Marvel Dice Masters: The Coolest Super Hero Game You Can’t Actually Play

As Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog used to say, “I kid, I kid!” People can and do play Marvel Dice Masters. It’s just difficult to jump in and join them because the game has proven much more popular than expected, making the starter sets ridiculously hard to find and even boosters going for inflated prices online.

Produced by WizKids (known to comic fans already thanks to HeroClix), Marvel Dice Masters: Avengers vs. X-Men is a collectible dice building game that represents Marvel heroes and villains with special dice (obviously!) and cards. Players battle using the dice and the effects on the cards, which come in various rarity levels for all of the characters. It’s been getting a very good reception, currently holding an 8.27 average rating on BoardGameGeek.com.

The game released in April, but WizKids underestimated the appetite for it, and as a result, starter sets (which come with 44 dice, 38 cards and a rulebook, or everything two people need to start playing) are pretty much sold out everywhere. Starters are supposed to retail for $14.99, but as of the time I write this, you can’t get one on Amazon for any price, and they’re going for over $30 a pop on eBay.

Booster packs, which come with two dice and two cards and have a suggested retail price of $0.99, have also been subject to some serious sticker shock online, though I was able to snag one at my local Target last week for a buck — before I realized how scarce they were, or I probably would have bought a bunch more.

WizKids has ramped up production, but more boosters aren’t going to arrive until July and there’s no firm timetable on starters. A second, larger refresh for both could arrive at the end of August, so it’s possible we’ll all be able to play dice with each other by the end of the summer.

It’s cool to see a super hero game catch on like this even though it’s frustrating to know about it and not be able to play. The bottom line is that if you happen to stumble across some Marvel Dice Masters product out there at a normal price, you should snag it if you want to try the game out, because it could be a few months until you have another opportunity.