Marvel Dice Throne Missions: The Story of Santa and Ant-Man
Take on all sorts of challenges and huge boss battles as a steadily more powerful hero in Marvel Dice Throne Missions.
I’ve often wanted to return to play through another campaign of Dice Throne Adventures. As is so often the case, something else arrived in the same realm… Marvel Dice Throne Missions! Not only is this in a completely different setting, but the system is designed to be quicker with the ability to swap in any hero. Onto some missions with an unlikely hero!
Game Overview
Game Name: Marvel Dice Throne Missions
Publication Year: 2025
Designers: Gavan Brown & Nate Chatellier
Artists: Patrick Spaziante & Manny Trembley
Publisher: Roxley
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
A plethora of double-sided missions feature all sorts of challenges of different difficulty levels. Scenarios provide objectives, which then lead to a final showdown in a boss battle! Dice rolls determine a lot of the elements, although managing a hero also involves interesting cards. To battle!
First Play
April 22, 2025
Complexity
2
Latest Play
May 1, 2025
Expansions
1
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
9
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
40" x 24"
Low Score
N/A
Best Hero for the Job
The nice part about this system is that it’s designed to work with any of the characters, which may or may not be related to the Marvel universe. So I made the absolute right choice…
Santa! Ha ha! I’ve enjoyed playing this character in the past since he’s not too complex and has a lot of laughs.
That’s one of the nice things: Since a lot of success often comes down to dice rolls, the game can’t take itself too seriously. And Santa is no exception with his abilities.
I won’t get too far ahead of myself, but he basically put every enemy on the naughty list. Laughter was my weapon.
Cheer and Egg Nog
Every character has an entirely different play style, complete with abilities and unique card decks. Tokens also provide asymmetric powers in the ways they’re earned and used.
Santa had a right proper assortment of options. Cheer was useful for dice, especially since rolling all 6s leads to an ultimate ability. Talk about the most powerful option!
Egg nog was probably my favorite, though. Healing abilities can be pretty rare, and I agree that egg nog is restorative!
It was still a little bit of an uncertainty, though, and I had to carefully plan how to make the most of my dice and cards.
Helpful Cards
For the missions, I appreciated the very useful reference card. After reading through the rules, this was all I needed for almost every turn. Very, very helpful and compact!
Momentum formed another sort of currency that could be used in different ways. However, heroes start off with the lowest level and have to work up to unlock more options.
As luck would have it, the very first card I drew was one that seemed made for me. Santa was certainly the right choice!
I was excited about the system and how these adventures are designed to be enjoyed in fairly quick single sessions.
Entering the Bank
And did I have the somewhat unnecessary but also awesome Santa miniature? Yes, indeed! He surveyed the bank and every turn with a cup of egg nog. Heroic attitude!
I really liked this system, too. Rather than upgrading a hero’s deck and moving through a lengthy campaign, each mission is sort of like a single episode with enemies.
The same hero doesn’t have to be used from mission to mission, as progress is saved on a universal perks sheet.
But don’t think Santa was going to be replaced. I intended to stick with him through a whole lot of superhero adventures!
When Realistic Matchups Are Not Required
I’m still very much out of touch with most of the Marvel universe, although I enjoy it and know some basic things! One of these days, I’ll watch something and get caught up. Ha ha! Yet the flexibility of this mission system was a welcome feature. I wasn’t forced to exactly recreate this battle against Doctor Octopus and his henchmen. It was a day for Santa to shine!
Part of what makes solo games so wonderful for me is that silliness factor. I like to laugh with most of my games. That’s often why Calico Critters show up! Had I not had a Santa miniature, I had a Calico Critter Santa standing by. Ha! All this is to say that I was a little worried that I would be limited to Marvel heroes and might need to be aware of very specific lore.
Even though I only played through the tutorial mission, I could certainly see myself doing so again with different heroes! There are plenty of other ways to add variety, although I’m getting ahead of myself… Santa still has lots of missions ahead!
Ally Recruitment
Missions may look like they could get stale over time, yet there are a lot of variables. One of these is the allies.
A trio forms the available allies who can be recruited by spending the correct amount of momentum. Such a large deck ensures there are a lot of different options!
Also keep in mind that at the lowest momentum level, a hero can only recruit a single ally at a time. That should showcase the sheer amount of possibilities… And fun!
It was really neat to consider what an ally might be able to do at the right time. Santa wasn’t working alone!
Santa and Ant-Man
This tutorial mission, Ock Knocks Knox, featured a very well-known duo… Santa and Ant-Man! Never heard of those tales? They’re definitely out there, because they were great!
I loved fighting against the different henchmen and picking up special boost tiles along the way. These are randomized during setup, and feature all kinds of bonuses.
Ant-Man’s ability helped change some dice values to match the right combinations for some of Santa’s better abilities.
Despite being the easiest mission of them all, I still had plenty of decisions and enjoyed the challenge of everything!
The Perfect Reward
The front side of most double-sided boards involves a mission with an objective. An overall goal exists, yet there is a way to go above and beyond with a perfect completion.
