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[hemmingjay]

Netrunner is an award winning CCG that is like Shadowrun meet Magic The Gathering.


Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40zPxzV7P8k

Netrunner as an asymmetrical living card game for two players featuring one corporation player and one 'runner player. The game features 4 different corporate factions and 3 different 'runner factions to choose from, each with their own distinct play style. The box contains everything needed to play for two players.

The game itself is an 'I go, you go' turn taking game. The goal of the game is to score (or steal) 7 points worth of Agendas, but there are other ways to win or lose the game as well, such as running out of cards to draw in the case of the corporation, or being killed by accruing too much brain damage from killer ICE as the 'runner. To safeguard and then ultimately score their Agendas, the corporation must install software called ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics) on their servers to protect their valuable data. On the other hand, the 'runner is at the same time installing software and hardware in his 'rig,' which is basically his computer for accessing the net, designed to hack through various ICE the corp is installing.

A typical game lasts about an hour and plays fast and hard. The game includes a lot of tokens as well, to represent different status effects, money, et cetera. These are of good Fantasy Flight Quality. The card art is fantastic, as is the flavor text. Presentation is top-notch here.  - Blatantly copy & pasted from an Amazon review


ANYONE PLAY?

[ndkid]

I played a couple of times about a month ago. Overall, I was underwhelmed. Production value is high, but gameplay was subpar. Then again, I suppose I'd argue that I've just described almost every Fantasy Flight release.

[hemmingjay]

I can see that! In my experience a 2 player game like this greatly depends on the two players and their moods/state of mind in the moment. I've played games where two rational, clever people have to endure 30 minutes and I have had drunken shouting matches that last 2 hours. I think Fantasy Flight games need the "flavor" to come from the players where some others have so much that there are more limitations to play style.
The local game shop here can't keep it in stock, so they must be doing something right. Or people are idiots.

Likely both.

[sluissa]

I ended up getting this game for Christmas but nobody local seems to want to play. I managed to squeeze one game out of a family member but between both of us trying to learn the game as we went while also not really understanding good strategy, the game took way too long, didn't actually contain much gameplay and ended somewhat abruptly. I'd honestly heard a lot of good things about it but I was underwhelmed as well, but I really should give it a few more games and really learn how to play before judging it. I'd be willing to give it a try with anyone here, if they're willing to play with someone pretty new who might need some leading/time to check the book now and again.

[Rowanas]

It's pretty big at my local club, especially as some people recall the old Netrunner, which by all accounts was... not so successful. It's the only card game I'm really into, especially seeing as it's an LCG, not a CCG (they release each new "booster" with 3 copies of every card, so you don't need to go rare-hunting). It means that I can afford to play it, and I really like the setting.

[aristabulus]

The thread title is a bit misleading.  I thought this was a digital remake on Android OS until I watched the first few minutes of that Youtube link.

This reminds me of Dominion (by Rio Grande), but with a more-frequent-but-smaller expansion release schedule.  I hope this new Netrunner does well.  The original didn't get its honest chance in spotlight.

...the old Netrunner, which by all accounts was... not so successful.

There were a couple factors going against the original cardboard release of Netrunner. 

The first and probably biggest was that it released into a choppy sea of post-M:tG imitators. This made it nigh impossible to gain critical mindshare when most were quite happy with M:tG, ignoring everything else.  The few of us that were open to trying new things ended up throwing money away on some really awful card games, and that chilled our openness to new card games...  I know I tried out more than a few stinkers during that time.

The other issue was Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (originally Jyhad), being the second CCG to bear the Deckmaster imprint.  (M:tG being the first, Netrunner being the third/last)  M:tG had an "easy to learn, hard to master" design, and Netrunner had excellent balance and strategic nuance.  V:tES had accessibility issues, with an aesthetic that really only appealed to the ultragoths, and confusing rules that also required heavy use of counters.  Most of the damage V:tES did to its younger sibling is indirect, in that V:tES did not gain any momentum from the Deckmaster imprint, and did not dispel the notion that there was only room in the market for one popular CCG. (which is, was, and will likely continue to be M:tG)

[sluissa]

The thread title is a bit misleading.  I thought this was a digital remake on Android OS until I watched the first few minutes of that Youtube link.

I'd disagree. Everywhere I've seen this game mentioned it's just called "Netrunner: Android" Misinterpretation doesn't mean misleading.

[gimlet]

Haha I thought it was an Android app too - disappointed to find out it's not.  Seems like a not-great name choice to me, I've only read the old rules and glanced at cards but don't remember it actually having much to do with androids - does it really?  And especially with Android being SO associated with the mobile platform - ahh research: Netrunner's been moved from Cyberpunk to the world of the boardgame "Android".  Geez I think that's still a bad name choice for something released so recently - guaranteed to make it harder to search for, like when niche games use a common, single word name that is *also* generally associated with the genre they're in. 

The name is apparently Android: Netrunner - what *will* they call the Android version if they make one?  Android: Netrunner Android?  Well good luck to 'em, I kind of wanted to play this for years but couldn't get enough interest out of anybody local to pursue it - that's why I was kind of excited to hear of it on Android...  More research again - looks like I missed a period where it was ported to an online cardgame app and there was a decently active online community, dammit again...

[sluissa]

Apparently the rules are the same as the old version, it's just been moved, setting wise, to Fantasy Flight's Android board game setting.