Marvel United board game spinoff tackles the DC Comics universe with Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman
Clown thugs to the left of me, Joker cards to the right.
Comic book punch-em-up board game DC Heroes United gives Superman and Friends the Marvel United treatment with an upcoming collaborative board game currently funding on Gamefound.
DC Heroes United uses its predecessor’s same basic assumption as the core of play - up to five players control the three biggest superheroes in DC’s roster, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, as they team up to dismantle the Joker’s master plan one henchman at a time. Lighter on rules than Gotham City Chronicles or Marvel Zombies, this board game’s 30-minute sessions are geared towards families and casual game nights.
Players will have to respond to the villain’s plan as cards from a specific deck hit the table, introducing new threats, imposing unique effects and otherwise making the heroes’ day very difficult. The three Justice League members will deploy cards from their own decks to neutralise foes and rescue imperilled citizens on their way to socking their villain square in the jawline. Bespoke equipment cards, such as batarangs or Diana’s lasso of truth, grant each hero deck some signature gas and a light tactical edge when used properly.
Mechanically, this looks like the heroes and villain alternating turns placing cards into the storyline, populating it with symbols and triggered events. The heroes can combo off each other for increased damage potential by playing cards in a sequence with matching symbols along the bottom. Joker and his nefarious scheme dominate the middle of the board, with multiple locations radiating out and into the centre circle. Ousting the Clown Prince of Crime from his throne means rescuing civilians and knocking a few henchmen unconscious until the path deeper into the circular board can be achieved.
DC Heroes United claims that the United engine powering its board game has been “refined, optimised and explored to its maximum” in creating this newest title from publisher CMON, a company best known for handling the massive Zombicide series and Cthulhu: Death May Die. Players can slap one player in the bag guy hot seat and team up to bring him down, while a single player can transform their teammates decks into resources to control in the Commander Solo Mode.
DC Heroes United seems far more family-oriented than the other big DC Comics board game scheduled to release in 2024 (and also handled by CMON). DCeased adapts its comic book source material’s most popular zombie infection timeline into a cooperative survival game in the Zombicide tradition. The Gamefound campaign for DC Heroes United will go live in July of this year, but we don’t have a clue when to expect boxes to ship out to backers.