Marvel Champions is a Living Card Game, which means new (non-randomized) expansions will be released on a regular schedule. The heroes in the core set are Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, She-Hulk, and Captain Marvel the villains are Rhino, Claw, and Ultron. Victory requires spending time in both your hero and alter-ego forms, thwarting the villains’ nefarious schemes (“thwart” is an actual hero stat) and just beating the living snot out of the villain himself. Choose a scenario, choose a hero deck, and you’re off. You play the game cooperatively with up to three friends-we recommend solo or 2-player games to keep things moving-and fight against the game itself.

Marvel Champions is essentially a streamlined (and somewhat pared-down) version of Fantasy Flight’s very popular Lord of the Rings Card Game system, with some fun superhero-specific mechanics thrown in to keep things optimally thematic.

If you need some more convincing, read on. If you or your kids are fans of both Marvel and Magic-like card games, you can safely stop reading now and just pick up this game. 1-4 players, 45-90 minutes, age 14+ / $60 at Barnes & Noble, Miniature Market

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