Do you dream of wearing the suit of Iron Man? Raising the shield of Captain America to protect innocent civilians? Becoming as small as Ant-Man to then defeat Thanos? Unfortunately, those remain dreams, but at least with Marvel United, from Happy Meeple Games, you can follow in their footsteps trough gameplay!
Background
Ever since 2008, fans of superheroes have been able to admire their favorite heroes, previously known from comics, on the screen in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe. Okay, I admit it: even before, the multiple stories and comic books about various Marvel heroes were filmed, but these films were not nearly as persistent as they are today.
For a few years, it even seemed like the only kind of movies running in theaters were superhero movies. In the aftermath of Endgame, there were multiple films, series, video games and comics associated with the MCU. In recent years, Marvel mania seems to have calmed down somewhat again, and next, as far as I know, Deadpool 3 in particular is on the menu.
By now, have you also watched all 327 Marvel movies at least 3 times? Are you up to date with Disney+ series? Do you read a comic book daily? Have you spammed the Internet with fantasy theories about your favorite characters? Have you also read every possible obscure comic book from the silver age of Marvel? Do you feel like playing a cooperative board game with all your favorite heroes and villains?
If one of your answers to the above questions is an unequivocal “yes!”, then you probably still have a hole somewhere in your busy existence to step into the role of a superhero yourself. And not just any superheroes, but chibi (cute) versions of everyone’s favorite Avengers! Take on the role of Black Widow, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel or one of your other favorites and defeat Red Skull, Ultron, Taskmaster and possibly more in Marvel United!
Marvel United appeared a few years ago with an immense campaign on Kickstarter. Players could purchase multiple sets of heroes and villains for an almost infinitely varied cooperative adventure based on well-known and obscure Marvel comics. The first edition focused on popular heroes that you are particularly familiar with from the MCU as well. The second edition introduced everyone’s favorite mutants, the X-Men, and their relatives such as the popular Deadpool and the Fantastic Four. The third release covered a range of multiverse, interdimensional and cosmic heroes and their variants.
Although Marvel United has already received multiple releases, the Dutch-language release appeared this fall. This is perfect for younger and older players who are less fluent in English or simply prefer to play a board game in Dutch. Happy Meeple Games, who you probably know from wonderful releases for young and old such as Creature Comforts, Sock Monsters and Honey Buzz, among others. Marvel United fits perfectly into their range: a colorful cooperative adventure suitable for young and old with plenty of variety and gameplay.
Goal & setup
Marvel United is a simple but exciting cooperative game that you can also play on your own. United we stand, divided we fall, but there is room for so-called vigilantes who want to work independently.
At the beginning of the game, choose a supervillain with accompanying rules. Each villain must be fought in its own way, so each one delivers a different game experience. Prepare locations of the city (a city that will undoubtedly be fought completely to smithereens during the movies) and choose your favorite heroes to play with. The various tokens (such as civilians, bad guys’ sidekicks, bonuses, etc) are placed in the indicated locations and/or within easy reach.
Gameplay
Each turn you play a card from your hand. You place a played card on the “story line”. Then you may perform the actions corresponding to the symbols on the card you just played and also the previous hero card from the story line. Actions allow you to clap villains, henchmen and supervillains, save helpless civilians and, of course, move yourself around the city.
Before you can attack the supervillain, you must first complete two missions by saving civilians, punching villains or stopping threats. Beware because the supervillain is not sitting still and has nefarious plans. Depending on how the game progresses, a villain card is also played after x number of hero cards. This card indicates whether and how the villain moves to another location, which effects are activated and whether new citizens and/or villains and henchmen appear on the scene.
So once in a while, the supervillain attacks. Bam! By the way, this is also the name of the effect that some villains activate once in a while to achieve their nefarious plans. If you receive damage, you must draw cards from your hand, and if this fails you go K.O. until the next turn. If a player cannot draw any more cards or the villain has completed his or her nefarious plans, the game is lost. Have you left the villain completely furry and blue? Then you have won!
Conclusion
Marvel United is a funny and simple cooperative puzzle that you can also play well with younger players. The game is also entertaining for older players because of the different super villains (also from the many expansions) and challenge cards you can add to make the game more challenging. By the way, I personally am huge fan of the Chibi-art a especially the figures that you can paint brilliantly.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. The many heroes and villains also provide plenty of variety. Avengers, assemble!
