Marvel’s Retro Board Game is Just Chess With Super Powers
While Marvel Comics Super Heroes Strategy Game is a mouthful, it’s got decent gameplay. Plus, the Knight is already basically Kitty Pryde.
Marvel Comics has been entertaining and delighting kids for decades now. They’ve also been secretly teaching lessons of moral relativism to kids. And figure if kids can get a handle on that, they can figure out the basics of a Chess-like game.
Released in 1980 by Milton Bradley, Marvel Comics Super Heroes Strategy Game pits 2 players against each other in a battle of wits, to the death! Only this game has less iocane powder and more following colored lines. One player is the Hero team, and the other player is the Villain team.
Marvel Super Heroes Strategy Game Overview
The objective in Marvel Comics Super Heroes Strategy Game is to destroy 5 of your opponent’s pieces by landing on them. Any piece can move 1 space along any line. However, the Hero pieces can move 2 spaces along any red path, and the Villain pieces can move 2 spaces along any black path.
Players move their pieces back and forth, one at a time. If a player ever gets one of their opponent’s pieces into a situation of being captured, they must shout “Ah-HA!”. You know… Like a villain does. This functions just like calling “check” in Chess.
Finally, any piece that reaches the opposite side from where they started makes that piece Super. A Super Hero or Super Villain can move any number of spaces along their color path.
The first player to capture 5 of their opponent’s pieces wins the game!
Final Thoughts
This game is meant for kids 7+ and has a fun theme. Actually, I think playing without the Ah-Ha! rule could make this a pretty fun game for all ages, kind of like a Tsuro-style game once both players start unlocking their Supers.
Overall, not a bad game to add to the collection and to break out as an intro to higher strategy games.
