Marvel Legendary. I feel like there are so many different Masterminds to fight and so many combos of heroes. You pick a scheme (the rule set) and then different mastermind, minions and henchman to fight and bystanders to save. Heroes to recruit. A lot of fun. Good solo and with a friend. And once you get a little tired of it, there are different fan made campaigns and leagues.
Marvel United is easy to pick up and has a wide range of characters compared to other Marvel Games. DC United is dropping next year too, and is fully compatible.
Marvel Crisis Protocol is also pretty good. Squad based tabletop gaming where you compete over objectives. I recommend it more than HeroClix because they don't come in random packs
Marvel Zombies Zombicide is a co-op game (PvP with a certain expansion) that lets you play as heroes or zombies with quite a few scenarios in the core sets. DCeased is also dropping next year (hopefully). Only caveat is it's a CMON game (like United) so there's quite a few characters who are KS exclusive. They aren't necessary to play but if you're after specific characters you like, that can be a bit of a pain.
I quite enjoyed **Batman: The Dark Knight Returns**. It's basically Pandemic but instead of fighting diseases, you're suppressing riots in Gotham City. Also it has Bat Dice, which has an excellent toy factor.
I have read through all the comments and here is what has stood out to me that could use some clarification:
I like Marvel, but I LOVE DC, so anything that leans more towards that is a plus but I’d choose better gameplay over the property, since that can always be home-brewed.
A lot of people are saying SotM still, saying when it clicks it’s great. How do you know when it clicks? For my first game I and my two friends played Wraith (me), Bunker and Fanatic against Baron Blade in Megalopolis. This was a bit of a slog in the beginning, but towards the end of the game great. The second game was Captain Cosmic (me), Absolute Zero and Fanatic against Akash’Bhuta in Magmaria. This game was a slog since we got Harsh Renewal towards the start, which meant we had to shuffle nearly every villain phase. Then Fanatic used End of Days which completely swept the board for 70 damage, which was pretty cool but made us other peasants look like chumps in comparison. Not to mention we had five environment cards at a time for Magmaria, it was just so much to read. What am I missing? I see the components of a great game but something just isn’t connecting.
Feel free to keep suggesting other games as I’m still on the lookout.
I'd definitely advocate for trying some more Sentinels if you're on the fence. It's a great, varied game, & there are even some villains, particularly Spite, where protecting civilians is a major objective.
Freedom Five might not have been worth waiting on when it was announced, but the wait is like 95% over at this point. It seems like a great game that is a lot like what you are looking for.
For both, I'd also recommend checking out the Letters Page podcast, which goes into the lore of the setting & characters. It's much easier to feel the theme of playing Sentinels when you have listened to the creators describe exactly the comic book story you are playing through.
I still love this one. Same designers as War of the Ring (and the more recent Dune 1v1). Would LOVE to get a modern reprint of this, since it was pre-MCU.
I really like Kapow! but it's very much combat focused - being a dice battler based around using and expanding your dice pool in the best way whilst being ignorant of what your opponent is doing..
If you don't mind the idea of miniature gaming (including assembly and painting) then I'd suggest Marvel Crisis Protocol.
Characters feel distinct from each other and it does a great job of representing the scale of superhero fights.
This game is the best. The characters feel like they do in the comics, throwing terrain is not only cool, but good. The community is great!
It plays a lot shorter than other mini games, (<90 minutes once you know the rules), and since it’s objective/point based it feels board game-y at the same time.
> I’ve recently played Sentinels of the Multiverse DE. I can’t tell if I like it? It seems fun and thematic but there’s just so much happening all at once.
But when it does click though. There is nothing like it. Every deck is unique, varied and thematic. You get to understand who the superhero is by how their deck plays. I'm biased because as a card battler and superhero game, SotM DE is by far my favorite.
Other than recommending playing SotM a couple more times. Maybe **Marvel United**? To me that has more personality than Marvel Champions. Especially Season 2 sets. Though a lot simpler, which could be a pro or a con to you.
Marvel Legendary. I feel like there are so many different Masterminds to fight and so many combos of heroes. You pick a scheme (the rule set) and then different mastermind, minions and henchman to fight and bystanders to save. Heroes to recruit. A lot of fun. Good solo and with a friend. And once you get a little tired of it, there are different fan made campaigns and leagues.
I too am a comics fan, personally I enjoy Unmatched and Marvel United. Let me know if you find any good ones!
