rulebook MUN001

table of contents
overview
OVERVIEW...................................................................... 2
COMPONENTS................................................................. 3 In Marvel United, 2 to 4 players take the role of Heroes
SETUP............................................................................. 4 working together to thwart the master plan of a Villain.
WINNING & LOSING........................................................ 5
VILLAIN TURN................................................................ 5 You’ll build a Storyline by drawing the Villain’s cards
MOVE VILLAIN............................................................................ 5 and playing your own Hero cards to counter the Villain’s
ACTIVATE BAM!.......................................................................... 6 schemes. Your cards allow you to move your Hero around,
ADD THUGS/CIVILIANS............................................................ 6 rescue Civilians, defeat Thugs, clear Threats, and use
SPECIAL EFFECT....................................................................... 6
your Hero’s unique powers. Choose cards carefully, as
HERO TURN.................................................................... 7
Heroes can unite their abilities to act as the perfect team.
1. DRAW A CARD......................................................................... 7
Meanwhile, the Villain will roam the city, weaving their plan,
2. PLAY A CARD......................................................................... 7
spreading chaos, deploying Henchmen, and attacking the
3. RESOLVE ACTIONS............................................................... 7
Heroes. Only after accomplishing the necessary Missions
4. LOCATION EFFECTS..............................................................8
will the Heroes be ready to directly attack the Villain and
TURN SEQUENCE............................................................ 9
take them down for good!
UNDER PRESSURE.................................................................... 9
MISSIONS....................................................................... 9
RESCUE CIVILIANS................................................................... 9
DEFEAT THUGS.......................................................................... 9
CLEAR THREATS....................................................................... 9
COMPLETING MISSIONS..........................................................10
HERO DAMAGE..............................................................10
KO.................................................................................................10
CHALLENGES................................................................10
ADDITIONAL RULES.......................................................11
S.H.I.E.L.D. SOLO MODE.................................................11
CREDITS.........................................................................11
RULES SUMMARY..........................................................12

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components

captain Iron Black Captain Hulk

america Man Widow Marvel
8 Locations

Wasp ant-Man Red Skull Ultron Taskmaster

1 MISSION guide
3 Mission cards

18 Threat Cards 3 Challenge Cards

3 villain Dashboards (6 for each Villain)

84 Hero Cards 36 Master plan Cards

(12 for each Hero) (12 for each Villain)

1 rulebook

36 Thug/Civilian 6 Threat 4 Invulnerable 57 Action tokens 35 Health 18 Crisis 1 Villain

tokens tokens tokens (21 Heroic, 12 Attack, tokens tokens Tracker
12 Move, and 12 Wild)

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 SETUP

2
5 7

6 1 4
3

1 Place the Mission Guide at the center of the table and the 3 Mission Cards 3 Randomly pick 6 Locations and place them around the Mission Guide. Fill any
on the slots at its bottom (in any order). marked slots of each Location with either Civilian or Thug tokens, as indicated.

2 Choose a Villain to face and place its Villain Dashboard on the slot at the top
of the Mission Guide (we recommend new players start with Red Skull). The
Villain Dashboard indicates how much Health the Villain has, depending on the
number of Heroes. Place that number of Health tokens on the Dashboard. If
the Villain Dashboard has a track, place the Villain Tracker on its “0” space.

Villain
Tracker

Example: In a 4-player game, Red Skull starts with a pile of 11 Health tokens.

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4 Shuffle the Villain’s Threat cards and place 1 faceup on the slots at the bottom
of each Location (covering the ‘End of Turn’ effect), adding a Threat token to
Villain Turn
the slots next to them. Some Threat cards contain Henchmen, characters in
the service of the Villain. Each of their cards indicate the number of Health The game always starts with the Villain taking their turn. Draw the top card from
tokens that should be placed on them. the Master Plan deck and place it faceup on the table. This is the start of the Storyline
that will guide the entire game. Each Master Plan card played will have different
elements that must be executed in order, from top to bottom, one after the other.

Example: Crossbones always enters the game with 6 Health tokens.

5 Place all remaining tokens, separated into pools, within reach of all players.
MOVE VILLAIN
6 Take the Villain’s Master Plan deck, shuffle it, and place it facedown next
to a random Location. Then, place the Villain’s game piece in that Location.
2 Move the Villain clockwise (unless otherwise indicated) a number of
Locations equal to the number shown on the card.
7 Each player chooses a Hero and places their game piece on the Location
opposite of the Villain. Then, each player shuffles their corresponding Hero If there is a Threat card with the symbol in the Location where the Villain ends
deck and places it facedown next to them. their movement (even if the movement was zero), immediately resolve the effect
described on that Threat card.
8 Each player draws 3 cards from the top of their deck into their hand. You are
now ready to start with the first Villain turn!

