min max to complete.
this might be the most CMON game ever with 10 minis for a big box price of $30 (aka $15). Worst game I've ever seen in the big box category in the past 10 years, funko/prospero hall et all are making absolute banging games, but the best value ever if you're comparing 4 mini pops @ $40 ($10-$20) to 10 minis @ $30 ($15).
Very much wish I wasn't geeting poor cheap cards for $165 + shipping pledge. I think that'll end my streak of Cmon backing, I'm fine with getting their core sets at $45 a year later.
I've found that for most CMON games I've backed that the Kickstarter contents aren't worth the extra costs. It's more expensive content. It's more expensive shipping. And, it's often pretty lackluster extras.
However, every once in awhile CMON offer garbage retail components. Like the plastic forts in Rising Sun vs the cardboard prototype quality ones at retail.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
They do a great job and making it so that neither customer base feels valued.
Phew. Totally dodged the bullet here on KS. Even then the game looked weak, and I was more interested in the minis, but this is even weaker than I thought. Maybe entertaining for a game or two, but almost $100 with shipping? Not anywhere near worth it, at least for me.
Edit. Also funny how they are all saying that hey it's an ok $30 dollar game. Well, the KS backers must be really thrilled about this. The base pledge was $60 plus shipping, which for started at $15, and $30 for europe. Sure, you get more miniatures, but I doubt the game play is any better, and those extra miniatures and characters probably don't make the game significantly better.
I literally came to the same conclusion as you. Get it much cheaper later on for sure
The $60 Kickstarter base game has 43 heroes and 14 villains compared to the 7 heroes and 3 villains you see here. I am thrilled by this, more than twice the content for less than twice the price.
@@BryceChristiansen With that logic if this game would come with 500 heroes, and 100 villains it would be worth $1000? Sadly the amount of contents stops to matter at some point. And I would wholeheartedly argue that the point is reached far before you have played even fifth of the KS content. Honestly, the game play doesn't look long lasting. If you like the game, or have kids to play it with, awesome! But I doubt that is the case for most of the backers.
Yeah, it seems like a $30 light, co-op game. I can't imagine finding enough gameplay there (even with all the Kickstarter content) to justify $190+ shipping (and even more if you added the game mat). I just don't think most gamers (whether hobbiests or not) would go that deep into a game this simple.
Retail also has the issue of expansions offering very few villains which means very little variability. It's also expensive variability at $25 per villain. So, for $100 MSRP retail owners can get a little more than double the current content. I get that the core game is priced low to bring in more profit from expansions, but the expansions look very overpriced.
The other issue is that Kickstarter exclusive nonsense walled off some of the more interesting content.
Want to play out Avengers? Too bad, there's no Infinity Gauntlet.
How about re-enacting Guardians of the Galaxy? Well, you'll have to do that without Drax, Gamora, Mantis, Nebula, and even Yondu.
How about Spider-Man? Wait? You expected to fight some of his most popular foes? Nope.
Oh, you just want to do some Defenders street level justice? We'll only make Daredevil available. You wanted to fight Kingpin? That's a no too.
Who is going to buy a $25-$35 expansion at retail with 4 mini when the base game is $30 for 10. Really weird pricing structure and I expect these to be 66% off like funkoverse was.
Gameplay wise- it looks like it was almost entirely stolen from reckoners... Like a really simple version of the reckoners...
This looks exceedingly dull.