Stats:
No. of players: 1-5
Amount of time to play: 45-60 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

Marvel Noir is the latest expansion for Marvel Legendary the Deckbuilding Game. It features heroes and villains from the Noir Universe and mixes up gameplay a bit.

Legendary Marvel Noir Rules Description:

If you have not played Marvel Legendary, read my review and overview of it here. This article is going to focus on the new elements introduced in the Marvel Noir expansion

The Noir Universe is set in the grim Twenties and Thirties. Things are grittier and the heroes are slightly different than in the main Marvel Universe. Some of them are even villains.

There are a couple new mechanics in the Noir expansion. One is the keyword Investigate. When a card let’s you Investigate you look at the top two cards of your draw pile. If you find a card of the type you were to looking for you may draw it. Then any cards you don’t keep go to the top or bottom of your draw pile in the order you choose. Some cards let you Investigate other decks too.

Another new element is Hidden Witnesses. These represent the people you must find to help you track down the villains and masterminds. In the game Hidden Witnesses are Bystanders placed face down on the villain or mastermind. You cannot attack a villain or mastermind that has a Hidden Witness. To remove a Hidden Witness you must pay 2 recruit points to rescue them. They go in your victory pile.

Quick Review of the Legendary Noir Expansion:

The Noir expansion is a niche product. It has a few new elements to change gameplay slightly. Fans of the source material should really enjoy it.

The Investigate and Hidden Witness keywords add some nice wrinkles to the base game. They are easy mechanics to implement and remember too. The new schemes incorporate both of these mechanics and make for a challenging experience.

This expansion introduces four new schemes and two of them are really fun to play. That is not to say the other two are not good, but that two really add a lot to the game. Five Families of Crime adds two villain groups and splits them into five groups in the city. You choose which deck plays a card each round but all the villains have just one space. You lose if eight escape. Find the Split Personality Killer is another new scheme. It turns the game into a deduction game by creating a Murder Suspects deck. This deck is made up of three bystanders and the top hero from the hero deck. Every time a twist is drawn you add more Bystanders and another hero. After you defeat a villain you may pay one attack to Investigate this deck. When the sixth twist is drawn players write down which hero they think is the killer. Any player that guesses the hero with the most cards in the Murder Suspects deck wins. Guess wrong and you lose.

If you are a fan of the Noir setting you will like this expansion. But even if you aren’t you should enjoy the new mechanics and schemes from the Marvel Legendary Noir expansion. It adds fun and replay value without a bunch of new rules.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6