IMPORTANT: All players should familiarize themselves with the text on the
Villain Dashboard and all 6 Threat cards, as they will inform the particulars of
the game being played.

WINNING & LOSING

HEROES WIN if they defeat the Villain. To be able to damage the Villain, Heroes
must first accomplish at least 2 of the 3 available Missions.

HEROES LOSE if the Villain completes their master plan. This happens if any of
these conditions are met:
• The Villain achieves the conditions of the Villainous Plot stated on their
Dashboard (if they have one). Example: Red Skull moves 2 Locations clockwise, triggering the
• The Villain must draw a Master Plan card, but their deck is empty. Threat effect at his destination.
• Any Hero starts their turn with no cards both in their deck and in their hand.

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 ACTIVATE BAM! ADD THUGS/CIVILIANS
BaM! Activate the BaM! effect detailed on the Villain Dashboard, Add the indicated number of Thug and/or
as well as any BaM! effects shown on Threat cards. These Civilian tokens on the Villain’s Location and
effects complicate the Heroes’ lives in all sorts of different ways, often dealing those around it. The central Location on the
damage to them (see Hero Damage on page 10). card represents where the Villain is, with
the two adjacent Locations to either side.
Go in clockwise order adding the tokens to the Locations. At each Location, first
place the required Thug tokens, then the required Civilian tokens. If there are
not enough empty slots available at a Location, check the Overflow effect on
the Villain Dashboard to see what happens.

1
5

3
4

6
2

Example: Going in clockwise order, the first Location gets a Thug (1), then a
Civilian (2). Then Red Skull’s Location gets a Thug (3). Finally, the last Location
gets a Thug (4). As there’s no empty slot to place the remaining Civilian (5), the
Villain’s Overflow effect is triggered once (6).

SPECIAL EFFECT
If the Master Plan card has a Special Effect
described on it, resolve it last (if possible).

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 3. RESOLVE ACTIONS
Look at the symbols at the bottom part of the Hero card just played AND at the
bottom of the previous Hero card in the Storyline (even if they are separated by
a Master Plan card): each of these symbols corresponds to an action the Hero
can perform this turn, in any order (the first player in the game does not benefit
from the actions of another Hero’s card, as there are no other Hero cards in the
Storyline yet). Keep in mind that when Heroes unite their efforts, they only benefit
from the symbols at the bottom of the other Hero’s card, not from any special
effects or extra symbols shown above that.

Hero Turn
Example 1: Captain America plays his card. Combined with Black Widow’s
Once the Master Plan card is fully resolved, it’s time for the Heroes to act! symbols, this turn he can perform 1 Attack, 2 Moves, and 1 Heroic Action,
in any order.
Players collectively choose which Hero will start the game. Then, they will take
their turns in clockwise order until the end of the game.

During their turn, players follow these steps in order:

1. DRAW A CARD
2. PLAY A CARD
3. RESOLVE ACTIONS
4. LOCATION EFFECT

1. DRAW A CARD
The active player draws the top card from their Hero deck into their hand. If their
Hero was KO’d, they draw up to 4 cards instead (see “KO” on page 10).

NOTE: There is no limit to the number of cards a player may have in their hand. If
their deck runs out, the player simply doesn’t draw a card.
Example 2: Captain Marvel plays her card. Besides her 2 Heroic Actions,
2. PLAY A CARD she can also perform the Move action from Iron Man’s card. She cannot use
Iron Man’s special effect.
The active player chooses a Hero card from their hand and adds it to the end of the
Storyline, to the right of the last card played.

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 The active player may perform the following actions, once per symbol available to
them, in any order they like:

Move

Move the Hero to an adjacent Location, in any direction.

Attack

Deal 1 damage to an enemy of your choice in the active Hero’s Location.

