Show me something with the Marvel branding on it and you have my attention. I’m sure I am not the only person to have this sentiment. Top Trumps is also a classic card game that is iconic across the decades. So blending Marvel and Top Trumps should be an instant hit. Should…!
The Rules
For anyone who has played Top Trumps before, you will know the drill. It is another classic set of Top Trump Rules here. The deck consists of 30 cards and each card has 6 categories printed on it for players to choose from. It is a great inclusion that there are 6 categories, other Top Trumps sets have less and that is less interesting.
Whoever starts will take the top card from their deck and pick a category and call out the value attached. If they beat “Trump” the value then they win the card from their opponent and place both cards to the bottom of their deck They take the next top card and repeat the process.
Should they lose, then they hand their card to the winner (their opponent) as they trumped and they place the cards to the bottom of their deck. The winner always picks the category on the new card.
In the event of a tie, cards are placed in the middle, new cards drawn and the current caller calls again.
The game is classically for 2 players but you can play with more, just deal the cards out equally. The winner is the player who wins all the cards.
The MCU
I love this game in being able to see so many of the most popular characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is awesome for this. The artwork is photos of the character from the movie and you just get a buzz from seeing these iconic characters. Fans of the films will love this.
Sadly, this feels where the excitement takes a bit of a dive, for me. Top Trumps, and particularly in a deck with such iconic and powerful characters, I feel, should have a category on each character that has a decent chance of beating the majority. But there are, oddly, too many weaker characters that struggle against the majority and in particular Groot. Groot isn’t alone but unbelievably is horrendously weak and this is so disappointing and makes no sense to me. But there are a lot of other characters that also struggle, then some characters that rarely lose with Captain Marvel sitting top of the pile and so strong. You need the right character at the right moment to have a chance there.
Game balance
I don’t know if it is the imbalance above or something more. It is great to have some back and forth in a game so that all players feel involved. I’ve played other sets of Top Trumps where someone can win and the other player does not fire a shot. In this set, it drags on and it is a slog to get a win out right. It gets to the point that we have to put a timer on (say 5 more mins) and the winner is determined by whoever has the most cards. The count then shows a 17-13 or 18-12 result which is close meaning the game still has some mileage.
The imbalance in the characters just means players struggle to put these runs together in getting a foot hold and dominate. For me, there needs to be that end. I own other Marvel Top Trumps sets that I have had for over 20 years and they still play out a lot better than this set here.
These are my own issues with the game. Ultimately it is still Top Trumps and you get what is shown on the tin, which my children happen to love and they are more than content to puzzle through and keep on playing. When they beat powerful opposition like Thor or Thanos the fizzing excitement they are feeling shows they are loving the game and enjoying it, which is fundamentally awesome and the reason I picked up the set, for the fun.
Final Thoughts
For me, Top Trumps MCU is far from the best set of Top Trumps on the market. However the children love it and the game does exactly what you expect from Top Trumps. I can guarantee it will be played again in our home.
