Android: Netrunner

[Senor Feesh]

So, I've been around less than usual lately (although I don't know if I'm active enough for people to have noticed ) but the reason is this game. It's got its claws in me deep.

 

I've played other card games in the past which have had power creep that means you have to have the most up to date sets to stand a chance (Yu-Gi-Oh, World of Warcraft, I'm looking at you), and others where you spend a horrendous amount of cash on buying boosters hoping for that killer card (Magic: The Gathering being probably the best known).

 

Netrunner sidesteps these problems nicely by virtue of being a Living Card Game (LCG) which means that all cards are available to the entire playerbase easily - sets are released to a prescribed list, so you know exactly which cards exist in every box (simply choose the sets which fit your playstyle best and combine the cards you want - with certain restrictions).

 

What really makes this game for me though is two things (which are really the same thing) - the thematics, and the asymmetrical play. One player takes the role of one of four faceless megacorps - huge global businesses attempting to advance their own dubious agendas - whilst the other plays as the titular 'runner, attempting to break into the corp's servers and steal their data for their own reasons (there's three runner factions also, with different ethics/agendas).

 

The Corp player must protect their servers from outside access by means of installing Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics (or ICE) between their precious data and the wider net, whilst slowly, turn by turn advancing their agendas to completion. The runner, by contrast, uses a rig of special hardware and ICEbreaker software to attempt to crack the Corp defences and steal the Agendas before the Corp can complete them - but the runner does this without knowing which servers have genuine agendas, which are booby trapped, and which simply contain revenue-generating assets such as ad-campaigns.

 

Obviously there's a lot of special cards that allow both runner and corp player to spring surprises and change strategies, and decks are built accordingly. There's also a program called OCTGN which has a virtual version of the game (although I'm dubious as to its legality).

 

So yeah, I'm totally hooked on this... currently I only have the core set (working on fine-tuning what I have before I make up for the weaknesses with expansions), so if anyone else plays, let's talk shop! I could always use advice, and I'd love to hear what people think of my decks (and I'd be willing to offer a novice's opinion on your own deck, although how much you'd get out of that I'm not sure )

[The Question he/him]

I love this game. It's one of my favourites.

 

For what it's worth, it was first published in the mid-late nineties as a CCG by Wizards of the Coast. It was cancelled after (I think) two expansions and recently brought back as the new set.