• If attacking a Thug, it is eliminated upon receiving 1 damage (unless a Threat
card in its Location says otherwise). See “Defeat Thugs” on page 9 to learn
what to do with defeated Thugs.
• If attacking a Henchman on a Threat card, remove 1 Health token from the Action Tokens
card for each damage dealt. See “Clear Threats” on page 9 to learn what to
do with defeated Henchmen. If the active Hero has any Action tokens in their possession (Move, Attack, Heroic
• Only after resolving 2 Missions, Heroes can attack the Villain directly. Action, or Wild), they may spend them at any point during this step to perform the
Remove 1 Health token from the Villain Dashboard for each damage dealt. corresponding action. Note that when a Hero gets an Action token, they may hold
See “Completing Missions” on page 10 to learn about defeating the Villain. on to them and spend them during any future turn.

4. LOCATION EFFECT
Heroic Action
If the Location where the active Hero ends their turn has no Threat card on it, the
This can be used to do one of two things: player may choose to apply the End of Turn effect detailed at the bottom of the
• Rescue 1 Civilian in the active Hero’s Location. See “Rescue Civilians” on Location. Each turn, a Hero can only use a single Location Effect.
page 9 to learn what to do with rescued Civilians.
• Place a Heroic Action token on an empty slot of the Threat card in the active
Hero’s Location in order to clear that Threat. See “Clear Threats” on page 9
to learn what to do with cleared Threats.

Wild

This can be used to perform either a , , or action.

Special Effect
In each Hero deck, there are a few cards with a Special
Effect described in a box above the regular action
symbols. The active Hero may apply the listed effect
before or after any other of their actions. Remember
that these Special Effects cannot be performed by Example: Captain Marvel ends her turn on the Helicarrier, where there’s
other Heroes. no Threat covering the End of Turn effect. She decides to use it and moves
to another Location (she won’t be able to use that Location’s effect as well
this turn).

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Turn Sequence Clear Threats
The Threat cards that the Villain places on the Locations, covering
their End of Turn effect, may have all sorts of different effects,
Once the active player has completed all the steps of their turn, the next player from constant effects at that Location or the entire game,
in clockwise order becomes the active player, performing their turn. Each time 3 to effects triggered by a Master Plan’s BAM! (see
Hero cards have been added to the Storyline, a new Master Plan card is drawn from “Activate BAM!” on page 6), to effects triggered by
the deck, added to the end of the Storyline, and resolved (see Villain Turn on page the Villain’s presence (see “Move Villain” on page 5).
5). The next player then takes their turn.
When it comes to clearing them, Threats are divided into two basic types:
1 2 3
1 1
Henchmen: To clear this Threat, Heroes must defeat
1
them, removing all of their Health tokens (see “Attack”
on page 8).

UNDER PRESSURE
Other: All other Threats are cleared by placing 3 Heroic
Play continues in this fashion until players complete their first Mission (see Action tokens on its slots (see “Heroic Action“ on page
“Completing Missions” on page 10), at which point the Villain becomes Under 8). Note that some Threats may display other types of
Pressure and starts adding a Master Plan card to the Storyline after every TWO actions that must be spent.
Hero cards. The game proceeds this way until either the players defeat the Villain
or the Villain completes their master plan (see “Winning & Losing” on page 5).

Once a Threat has been cleared, remove its card, returning any tokens on it to the
missions pool. The Threat has no effect anymore and its Location’s End of Turn effect can now
be used by the Heroes. Take the Threat token located next to it and place it on an
empty slot of the “Clear Threats” Mission card (if possible. Otherwise discard it).
Completing Missions is a crucial step in the Heroes’ road to victory. Every game has
3 Missions available for the Heroes to tackle. They can be completed in any order.

Rescue Civilians
Endangered Civilians are always in need of rescuing.
If a Location can’t hold any more of them, the Villain’s
Overflow effect is triggered (see “Add Thugs/Civilians” on page
6). Whenever a Civilian is rescued (see “Heroic Action” on page
8), take its token and place it on an empty slot of the “Rescue
Civilians” Mission card (if possible. Otherwise discard it).

Defeat Thugs
Thugs are always threatening to dominate Locations,
triggering the Villain’s Overflow effect if the
Location can’t hold any more (see “Add Thugs/Civilians” on page
6). Whenever a Thug is defeated (see “Attack” on page 8), take
its token and place it on an empty slot of the “Defeat Thugs” Note: After their respective Missions have been completed, rescuing Civilians,
Mission card (if possible. Otherwise discard it). defeating Thugs, and clearing Threats does not advance the game. However,
doing so still helps the players avoid Overflow effects and gain benefits from
Important: If an effect “discards” a Civilian or Thug token, it is returned to the more Locations.
pool, not placed on a Mission card.

