Marvel United

To set up, place the villain board in the center of the playing area. Choose a villain (Red Skull is recommended for first-time players) and place their character card on the villain board, setting their health tokens according to the number of players (4 for two players, 8 for three, 11 for four). Place the blue cube on space 0 of the villain's threat track. Arrange six location cards around the villain board, placing civilian (blue) and thug (red) tokens on the shaded spots indicated on each location card. Shuffle the villain's deck and the threat deck, placing one threat card face down under each location card. Each hero then draws three cards to form their starting hand.

The primary objective of Marvel United is for all heroes to cooperate and defeat the chosen villain. This is achieved by reducing the villain's health to zero. However, the villain is initially invulnerable to direct attacks. Heroes must first complete specific objectives (rescuing civilians, eliminating threats, or defeating thugs) to unlock the villain's vulnerability, allowing them to take damage. All heroes win or lose as a team.

Each round consists of a villain turn followed by three consecutive hero turns. During the villain's turn, draw a card from the villain deck and resolve its effects, which may include moving the villain, activating 'BAM!' effects (causing damage or advancing the threat track), or spawning new civilians/thugs. After the villain's turn, each hero takes a turn in sequence. On a hero's turn, they first draw a card, then play one card from their hand. The played card grants action points (move, attack, heroic action, or wild) which can be used to move around locations, attack enemies, rescue civilians, or complete objectives. Heroes can also chain actions by playing cards with matching symbols to previous hero cards.

Marvel United is a fully cooperative game, meaning there is no individual scoring. All players work together towards a common goal. If the heroes successfully defeat the villain, all players win. If any of the loss conditions are met, all players lose together.

The game can end in several ways. Heroes win if they successfully reduce the villain's health to zero after the villain has become vulnerable. Heroes lose if the villain's threat track reaches 20, indicating that the villain's malicious plot has succeeded. Additionally, heroes lose if any hero needs to draw a card at the start of their turn but their personal deck is empty, signifying that they are exhausted and cannot continue the fight.