It seems like Marvel is everywhere lately from the television with "Agent Carter" and others, to the continued rule over comic book movies, to the many apps we've seen available on mobile. If you can't get enough Marvel into your day, or you've always dreamt of a world in which you could see all your favorite heroes as they went through high school then Marvel: Avengers Academy might just be the game for you.
You'll be responsible for building up your academy, recruiting new students, and helping them to develop their powers while navigating the chaos of school life. Marvel: Avengers Academy is a really fun, and cute game, that's available to play for free. You'll need to recruit heroes to deal with Hydra, delve into the mysterious Timefog on campus, and unlock new buildings to make your super hero academy the best it can be.
Keep reading to get all the details on Marvel: Avengers Academy!
The Academy
The Academy is your home base, as well as where all of tomorrow's heroes will train and live. You'll build things like the dormitories, Dr.Pym's lab, and Stark Tower. Each building that you construct has it's own actions associated with it for specific heroes. Each building can also be upgraded to get you access to more quests, and actions.
You'll choose where you want to place each specific building on your campus. There isn't any particular rhyme or reason as to where you place your buildings, and you can easily move them around later if you decide you don't like their placement. You'll unlock new buildings by leveling up, but you'll still need to purchase them with gold earned during quests. After you've unlocked, and purchased a building you just need to decide where you want it and then wait for it to be built.
The Academy also hides its share of secrets. Probably to be expected considering that it's being run by Director Fury. Much of the campus is initially obscured by a Timefog. To remove it, you'll need to complete a variety of quests and build up Dr. Pym's lab. You can take a look at the areas obscured by the time fog and it's easily two times the size of the academy campus. At least.
There also appear to be some relics — and silhouettes of characters — hidden in the Timefog as well. It's almost certainly where the campus will expand up to, but when or how, seems to be the bigger question. We haven't opened up any of those areas quite yet, but several of the sections seem to be linked to characters at the school.
Students at Avengers Academy
The students at the Academy are made up of Heroes for the most part, but you'll also run into villains like Loki on campus. Each student that joins the academy comes with their own rich history, ability to upgrade, and actions linked to their character. You'll start with just Tony Stark aka Iron Man, but before long Black Widow, Wasp, and Loki will join your ranks.
When a student begins at the academy you'll need to complete a few small side quests before you get access to them completely. Generally this involves completing quests off of the bulletin board that will grant you in game items like school books, which you use to fully unlock the character. Most heroes will also require you to pay a certain amount of gold before you can start to use them.
Each hero also can be upgraded. As you upgrade them, their appearance will change as they slowly turn into the characters you already know and love. You'll also open up new actions for each character which let them pursue their own story quests, or various side quests. As you level up, you'll get access to new heroes for your campus including the likes of The Hulk, Captain America, and Enchantress.
When you go up a level you'll get access to new buildings, possibly new heroes, and crystals which are half of the in-game currency as well. Currency runs with gold earned through completing quests, and crystals which are used to speed up quest times or purchase special heroes to attend your school. You can buy either of these through bundles in the store if you're so inclined, but it hasn't be necessary for us.
The Bulletin Board
The bulletin board is where you're going to find all of your quests. It's the only way to earn money in game, without spending your cold hard cash on an In-App purchase. When you open it up, you'll see a list of character driven quests, as well as the current side quests that are available to you.
Character-driven quests are meant to forward the progression of your Heroes. They'll get you closer to being able to upgrade a specific character, along with earning you much needed gold and XP. Before you begin a quest, you'll be able to see which characters it involves, how long it will take to complete, and how much gold you'll receive for completing it.
Many of the quests will take only a minute or two. That's because each quest requires a specific action from a hero, and some of these actions only take a minute or two. However there are plenty of actions that can take between 45 minutes and 2 hours. That means that keeping an eye on how long a quest will take, and who it involves is definitely in your best interest.
When you first get access to the bulletin board, there are only 3 slots for you to pick up side quests. However that number will grow as you level up, allowing you to be constantly completing quests for XP, in game items, crystals, and gold. In fact the only way you can gain XP and gold from playing is by completing the quests that you find on the bulletin board.
Should you check it out?
The answer to that question is yes, provided that you enjoy the type of game that Marvel: Avengers Academy is. It's done well, it's absolutely adorable, and really who doesn't want to guide the Avengers through school as high school students? For anyone who enjoys base building style games, or the Avengers, this game is plenty of fun.