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 Completing Missions
Remember that Missions can be completed in any order. Once all slots of a Mission
card are filled, the Mission is complete! Remove its card from the game, returning
its tokens to the pool. If necessary, move the remaining Missions to the right
so that the leftmost slots are left empty, unlocking the effects listed above them.

Hero Damage
Heroes usually take damage when attacked by the Villain or Henchmen due to
activated BAM! effects. For each damage a Hero takes, they must discard 1 card
from their hand, placing it at the bottom of their deck.

KO
If a Hero discards the last card from their hand, they are immediately KO’d. Lay
down that Hero’s game piece to indicate that it must be ignored by all game
effects, both negative and positive. Then, immediately resolve the BAM! effect on
the Villain Dashboard (this could cause another Hero to be KO’d, creating a chain
reaction). At the start of that Hero’s next turn, their piece is placed back upright.
During the Draw Card step, the player draws up to 4 cards from their deck.

Note: If a Hero plays their last card during their turn, they get to perform their
full turn before being KO’d.

Challenges
• Once the first Mission is complete, the Villain becomes Under Pressure and
starts playing Master Plan cards after every 2 Hero cards, instead of after If you want, you can add Challenges to your game in order to up the difficulty and
every 3 cards. introduce new twists. Below, you can see the 3 basic Challenges included in this
set. Other expansions will provide you with additional Challenges that you can
• Once the second Mission is complete, the Heroes are able to damage the freely add and combine. Challenge cards are provided to help you easily choose
Villain directly (see “Attack” on page 8). Once all Health tokens are removed and remember the Challenges in play.
from the Villain Dashboard, the Villain is defeated and the Heroes win the game!
MODERATE CHALLENGE: Each player removes the card from their Hero deck.
• Players don’t have to complete the third Mission, but doing so allows all
players to immediately draw 1 card from their deck into their hand. HARD CHALLENGE: Each player removes the card from their Hero deck.

HEROIC CHALLENGE: Each player removes both the and cards

from their Hero deck.

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Additional Rules Credits
INVULNERABLE: If a Hero card states that the Hero cannot take GAME DESIGN: Andrea Chiarvesio and Eric M. Lang
any damage until their next turn, place an Invulnerable token on DEVELOPMENT: Alexio Schneeberger and Francesco Rugerfred Sedda
the Hero as a reminder, removing it at start of their next turn. LEAD PRODUCER: Thiago Aranha
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND LICENSE COORDINATOR: Mike Bisogno
CRISIS: Crisis tokens are used by certain Villains to represent their PRODUCTION: Marcela Fabreti, Vincent Fontaine, Raquel Fukuda, Rebecca Ho, Guilherme
various nefarious influences. Simply use them as described by the Goulart, Isadora Leite, Aaron Lurie, Safuan Tay, and Ana Theodoro
texts on the cards and dashboards. Some of them will tell you how ART DIRECTOR: Mathieu Harlaut
Crisis enters play, and others what adverse effect it causes. LEAD ARTIST: Edouard Guiton
ART: Saeed Jalabi, Giovanna Guimarães, and Giorgia Lanza
BREAKING TIES: If there are ever events or effects whose conditions are tied, LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGN: Max Duarte
the players decide how they should be resolved. GRAPHIC DESIGN: Marc Brouillon, Gabriel Burghi, Fabio de Castro, Louise Combal, and
Júlia Ferrari
UNLIMITED TOKENS: The supply of tokens is considered to be unlimited. If for SCULPTING: BigChild Creatives
any reason a specific token runs out, players may use anything as replacements. RENDERING: Edgar Ramos
PROOFREADING: Jason Koepp
PUBLISHER: David Preti
S.H.I.E.L.D. Solo Mode PLAYTESTERS: Cecilia Arata, Alessandro Avataneo, Giorgio Bacolla, Claudio Bagliani,
Alessandro Bareggi, Alessandro Busseni, Andrea Dado, Veronica Danielli, Mattia Dal
Zilio, Andrea Dell’Orco, Simone Fenoil, Francesco Foschi, Roberto Franco, Luca Fuoco,
Marvel United may also be played by a single player. In this special mode, they Noah Galleano, Christian Giove, William Greco, Alex Grisafi, Luca Iennaco, Marco Legato,
act as S.H.I.E.L.D., coordinating the efforts of multiple Heroes at once. The Solo Lucia Manetti, Fabio Menel, Pierpaolo Paoletti, Gianluca Pavone, Lavinia Pinello, Andrea
Mode uses all the same rules as the regular game, with the following exceptions: Roscigno, Paolo Ruffo, Valentina Sacco, Andrea Sadocco, Manuela Sarcinella, Fiorenzo
Sartori, Jessica Sedda, Beatrice Sgaravatto, Triex, Marta Vincenzi, and Pierluca Zizzi
SPECIAL SETUP: Special thanks to Brian Ng at Marvel, this would not have been possible without you.

