In Marvel Contest of Champions, players take on the role of a summoner and build a team of Marvel heroes and villains, which players then use for 1v1 battles. It plays like an arcade game. While the game characters show the superhero's actions in a 2D plane, the game's fighting arena is rendered in 3D. As a new player, they will start the game with two 1-star characters and gain other heroes with higher stars as they progress through the game. Game characters have a maximum of 6 stars. There are 207 playable characters in Marvel Contest of Champion, all of which allow players to upgrade them. These superheroes and villains in the game have their own classes, attacking moves, abilities and characteristics. It can be said that this game is an unmissable relive experience for Marvel fans. 

The power-up system of the Marvel Contest of Champions game limits the number of mission-based battles a player can engage in. But over time, the game's energy system automatically replenishes at a set rate, or the player can choose to replenish it manually. The game's energy system will also increase as the player's level increases. After players complete missions, they can collect many important resources. 

The game controls of Marvel Contest of Champions include block, dodge, and three levels of attack options. The game's characters can move backward or sprint forward, and each character has three special attacks that need to be leveled up to unlock, as well as other unique abilities. After the player has upgraded their character to a certain level, it is likely that they will also get more powerful special attacks, which are very destructive, but cannot be used frequently due to the large consumption of energy.