Marvel Dice Masters: Avengers vs X-Men

Wizkids Games | Collectable card/dice | £12.99 | 2 players | 15 minutes | www.wizkidsgames.com

Marvel Dice Masters is a game that’s a combination between collectable card and dice building game for two-players, themed around famous superheroes such as Wolverine, Spider-Man and Captain America. Although there’s a starter set available for £12.99 that’s really only the start and, in a similar vein to collectable card games like Magic: The Gathering, you can then buy booster packs that contain new mystery cards and dice.

The game itself sees players draft their choice of eight superheroes, or villains for that matter, from their card pool and each card is represented by special dice. The dice themselves are a very cool component of the game as they’re meant to represent the heroes themselves, so Thor’s has a little winged helmet on whereas Deadpool’s has his iconic mask. Along with the hero dice there are also white support dice that act as the sidekicks to the more powerful superheroes.

Each turn you draw four sidekick dice from a bag and roll them to try and generate energy. The energy is split into fist, bolt, mask and shield and this energy is then used to potentially bring the superheroes or villains into play. Once you’ve finished generating energy and characters, you’ll be able to place dice into the attack zone – the active player will attack their opponent, while they have to defend against it. Then it’s time to consult the tiny numbers in the corner of the dice to see how much damage the attacking dice will cause. If the attack value matches or exceeds the defense value of the blocking dice then it’s knocked out.

Further complexity is added with the special abilities of the superheroes – listed on the cards - that can affect the action on the board, so it’s important to choose your heroes/villains wisely. The starter packs are a great intro to the game and come with 44 dice, 38 cards and dice bags. Boosters are then available for around £2 each.

Buy your copy here.

This article originally appeared in issue 1 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

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