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Hibbity

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Android: Netrunner

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A game of territory, of secrecy, and of many cat and mouse chases. There really is no other way to describe Android: Netrunner, as both players will be playing a game of territory with each other, with one player hiding his cards while the other tries to capture them. In Netrunner, one player plays a futuristic corporation trying to protect themselves against a group of people called Runners, while the other player plays as the Runner, trying to hack their way through to stop the corporation. Netrunner makes for a great game to play over and over because it is asymmetric: the Runner plays by different rules than the corporation, but I will talk about that later.

Premise
Netrunner takes place in a futuristic society ruled by various corporations and technology. Seeing the effect computer technology has had on our society, transforming it in various ways, really makes Netrunner seem plausible. The game originally came out in 1996 as Netrunner (not Android: Netrunner), designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: the Gathering. It was a time before computer technology really took its grasp on society, before social media and smart phones, so for Garfield to have created this world full of technology taking over people’s lives really was an incredible vision. Eventually the game was picked up by Fantasy Flight, and added to their Android universe. In addition, the game went from being a traditional trading card game, where the player had to buy packs of cards to build their deck, to simply a card game, creating a set that had all of the base cards in it with multiple factions to play as for each side.
Both players can choose a faction from four Corporation factions and three Runner factions. Each faction has their own specific cards and special abilities. Once the player chooses which faction they want to play as, they can start building their deck. For beginners, it’s probably a good idea to simply use your faction’s cards and the miscellaneous cards that every faction can use. Learning the game will take a few plays as there are a good number of rules; it can be confusing and overwhelming at first. Don’t let that stop you as the game is fun once you get the hang of it.
Each player has a certain number of clicks, which are like moves in a turn. What the Corporation can do using their clicks is a little different than what the Runner does. The Corporation needs to focus on a more defensive battle. Use Ice (defensive cards) to protect your R&D, Headquarters, and Archives (deck, hand, and discard pile respectively). You also need to build remote servers and protect them. The Runner’s job is to make runs on the Corporation’s servers, whether they are remote servers or Central servers (R&D, HQ, and Archives). Think of runs like hacking a system. The game is literally about computer and software hacking.
The goal of the game is to score Agendas. How you go about doing that is where the game gets interesting. The Corporation installs Agendas in remote servers and spends turns advancing them. If he advances them enough, he gains that Agenda (such as a private security force). The Runner can score Agendas by making successful runs on a remote server where an Agenda is installed.

A Game of Strategy
This is where the cat and mouse games come in. Throughout the game, the Runner needs to constantly be thinking about the next run, trying to make sure it is as successful as possible. He needs to install Icebreakers to break through the Corporation’s defenses. He needs to install protection to make sure he doesn’t get hurt if he does. He needs to gain money to help pay for breaking through everything.
Meanwhile the Corporation has a little bit more on his mind. He needs to plan ahead so that when he installs an Agenda, it doesn’t get run on and stolen. He needs to plan his defenses. The Corporation gets fewer clicks per turn than the Runner, so he needs to use his time wisely. He needs money to pay for defenses and Agendas. He needs to install and protect his assets so that the Runner doesn’t destroy them.
I called the game a game of territory at one point, and playing through, it’s easy to see so. The Corporation creates all of these servers with various protections. The Corporation is playing a very defensive game of King of the Hill, trying to make sure the Runner never gets through his defenses and onto his servers. At the same time, the Runner is playing Capture the Flag, trying to get the assets and Agendas installed on the servers.
The strategies each player employs really comes through with their decks. Some Corporation factions are more geared toward running the Runner dry, keeping his money low, having him struggling to build. Other factions are geared toward trickery, laying down traps in their servers. The Runner can try to brute force his way through the servers early or try to wait until late in the game, if he can survive that long.
There are many different ways of playing, depending on the deck you build, letting the player coming back, trying to new strategies against even the same opponent. It makes the replayability very high.

Overall
This is definitely a must-have game if you like strategy games. Fantasy Flight does a fantastic job at creating this universe and immersing the player. There is tons of reason to keep playing the game, even if you only play against one person as you both can keep changing things up, building new decks, employing new strategies. Plus, it’s always fun to try and get into another person’s head.

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