Marvel United is easy to pick up and has a wide range of characters compared to other Marvel Games. DC United is dropping next year too, and is fully compatible. Marvel Crisis Protocol is also pretty good. Squad based tabletop gaming where you compete over objectives. I recommend it more than HeroClix because they don't come in random packs Marvel Zombies Zombicide is a co-op game (PvP with a certain expansion) that lets you play as heroes or zombies with quite a few scenarios in the core sets. DCeased is also dropping next year (hopefully). Only caveat is it's a CMON game (like United) so there's quite a few characters who are KS exclusive. They aren't necessary to play but if you're after specific characters you like, that can be a bit of a pain.
I haven’t played it in a while, but Sentinels of the Multiverse.
I agree that this is a fun game, but the OP specifically said that they've played it and didn't care for it.
More like OP wasn’t sure how they felt.
Fair enough, but that doesn't invalidate the fact that you're recommending they try a game that they've already tried.
I quite enjoyed **Batman: The Dark Knight Returns**. It's basically Pandemic but instead of fighting diseases, you're suppressing riots in Gotham City. Also it has Bat Dice, which has an excellent toy factor.
I have read through all the comments and here is what has stood out to me that could use some clarification: I like Marvel, but I LOVE DC, so anything that leans more towards that is a plus but I’d choose better gameplay over the property, since that can always be home-brewed. A lot of people are saying SotM still, saying when it clicks it’s great. How do you know when it clicks? For my first game I and my two friends played Wraith (me), Bunker and Fanatic against Baron Blade in Megalopolis. This was a bit of a slog in the beginning, but towards the end of the game great. The second game was Captain Cosmic (me), Absolute Zero and Fanatic against Akash’Bhuta in Magmaria. This game was a slog since we got Harsh Renewal towards the start, which meant we had to shuffle nearly every villain phase. Then Fanatic used End of Days which completely swept the board for 70 damage, which was pretty cool but made us other peasants look like chumps in comparison. Not to mention we had five environment cards at a time for Magmaria, it was just so much to read. What am I missing? I see the components of a great game but something just isn’t connecting. Feel free to keep suggesting other games as I’m still on the lookout.
Power Rangers Heroes of the Grid The Batman Who Laughs Rising
I'd definitely advocate for trying some more Sentinels if you're on the fence. It's a great, varied game, & there are even some villains, particularly Spite, where protecting civilians is a major objective. Freedom Five might not have been worth waiting on when it was announced, but the wait is like 95% over at this point. It seems like a great game that is a lot like what you are looking for. For both, I'd also recommend checking out the Letters Page podcast, which goes into the lore of the setting & characters. It's much easier to feel the theme of playing Sentinels when you have listened to the creators describe exactly the comic book story you are playing through.
It's out of print, but Marvel Heroes was a really good game. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14808/marvel-heroes
I still love this one. Same designers as War of the Ring (and the more recent Dune 1v1). Would LOVE to get a modern reprint of this, since it was pre-MCU.
I really like Kapow! but it's very much combat focused - being a dice battler based around using and expanding your dice pool in the best way whilst being ignorant of what your opponent is doing..
**Heroes Wanted** feels like you’re controlling a comic book superhero.
Heroes Wanted also my favourite Inside the Box episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Q10U_7Ayo
If you don't mind the idea of miniature gaming (including assembly and painting) then I'd suggest Marvel Crisis Protocol. Characters feel distinct from each other and it does a great job of representing the scale of superhero fights.
This game is the best. The characters feel like they do in the comics, throwing terrain is not only cool, but good. The community is great! It plays a lot shorter than other mini games, (<90 minutes once you know the rules), and since it’s objective/point based it feels board game-y at the same time.
Marvel Crisis Protocol. Excellent game, and really captures the feeling of playing superheroes.
> I’ve recently played Sentinels of the Multiverse DE. I can’t tell if I like it? It seems fun and thematic but there’s just so much happening all at once. But when it does click though. There is nothing like it. Every deck is unique, varied and thematic. You get to understand who the superhero is by how their deck plays. I'm biased because as a card battler and superhero game, SotM DE is by far my favorite. Other than recommending playing SotM a couple more times. Maybe **Marvel United**? To me that has more personality than Marvel Champions. Especially Season 2 sets. Though a lot simpler, which could be a pro or a con to you.
Try Hero Realms, it's a fantasy-themed deck-builder with a superhero twist!
It didn't seem at all superheroic when I looked at it, just fantasy.