Unboxing Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R.S + Initial Thoughts

When Fantasy Flight Games announced that they would be releasing Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. this summer, I was pretty excited about it. As a huge Marvel fan, a cooperative hero focused game was something I knew I was going to enjoy. Plus, it’s Fantasy Flight Games! There might be great miniatures in the box as well. After my copy arrived in the mail, I was half right, but that isn’t too big of a deal. Let’s hop into the box and see what’s inside!

If you want a video overview of what is in the box, you can check out my unboxing above.

Right away, you will quickly realize from the box size that there are no famous Fantasy Flight Miniatures in the box. Retailing in Canada over $90, this isn’t actually all that surprising. Although I do feel the price is a bit high for what you get – more on that later – it’s not high enough to warrant miniatures in the box – for that, you would be expecting a price closer to $190, seeing as there are 20 heroes, 4 villains, and a handful of enemy units as well.

The quality of the cardboard, however, meets Fantasy Flight Games standards. If you’ve played other games like Descent: Legends of the Dark , Journey’s in Middle Earth , or Star Wars: Imperial Assault , you know that the cardboard quality is high. The same can be said here, with all the pieces – the standees, the cardboard markers, and more – are thick and of high quality. While overtime there could be some wear on the edges of the standees and tokens, I would think it would take a couple dozen hours before that became apparent.

Deeper into the box you’ll find a host of other pieces, including coloured bases for the standees, clear bases for enemy units, 5 gorgeous etched dice, and a ton of cards. Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. has a ton of cards, and not cards of hte same type either. There are 20 of these cards, 30 of those cards, 15 of another. Getting this sorted and out on the table did take a bit of time, and while the great insert will alleviate that struggle after our first time playing, it’s still something I don’t love. While the insert is amazing, it could be better to make this process just a tad easier.

Besides that, however, I think the insert is amazing. It’s a good, thick plastic insert with places for all your pieces. There are a few places for cards, bins for the standees, notched slots for the hero bases, and spots for each of the 5 dice. I’ve always argued that games should have a good insert, and that a good insert is worth pay an extra couple bucks. That is the case here, and unlike some of the other games I’ve played from Fantasy Flight Games where I have HATED the lack of an insert, it’s great to see it here.

I have issues with Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. but none of them are game play based. Our full review of how the game plays will be up next week – and spoilers, I really enjoy this one! – but I can’t help but point out two things.

I feel that there is a ton of content in the box, and if this is the only board game someone is going to purchase this year, then it can be justified. But for those who are playing and perhaps buying half a dozen games every few months, this one feels about $20 too expensive for what you get. There is a ton of gameplay for sure – 20 different heroes to try, 4 different villains, with room to expand in the future – but the $90 price tag is a bit higher than you might pay for something like this.

The other issue I have is the game’s length. It took my father-in-law and I over an hour to unbox the game and setup our first experience. If you add on the suggested time of 3-4 horus, and we are looking at 4-5 hours just to complete one game. If you don’t have a dedicated space to setup a game and leave it setup, you are looking at one long gaming session in order to complete one game experience. Again, it might not be an issue for you, but it might be for many.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. and the components included. I perhaps would have liked to see acrylic hero standees at the 90$ price tag, or perhaps a $10-20 discount on the MSRP, but the gameplay itself is really great. Long term, perhaps that higher price tag will mean a lot less to me.