• Choose 3 Heroes and shuffle their decks together to create your Hero deck.
The different card backs do not affect the game (you can use this information
to your advantage).
• If you wish to do so, you may only add Challenges that support single-player
games. ©2020 & TM Spin Master Logo trademark of Spin Master Ltd./Le logo TM Spin Master est une marque de commerce de
• During setup, draw 5 cards into your hand instead of 3. Spin Master Ltd. Imported and distributed under license by/Importé et distribué sous licence par Spin Master International,
B.V. All rights reserved./Tous droits réservés. Spin Master Ltd., 30-30 47th Avenue, L.I.C. NY 11101, USA; 225 King Street
West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3M2 Canada; Imported by/Importé par Spin Master Australia Pty Ltd, Suite 101, Level 1, 18-24
SPECIAL RULES: Chandos Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065; ✆1800 316 982; Imported into EU by/Importé dans l’UE par Spin Master International
B.V. Kingsfordweg 151, 1043 GR Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.spinmastergames.com. CMON and the CMON logo are
• Turns are resolved in the normal sequence, with you playing every Hero turn. trademarks of CMON Global Limited./CMON et le logo CMON sont des marques de commerce de CMON Global Limited.
All rights reserved./Tous droits réservés. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission./Aucun
• Each turn, you may play the card of any Hero in your hand, even if it’s the élément de ce produit ne peut être reproduit sans permission particulière. Character pieces and plastic components included
same Hero as the last card played. You always benefit normally from the are pre-assembled and unpainted./Les personnages et éléments en plastique inclus sont préassemblés et non peints.
symbols on the previously played card (but not from their Special Effect, THIS PRODUCT IS NOT A TOY./CE PRODUIT N’EST PAS UN JOUET./NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY PERSONS
even if it’s the same Hero). 13 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER./NE CONVIENT PAS AUX PERSONNES DE MOINS DE 13 ANS.
• The Hero whose card you played is considered the active Hero that turn. MADE IN CHINA

14+
• Any effect that refers to “another player” refers to “you.” AGE
• Any effect that refers to “you” refers to the specific Hero in question, except
when concerning your Action tokens (which can be used by any Hero) or your 1-4
PLAYERS Content may vary from pictures.
hand of cards, which belong to the player. Meets CPSC Safety Requirements.
• If you are ever KO’d, you immediately lose.

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 RULES SUMMARY
1 Villain Turn, then 3 clockwise Hero Turns. Continue until first Mission is completed, HERO DAMAGE
then 1 Villain Turn every 2 Hero Turns.
Discard 1 card from your hand to the bottom of your deck per damage suffered.
VILLAIN TURN KO’d if you discard the last card in hand. Lay Hero down. Activate Villain’s BaM! .
1. Add 1 Master Plan card to the Storyline.
Next turn, stand back up and draw 4 cards.
2. Resolve effects in order, from top to bottom.
WINNING & LOSING
Move clockwise this number of Locations. Trigger effect on
2 final Location. Heroes win if they remove all Health tokens from Villain (must complete 2
Missions first).
BaM! Resolve BAM! effects on Villain Dashboard and Threat cards.
Heroes lose if:
• Add the indicated and on the Locations around the Villain. • Villain completes the Villainous Plot on their Dashboard.
• Villain must play a card but the Master Plan deck is empty.
• Resolve any special effect on the card. • A Hero starts their turn with no cards at all.

HERO TURN
1. Draw a Card: From your deck into your hand.

2. Play a Card: Add it to the Storyline.

3. Resolve Actions: In any order, all symbols at the bottom of your card and the
previous Hero card:

Move to an adjacent Location.

Deal 1 damage to an enemy at your Location:

• Defeat 1 Thug, or
• Remove 1 Health from a Henchman, or
• Remove 1 Health from Villain (after completing 2 Missions).

Rescue 1 Civilian or place 1 Heroic Action token on the Threat at

your Location (3 needed to clear it).

Resolve any action.

• Resolve any Special Effects on your card.

• Spend any action tokens to resolve their action.

4. Location Effect: May resolve visible “End of Turn” effect of your Location.