Introduction
Calling all Marvel Comics fans who have always wanted a chance to step in the shoes of some of the most iconic superheroes of all time, I think this might be the game for you.
Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R is a role-playing game for up to 5 players who will be put into a world-based scenario against 1 of 4 nefarious villains. Released in 2023, it features a lot of modern characters and villains. Your assembled team will have to juggle missions, build up bonus abilities to be used in game, conquer side quests, cope with various spawning enemies, monitor each individual hero’s health and of course aim to defeat the nemesis which will win you the game.
This game has clearly been made with the Marvel fanbase in mind. However, if you are a group of 3-5 players looking for a game that rewards teamwork, camaraderie and strong decision making, then there is plenty here for you too.
What is in the Box?
The internals of the box are well thought out with lots of purpose made spaces for the dice, cards and components so keeping it organised is not very difficult when it comes to packing it away. Lets begin with the board which is great quality, visually impressive and huge. The board illustrates a world map of sorts and players will be taking their hero’s all over it as part of the game, there are some notable locations such as Wakanda, Atlantis, Asgard, New York etc. There is also a threat tracker to help you keep track of current events and another tracker to help keep a track of your earnt bonuses. The dice are triangular faced and feature icons used in the game to represent attack for fighting, defiance for missions and tactic for health. There are also a few different tokens which are used as consumables in the game to track things like health and progress. The cards are used for objectives, missions, enemies and various gameplay effects but the most visually striking elements of the game are definitely the hero’s which slot into a coloured base, each nemesis also has this to.
How it plays
The game itself puts you and your team in a scenario against one of 4 nemesis villains, you take a set amount of turns each round to try and complete as many things as possible. This may include defeating enemies, completing missions or performing specific actions related to the nemesis themselves. After the heroes have spent all their turns, the nemesis then has a round where they will do a combination of things like increase the threat, spawn more enemies, attack hero’s, overrun bases and spawn more missions that must be dealt with. It is worth noting that each nemesis comes with their own unique sets of enemies, missions, objectives and gameplay rules making some harder than others. Once the team has completed all the missions, the game then enters the final showdown where you will be given the opportunity to take down the nemesis once and for all, but as with all comic book stories this will be more difficult than it may appear. Once the final showdown is initiated the rules and actions that the nemesis will take all change for the worse and it will be up to you to overcome this to ultimately defeat the nemesis and save the world for impending doom.
Each player can pick a hero from a roster of 20 which include Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Spiderman, Black Panther, Daredevil, Black Widow, Ms Marvel and many more. You then take the hero and combine it with a coloured aspect sheet, each one will benefit the hero in a different way, the red aspect sheet for example represents attack and makes your hero more efficient at taking down enemies, while the green aspect sheet which represents recovery will be good at helping the hero and team mates with health during the course of the game, there are 6 different ones to choose from. The selection of hero’s is impressive as well as the fact that every hero is completely different so no 2 games will be the same adding in the further variation of the aspect sheets. As you would expect The Hulk is great for attacking, tactically Iron Man is great, Captain America is great for completing missions with his elevated defiance and all the other heroes are of course stronger in some areas than others.
During the game hero’s will get the opportunity to battle with the nemesis enemy directly and stun them to reduce the effect they will have on their round once the heroes are done with their turn. The nemesis is never alone though, they are accompanied by different ranked enemies which will spawn in the game at random locations. Some of the mission cards will spawn well-known enemies such as Taskmaster, Huntress and Whiplash for example and of course they each have their own set of stats and effects which will impact the difficulty.
What It Does Well
The overall feel of the game is unmistakably Marvel and the game has done a very good job of making players feel the uniqueness of characters. Players will feel the effects of the choices they make when it comes to the hero they want to be, the nemesis they go up against and all the bits in between. Each nemesis’ scenario is very in keeping with some of the great story writing we have become accustomed to, each one more different than the last. The game has also very smartly incorporated some of the supporting characters in Marvel through mission cards, hero support cards and team bonus effects.
As mentioned earlier there are 20 different characters (Iron Man, War Machine, Hulk, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Shuri, Daredevil, Elektra, Black Widow, Yelena, Captain America, Falcon, Dr Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, Thor, Jane Foster, Spider-man, Miles Morales, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel) and each one has a unique set of abilities and functions in the game that are not remotely close to one another making a great variability within the game itself.
For me the biggest attraction was the co-operative nature of the game, it definitely feels like its your team against the world and against the odds.
The 4 nemesis villains which are Red Skull, Ultron, Loki and Thanos all have different impacts on the game and bring with them each a different set of problems to face.
Some of the points above really highlight how much variation and choice there is in the game before it starts so this makes for a very high replay ability.
Weaknesses
The setup time for this game is fairly lengthy and there is a lot of components to sort out before a dice is rolled. This then translates into the game itself, the more players involved the longer the game becomes with lots of analysis and critical thinking needed. Needless to say this one is a marathon and definitely not a sprint.
There is an element of luck involved with game with things like the dice rolls, the fortune of the some of the cards that come into play, the actions that a nemesis will take etc I have played this game a heap and I would say I win 6/10 times just to illustrate the potential difficulties that lie ahead if you choose to purchase the game.
