The Ultimate Guide: How to Play Marvel United

Hey everyone! Ready to save the world? In Marvel United, you'll team up with your favorite heroes to thwart the evil plans of an iconic villain. It's a cooperative game where strength in numbers is key, and every decision counts for the fate of humanity. Let's go!

Game Objective

In Marvel United, you, as **Heroes**, have a clear objective: **defeat the Villain**! But it's not as simple as it seems. To even scratch the big bad, you must first **complete at least 2 of the 3 available Missions**. Only then will the Villain be vulnerable to your direct attacks. The **Heroes lose** if the Villain manages to complete their master plan. This happens if: * The Villain meets the conditions of the **Villainous Plot** on their **Villain Dashboard**. * The Villain's **Master Plan deck** runs out and they need to draw a card. * Any Hero starts their turn with no cards in hand and no cards in their deck. So, work together, plan your moves, and stop the chaos before it's too late!

Setup

Let's set up the table and prepare the battlefield!

1. Place the **Mission Guide** in the center of the table and the 3 **Mission Cards** in the spaces at the bottom of it, in any order.
2. Choose a **Villain** to face (Red Skull is a good choice for beginners!) and place their **Villain Dashboard** in the top space of the Mission Guide.
3. On the **Villain Dashboard**, check the number of **Life tokens** the Villain has, according to the number of Heroes. Place that quantity of tokens on the Dashboard. If the Dashboard has a track, place the **Villain Tracker** on the "0" space.
4. Take 6 random **Locations** and position them around the Mission Guide. Fill the marked spaces in each Location with **Civilian** or **Thug tokens**, as indicated.
5. Shuffle the Villain's **Threat cards** and place 1 face-up in the spaces at the bottom of each Location (covering the 'End of Turn' effect), adding a **Threat token** in the spaces next to them. Some Threat cards contain **Bystanders**; place the indicated Life tokens on them.
6. Place all **remaining tokens**, separated into piles, within reach of all players.
7. Take the Villain's **Master Plan deck**, shuffle it, and place it face-down next to a random Location. Then, place the **Villain miniature** in that Location.
8. Each player chooses a **Hero** and places their miniature in the Location opposite the Villain. Then, each player shuffles their corresponding **Hero deck** and places it face-down next to them.
9. Each player draws 3 cards from the top of their deck into their hand.

Done! The battle is about to begin with the first **Villain Turn**!

The Game Turn

The game begins with the **Villain** acting, and then the **Heroes** respond.

Villain Turn

The game always starts with the Villain. 1. **Draw a Master Plan Card**: Draw the top card from the **Master Plan deck** and place it face-up on the table. This is the first card of the **Story** that will guide the game. 2. **Resolve Effects**: Each Master Plan card has elements that must be executed in order, from top to bottom. * **Move Villain**: Move the Villain clockwise (unless otherwise indicated) a number of Locations equal to the number shown on the card. If the Villain ends their movement in a Location with a Threat card that has the explosion symbol, immediately resolve that Threat's effect. * **Activate BAM!**: Activate the **BAM!** effect detailed on the **Villain Dashboard**, and also any **BAM!** effects shown on Threat cards. Prepare yourselves, Heroes, as this usually means trouble! * **Add Thugs/Civilians**: Add the indicated number of **Thug** and/or **Civilian tokens** to the Villain's Location and adjacent Locations. First place Thugs, then Civilians. If there are not enough empty spaces, the **Overflow** effect on the Villain Dashboard is triggered. * **Special Effect**: If the Master Plan card has a **Special Effect** described, resolve it last.

