revisiting Android: Netrunner

Android: Netrunner is a 2012 game, originally designed by Richard Garfield, who created Magic: The Gathering. The original Netrunner was published in 1996. That version had only two decks, corporation and runner, and no expansions. The 2012 Android: Runner was designed to be a living card game with many expansions. It is similar to but not exactly the same as a trading card game. Expansions are fixed packs instead of random packs. You don't need to spend a lot of money buying many blind packs hoping to get the specific cards you want. Android: Runner used to rank very high on BoardGameGeek.com. In 2018, Fantasy Flight Games decided to terminate the game series. I was quite surprised at the time. I thought the game system was still very popular. Although there are no more official expansions and no official support, some players have organised themselves to develop and publish new expansion packs. There are still people actively playing the game. 

I've always had some hesitation going into a game with such depth as Android: Netrunner. These are what people call lifestyle games. Like Chess, Go, Magic: The Gathering, you can be a player who plays just one game. Just one game is enough to keep you busy and happy. In fact, you need to devote enough time to such a game to truly enjoy it and appreciate it. The analogy is friends with deep and meaningful relationships. In boardgame terms, I tend to be the extroverted socialite and I prefer discovering and playing many different games. 

I have played Android: Netrunner before. I own the base game and quite a number of expansions. So far I have only used some basic decks and decks designed by other players. I have not yet ventured into building my own decks. That means I have only skimmed the surface. It had been quite a while since I last played. I remembered the game fondly, but by now I had forgotten most of the rules and had to read the rulebook all over again. I decided to try to get back into the game because I bought more expansions this year. I have been buying expansions when I come across them on discount. I can't resist. I keep telling myself I'll get back into the game some day. I asked Allen to join me in learning the game system. He lives nearby so it's easy to arrange to play. We have both been playing games less in recent years, busy with work and life. If we set a goal, it may help us to get back into more regular gaming. Middle aged uncles need to be reminded to allocate some me time, or we time. Making a living should not make us forget to live a life. 

I asked Allen to play the runner (hacker). I think it's more fun playing runner. Android: Netrunner is a 2-player-only game, about hacker vs corporation. The corporation has some agenda to complete, and the runner is hacking into the corporation's servers to try to find and steal them, before they are completed. The photo above shows the play area of the corporation player. The row of cards near the bottom represents the various servers. The horizontal cards above the servers are shields protecting them. In game terms they are called ICE - Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics. Servers can be cards played by the corporation player. Hand cards, draw deck and discard pile are also servers which the runner can attack. 

The game is not just runner attacking and corporation defending. Some ice are traps and can cause damage to the runner. Although the initiative lies with the runner, the corporation certainly has many ways to trick, trip and hurt the runner. 

Allen looks troubled. This is a game with quite a lot of text to read and digest. When you get more familiar, it will be much quicker. The runner's play area is much simpler. You have your draw deck and discard pile, and three rows of various equipment (in this photo he only had two types of equipment, thus just two rows). 

As the corporation player, having agenda cards in hand is anxiety inducing. The runner can decide to attack your hand cards, and if he is successful, he randomly draws a card. If it is an agenda, it is claimed and scored by the runner. The runner needs to score 7 agenda points to win the game. In this photo I had two agenda cards, the first and third cards, and they are worth 3 and 2 agenda points respectively (number on left edge). 

This wasn't my first attempt at relearning Android: Netrunner. I think not even the second time. It had been a while, so I couldn't even remember for sure which attempt this was. This time round it felt easier to get into. It didn't feel as complicated as I remembered it to be. Both runner and corporation need to find ways to earn a steady income, because many actions require money. The corporation is generally defensive, always needing to protect the agendas and needing to put on a poker face. Sometimes the corporation plays aggressively, setting up traps to catch the runner unprepared. There is greed and risk-taking on the runner's part, and the corporation tries to make use of that. The corporation sets up ice (shields). The runner installs programs to overcome them. The corporation advances agendas to score them, before they get stolen by the runner. 

An agenda card

A piece of ice

Playing ice is free, unless you have more than one ice at the server. You only pay when you activate it to stop or hurt the runner. The more powerful the ice, the higher the cost. 

I bought two preset decks which were the winning decks in the 2016 Netrunner championships. I am lazy to build my own decks, so using the best player's deck is great, even though it'll take time for me to learn to utilise it well. This above is the winning corporation deck. 

I notice the graphic design has changed. The card on the left is the newer version. The image is zoomed in and enlarged, but the font is smaller. I find the text too small. Both Allen and I struggled to read the text. This design is not senior citizen friendly.