Android Netrunner: Introduction

What is Android Netrunner?

Android Netrunner from Fantasy Flight Games is a new and recent remake of an old Wizards of the Coast collectible card game called Netrunner. Originally designed by Richard Garfield himself (the creator of Magic the Gathering), this is a two player game that touts asymmetrical interaction in order to win. Basically what that means is: both sides have completely differing mechanics in order to achieve their own goals to win. The great appeal of this game to me is that the players have completely differing gameplay mechanics, but the axis of interaction is seemingly fair and balanced. Not only that, it makes so much sense in a flavorful way as to greatly support the theme and world in which this game takes place in.

World of Android Netrunner

The world of Android Netrunner takes place in a futuristic cyberpunk world. Paraphrasing from the instruction booklet:

It is the future. Enormous mega-corporations control the various aspects of humanity: food, entertainment, life choices, etc... through what is known as the network. Everyone is on the network, and the network is always moving, evolving and impossible to pinpoint or lockdown. The network is the backbone of civilization, and it is the only weakness that the corporations have. Whether it is the desire to express themselves, exploit for profit or expose the lies in the heart of the system: rogue individual specialists with the hardware resources and software talent all intersect with the motivating factor of digital independence from the network. These people are called Runners.

How I Got Started on This

So, the sole reason why I'm keen on this game- is because my gamer friend Jeremy. He is a huge fan of Netrunner, and has been a fan since the old days of Netrunner card game.

He told me that I would like this game, and over the course of 3 or 4 broken sessions, he finally taught me how to play the game. Since both sides are so different, it took me a few times of seeing both sides played before I really "got" it.

It leads up to a fateful day where he was hanging out with me while helping me with a spontaneous yard sale. We got bored towards the end of it and we decided to play a game of Netrunner. Needless to say, I was hooked after that. As and honorable mention of a milestone- it was the first time either of us had played Netrunner outside on a nice sunny day. It might have even been the first time I played any collectible card game outside.

Gameplay

Two players play against each other, one plays the role as the established Corporation trying to fulfill its own agendas, while the other player runs against the corporation and attempts to disrupt their agendas. Veterans will noticed that the gameplay mechanics are generally unchanged between the two versions, with minor (albeit good streamlined) changes.

As the Corporation, you use your established R&D (draw deck), Archives (discard pile) and HQ (hand) to help you setup remote servers, defend dataforts, and advance your agendas. If you gain 7 Agenda points through advancement- you win.

As the runner, all you need to do is access corporate agendas to get them. Access 7 Agenda points, and you win.
I barely got a chance to play the old game, but with the new remake, it allows for great strategy and deck building diversity , yet have focused themes with new cards called "Identities". They give you a specific Corporation or Runner to play as (instead of previous general Corporations and Runners).

I'll be a little obsessed about this for a while- as I've been playing against myself for a while. There is a slight element of deception on the part of the Corporation. So playing against myself isn't quite the best way to test my skills.

Going Forward
Jeremy came up with this crazy idea to start writing review articles of specific matchups. Whether we do written article reviews, video tutorials or a podcast... this will not be the last that you hear of Android Netrunner.