Why Marvel Snap Included Ego, A Bizarre Location That Plays For Both Sides

"Marvel Snap" is a card game that lets players take control of some of the most powerful Marvel characters. But one unique Location in the game takes away that control. This Location is none other than Ego, the powerful living planet fans may recognize as Peter Quill's father in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2."

Because of its incredibly low spawn rate, Ego's appearance is ultra rare, with many players never even coming across it. But it changes the game in a major when it does happen to show up. This Location, when revealed, plays cards for players. This essentially turns the game into a spectating affair for both players. Because of its crazy mechanic, some gamers may wonder why the card was even added in the first place. Recently, gamers finally found out why.

One of the founders of "Marvel Snap," Second Dinner developer Ben Brode, recently broke his silence about why this crazy card was included in the game. And the reason for its inclusion may surprise many players, in addition to his statement that despite the Location taking away a player's ability to play cards, some skill is still involved in winning a match where it's activated.

When talking to IGN, Second Dinner founder Ben Brode stated that when thinking about implementing the Ego character, the team thought, "what would a location that's sentient do? Well, maybe it would play your cards for you. I don't know." Brode further explained that "it was very what we call top-down design, where we start with the flavor and art, and then design what the heck it would do." And that the team couldn't figure out what else the Location could do other than play cards for the player. Brode's statements sure make sense when thinking about what an all-knowing, ultra-powerful being would do in this situation.

Brode also argued that winning a game with Ego activated takes skill "because of the Snap mechanic, your ability to say, 'Okay, I have secret information. I know where Ego has played my card. It's either good or bad." And he explained that this Location puts a unique heavy emphasis on the game's signature Snap mechanic, forcing players to think carefully about when or not to Snap.

Fans of the game will note that Ego isn't the only character playing cards for the player. But although the Agatha card does something similar, Ego is unique in the way that it isn't chosen by the players, and thus it is up to pure chance if it is spotted. This undoubtedly makes it a controversial card among competitive players, but at least gamers finally know why it was added.