Marvel Snap is the latest smartphone game to take the internet by storm - but what is it?

If you’ve spent enough time on the internet in the last few weeks, chances are that you’ve seen advertisements and screenshots for a new phone game titled Marvel Snap, so what is it exactly?

Marvel Snap is a digital collectible card game that sees Marvel’s roster of characters go head-to-head in an unconventional take on the tabletop formula, that emphasises quick rounds and different card combinations for a fast-moving game.

Characters can range from big blockbuster heroes such as Iron Man or the Incredible Hulk, or even featuring some of the comic’s lesser known characters outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As a collectible card game, different cards have varying rarities, depending on the power of the card, the popularity of the character and yes, even holographic prints can be unlocked, one of the key hallmarks of any good trading card game.

Rather than having characters face-off head-to-head like in the Pokemon Trading Card Game, each card can be assigned to one of three zones with up to four characters occupying a zone at once and those zones creating different effects that can alter the final score as each round progresses.

The player with the highest number of points in a zone at the end of the game wins the territory with a best two out of three declaring the overall winner of the game. The fact that each game is played over only six rounds means matches take place quickly, with a wide variety of different strategies being adoptable based on your current roster of familiar characters.

Marvel Snap is currently downloadable for iOS and Android devices for free but the game does include microtransactions to unlock season passes as well as booster packs and other extras.