Marvel Snap’s latest feature stopped me from quitting the game

I’ve played Marvel Snap almost every day since May 2022, essentially making it a daily hobby for myself. But the disastrous launch of Deadpool’s Diner almost made me quit the comics-based collectible card game (CCG) last month.

My hobby started to feel more like work. Excitement for the first new mode to hit the game in over a year transformed into dread when it asked me to spend real money or wait over an hour after losing my first game and all of my mode-specific currency along with it. While Second Dinner eventually fixed Deadpool’s Diner to make it more newcomer-friendly, playing this high-stakes mode to get Cassandra Nova burnt me out because it did something Marvel Snap never had before: it made losing not fun.

I considered quitting a game that had become a core part of my daily routine. Thankfully, before I could do that, a new feature arrived and saved Marvel Snap for me. That feature is Alliances, Marvel Snap‘s take on a clan system that finally added a stronger in-game social element to the CCG. Speaking to developers from Second Dinner about the creation of this mode, I came to understand that Alliances were tailor-made to appeal to players like me, who just needed the encouragement to break out of the grind and not feel burnt out.

Rebounding from Deadpool’s Diner

Marvel Snap design director Kent-Erik Hagman told Digital Trends in a roundtable Q&A that the overarching goal for Alliances was to “do something new that hasn’t been done in CCGs, and that is really bring a big, strong social system.” In practice, it does just that. Up to 30 players can join a clan and then work together to accrue points from earning cubes in Marvel Snap matches and completing Bounties. Those can range from moving or discarding a certain number of cards to winning matches with specific card combos. Along the way, Alliance members can chat with a new in-game function, see each other’s 8-cube wins, and enjoy a big payout of rewards every Tuesday if they earn enough points from