Hero Turn

After the Master Plan card is fully resolved, it's the Heroes' turn to act! Players collectively choose which Hero will start. Then, they will take turns clockwise. During their turn, a player follows these steps: 1. **Draw a Card**: The active player draws the top card from their **Hero deck** into their hand. If the Hero is **Knocked Out (KO)**, they draw up to 4 cards. There is no hand limit! 2. **Play a Card**: The active player chooses a **Hero card** from their hand and adds it to the end of the **Story**, to the right of the last card played. 3. **Resolve Actions**: Look at the symbols at the bottom of the **Hero card** you just played **AND** at the bottom of the previous Hero card in the Story (even if there is a Master Plan card between them). Each of these symbols corresponds to an action the Hero can perform this turn, in any order. Strength in numbers! * **Move**: Move the Hero to an adjacent Location, in any direction. * **Attack**: Deal 1 damage to an enemy of your choice in the active Hero's Location. * Against a **Thug**: It is eliminated upon taking 1 damage. Take the token and place it on the **"Defeat Thugs" Mission Card**. * Against a **Bystander** (on a Threat card): Remove 1 **Life token** from the card for each damage dealt. * Against the **Villain**: **ONLY AFTER COMPLETING 2 MISSIONS**, Heroes can attack the Villain directly. Remove 1 **Life token** from the **Villain Dashboard** for each damage dealt. * **Heroic Action**: Can be used for one of two things: * **Rescue 1 Civilian** in the active Hero's Location. Take the token and place it on the **"Rescue Civilians" Mission Card**. * Place a **Heroic Action token** in an empty space on the Threat card in the active Hero's Location to **Clear that Threat**. (3 Heroic Action tokens are usually needed to clear a Threat, unless the card indicates otherwise). * **Wildcard**: Can be used to perform a **Move**, **Attack**, or **Heroic Action**. * **Special Effect**: Some Hero cards have a **Special Effect** in a box above the action symbols. The active Hero can apply this effect before or after their other actions. Remember: other Heroes cannot use the Special Effects of your card! * **Action Tokens**: If the active Hero has **Action tokens** (Move, Attack, Heroic Action, or Wildcard), they can spend them at any time during this step to perform the corresponding action. 4. **Location Effect**: If the Location where the active Hero ends their turn does not have a Threat card covering the 'End of Turn' effect, the player can choose to apply that effect. A Hero can only use a single Location Effect per turn.

Turn Sequence

After the active player completes their turn, the next player clockwise becomes the active player. * **Every 3 Hero cards** added to the Story, a new **Master Plan card** is drawn from the deck, added to the end of the Story, and resolved. * **Under Pressure**: Once the **first Mission** is completed, the Villain becomes "Under Pressure" and starts adding a **Master Plan card** to the Story **every 2 Hero cards**, instead of every 3.

End of Game and Scoring

The game continues until the Heroes defeat the Villain or the Villain completes their master plan.

Completing Missions

Missions can be completed in any order. * When all spaces on a **Mission Card** are filled, the Mission is complete! Remove the card from the game. * **First Mission Complete**: The Villain becomes "Under Pressure" and plays Master Plan cards every 2 Hero cards. * **Second Mission Complete**: Heroes can now **deal direct damage to the Villain**! Remove all Life tokens from the **Villain Dashboard** to defeat them and **the Heroes win the game!** * **Third Mission Complete**: Not mandatory, but if completed, all players immediately draw 1 card from their decks into their hand.

Hero Damage and Knockout (KO)

* **Damage**: For each damage a Hero suffers (usually from **BAM!** effects), they must discard 1 card from their hand to the bottom of their deck. * **Knockout (KO)**: If a Hero discards the last card from their hand, they are immediately **Knocked Out (KO)**. Lay the Hero miniature down to indicate that they should be ignored by all game effects (positive and negative). Then, immediately resolve the **BAM!** effect on the **Villain Dashboard** (beware, this can cause a chain effect!). At the start of that Hero's next turn, their miniature is placed back upright and the player draws up to 4 cards from their deck.

Tips for Winning

1. **Communication is Key**: Marvel United is a cooperative game! Talk about your hands, what actions you can perform, and what the best strategy is for the current and upcoming turns. Planning together is essential to optimize actions and avoid waste. 2. **Focus on Missions**: Remember that you cannot attack the Villain directly until you complete 2 Missions. Prioritize **Rescuing Civilians**, **Defeating Thugs**, and **Clearing Threats** to achieve this goal as quickly as possible. Don't forget that clearing Threats also unlocks the 'End of Turn' effects of Locations, which can be very useful! 3. **Leverage the Story**: The "unite efforts" mechanic is powerful. When you play your card, you benefit from the actions of the previous Hero card in the **Story**. Plan your moves so that the next Hero can make the most of the symbols left by the previous Hero, creating devastating action combos!