Modojo @ Shacknews Mobile Game of the Year 2022 - Marvel Snap

Second Dinner finally shared its debut title with the world with the release of Marvel Snap earlier this year. With former Hearthstone developer Ben Brode serving as the Chief Development Officer, there’s a lot of experience behind this Marvel card game, and it shows. Marvel Snap isn’t just the best mobile game of the year, it’s one of the best games of 2022 overall.

Marvel Snap does an excellent job at teaching players the core mechanics and rules of its game: there are three locations, and your goal is to win two of these three locations by playing cards with enough power to overcome your opponent. It’s incredibly simple to pick up, but nearly impossible to master. While we spent our early games dropping cards like Cyclops and The Hulk to get wins, the game became increasingly intense as our Collection Level grew.

As more cards are unlocked, new strategies become viable. With Marvel’s seemingly endless catalog of characters, Marvel Snap has a deep roster to pick from. The Shack Staff spent many hours discussing strategies such as how to counter The Infinaut, how to properly build a movement deck, and what lanes we should be prioritizing.

What makes Marvel Snap feel special is how balanced it is. In games like this, it’s easy for a few specific decks to dominate, with every player running some variation of the same thing. Marvel Snap encourages experimentation, and the extent of your power is only restrained by the limits of your own creativity.

Not only does Marvel Snap have a well of cards to build decks from, but its various locations also shake up every match. These locations can add boosts and hindrances to certain cards, forcing players to constantly adapt their strategy, and rewarding those that are always thinking two steps ahead.

Marvel Snap was a late arrival in the 2022 release calendar, but has already nuzzled its way deep into our hearts. As the game continues to grow and evolve, we’re excited to see how the best mobile game of the year gets even better.

Check out our Year of the Games: 2022 article to see all of the other Shacknews Awards that have been announced so far.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_