In this case, I could have had Santa rush out of the exit after taking out about half of the henchmen. But everyone was on his naughty list, and he wasn’t about to ignore that fact!
This perfect reward is important because nothing changes when moving into the final boss battle… Health included.
Despite plenty of egg nog, Santa was most grateful for the extra health before he prepared to take on Doc Ock himself!
Boss Fight Finale
Whoa! This might look like a simple sort of scenario, but every boss hits a lot harder with unique abilities. Plus, boost tiles can sometimes be a hindrance or hazard at times.
Interestingly, setting this up revealed a lot of healing. I was happy about that, as I wasn’t sure if Santa had enough egg nog to withstand constant attacks from Doctor Octopus!
On a side note, although these tri-fold sheets are rather thin and don’t always lie flat, I really appreciated the design.
Tons of missions are included in the box without taking up a ridiculous amount of space. Very neat and thoughtful!
Comfort and Joy!
Although abilities can be upgraded, the best option for every character is their Ultimate. Triggered by a full set of 6s on the dice, this is always an exciting moment during play!
As if prepared for it, Santa finally managed this roll during his first turn against the boss. Take that! I particularly enjoyed that his attack was done in a very polite way.
I imagined him sharing some egg nog or singing a cozy song at Doc Ock, which really shook him up. Ha ha!
This still wasn’t anywhere close to earning Santa an instant victory, but I felt a lot more comfortable. And joyful. Ha!
Ticking Down a Clock
Another element that made both parts of this mission fun was the crisis clock. This magnetic arrow points to different icons and moves every turn. Lots of possibilities!
Why was this so great? Its starting position is randomized, but it moves at the same rate. So I could plan ahead to understand what was coming up before it happened.
For instance, I probably wanted to defeat Doc Ock before his Master Plan ability kicked in. That would be pretty rough!
But this also meant Santa was ready. When he was entangled, he had a card ready to cancel it immediately!
Extremely Naughty!
Remember when I said how much I laughed at all of the fun abilities? Well, I was not prepared for how this boss battle was about to end because I didn’t know Santa’s full deck.
When I drew this card, I had to make it happen. Basically, I had to trigger the Naughty or Nice ability, roll well, and apply this card to make the attack undefendable.
Wouldn’t you know it? That’s exactly what happened on the very last turn to take out the last of Doc Ock’s health!
It was the perfect ending to a boss battle and I had such an awesome time throughout the entire double-sided mission.
Merry Christmas
And who was it who helped Santa out so much? Ant-Man! I picked up a few upgraded abilities along the way, and didn’t feel like I fared too poorly even with some rough rolls.
Santa drank so much egg nog, though. I should have kept track of that… He gained a ton of tokens and used them every few turns. His mug of egg nog is clearly bottomless!
I treated this in a sillier light than it was intended with all of the Marvel and X-Men characters available to me.
Yet that’s the beauty of this system: Santa was an option! I’m looking forward to him battling more supervillains!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 & 2
Main Expansion: Dice Throne: Santa vs. Krampus
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Ock Knocks Knox & Doctor Octopus Mission
Outcome: 2 Wins (Perfect Reward)
A delightful victory for Santa! This player perks sheet shows how abilities and bonuses are unlocked by playing more, but the same hero isn’t required. I could switch over to use anyone else… Yet if you know me, you probably know that Santa is here to stay, at least for a few more missions. Just a really delightful experience I’m excited to explore more!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Any hero may be used in a mission, allowing for a lot of flexibility and variety in discovering all kinds of abilities.
- Managing a hero’s cards can be quite an interesting challenge, as a card may not necessarily be useful all the time.
- Running the enemy’s part of the turn is quite simple with clear icons and explanations of what will happen.
- With the crisis clock, it’s easy to plan ahead and understand the impact of henchmen or the boss well ahead of time.
- Rolling the dice is always a fun moment, and deciding which ability to activate or re-roll to activate is exciting.
- Play time moves along quite nicely, and a double-sided mission offers a fulfilling experience in around an hour.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The acrylic and plastic token quality is a bit disappointing, with flecks of paint or clear wrap constantly coming off.
- Although useful for storage, the tri-fold boards are rather thin and take some effort to stay flat to lay tokens on.
- Lots of luck comes to the forefront with the dice rolls, which can still be fun, but well-laid plans don’t always pan out.
- A handful of important rule nuances are mixed in with lots of text, making them a little hard to locate at times.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Objective
- Overall Goal Progress 20%
Goals and Milestones
Complete every mission at least once. (4 / 20)
Earn the perfect reward for every mission. (4 / 20)
Continue the Conversation
Have you had a chance to play Marvel Dice Throne Missions? Do you have a favorite hero to play as? This was just the right sort of experience I was hoping for, and there is so much more to discover with the other scenarios and bosses. Maybe Santa isn’t exactly a typical character to find in the land of Marvel superheroes, but he knows how to use that egg nog! Ha!
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