Netrunner

Last updated
NetRunner
Netrunner cardback.png
Card back to the NetRunner CCG
Designers Richard Garfield
Publishers Wizards of the Coast
Players2
Setup time15 minutes
Playing time≈45 minutes
ChanceSome
Age range9+
Skills Card playing
Arithmetic

Netrunner is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering . It was published by Wizards of the Coast and introduced in April 1996. [1] The game took place in the setting for the Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing game (RPG), but it also drew from the broader cyberpunk genre.

Contents

In 2012, Fantasy Flight Games released Android: Netrunner , a new card game based on Netrunner, under license from Wizards of the Coast. The new game uses Fantasy Flight Games' Living Card Game release format (as used in their Warhammer: Invasion , A Game of Thrones , Call of Cthulhu , and Lord of the Rings games), and shares the cyberpunk setting of their Android board game. Since 2019, the game has been run by the nonprofit games publisher Null Signal Games.

Gameplay

Netrunner depicts cyberspace combat between a global mega-corporation (the Corp) and a hacker (the Runner). The Corp aims to complete its secret agendas before the Runner can hack in and steal data. It isn't easy, though, as the Corp has strong defensive data forts protected by malevolent computer programs known as ICE (short for Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics). Runners must use special programs of their own, called icebreakers, to break through and steal the hidden plans. All this is paid for in the game by bits (representing currency), which are earned and spent during the course of play. [2]

An interesting feature of Netrunner is its asymmetry: each side has different abilities and uses completely different cards distinguished by alternate card backs. This contrasts with most other CCGs, which usually depict a "battle between peers" where each opponent draws upon the same card pool. While a player does not have to play both sides except in tournament play, many players believe that a firm understanding of both leads to better overall player ability.

The Cyberpunk 2020 supplement Rache Bartmoss' Brainware Blowout featured rules on using Netrunner cards instead of the RPG's existing system to simulate netrunning during game sessions. It also gave conversions to the RPG of some of the cards in the base set (the rest having been mentioned in one book or another).

Expansion sets

Several fan-made expansions have been created for Netrunner and released online. Many of them have been sanctioned for tournament play. [6]

Webrunner

Netrunner launched with a proto-alternate reality game called Webrunner: The Hidden Agenda, which cast players as hackers against the evil Futukora corporation. Players broke through seven puzzle-themed "gates" to get the secret data ("agenda"). The popular game was the first online game tied into a product release, making the front page of The New York Times technology section. [7]

A sequel, Webrunner II: The Forbidden Code, followed on release of the Proteus expansion. In this, players were cast as security chiefs beset by hackers.

Online gameplay

Netrunner was playable online through CCG Workshop in the past, but it was shut down by Wizards of the Coast. It is now possible to play Netrunner online using Magic Workstation on Runners' Net Archived 2006-08-11 at the Wayback Machine , a site which also holds IRC chats and forums to discuss the game. Players may also use other CCG engines such as LackeyCCG or Gccg, which allows players to build and share plugins for different card games and play the games online. This game can now be played on the OCTGN online game system.

Product ownership

Zvi Mowshowitz, a well-known Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour player, attempted to purchase the license for Netrunner from Wizards of the Coast after the company stopped producing the game. Negotiations, however, fell apart without any revival of the game or transfer of ownership.

In 2012, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they were releasing a modified version of Netrunner, under license from Wizards of the Coast, called Android: Netrunner .

In 2018, Fantasy Flight Games announced that their partnership with Wizards of the Coast to license development of the game was concluding. Starting October 22, 2018, Fantasy Flight no longer sells Netrunner products. [8]

Since 2019, Null Signal Games has continued to release new expansion sets for Netrunner, compatible with previous Android: Netrunner products, and run in-person and online organised tournaments. [9]

In August and September 2021, Wizards of the Coast renewed trademarks for both physical and digital Netrunner goods and content. [10] [11] However, as of February 23, 2022, Wizards of the Coast filed a Notice of Abandonment for the trademark application. [12]

Reception

Andy Butcher reviewed Netrunner for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. [13] Butcher comments that "Netrunner is almost without fault. It's certainly the best new card game in the last year, and arguably the best since Magic started it all. Richard Garfield has done it again." [13]

Netrunner was lauded by critics, such as InQuest magazine, for its balanced game play and impressive artwork. [14] In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Netrunner as one of "The Millennium's Most Underrated Games". According to editor Scott Haring, "among the connoisseurs of the card game design art, Netrunner is considered to be one of the best-designed games ever." [15]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Garfield</span> American game designer

Richard Channing Garfield is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created Magic: The Gathering, which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). Magic debuted in 1993 and its success spawned many imitations. Garfield oversaw the successful growth of Magic and followed it with other game designs. Included in these are Keyforge, Netrunner, BattleTech(CCG), Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Star Wars Trading Card Game, The Great Dalmuti, Artifact and the board game RoboRally. He also created a variation of the card game Hearts called Complex Hearts. Garfield first became passionate about games when he played the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, so he designed Magic decks to be customizable like roleplaying characters. Garfield and Magic are both in the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame.

Star Wars: Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is an out-of-print customizable card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produced the Star Trek Customizable Card Game and The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. The game was produced from December 1995 until December 2001. Since 2002, the game has been maintained by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee, with new virtual cards being released every few months and the capability to play both in person and online.

<i>Spellfire</i> Collectible card game

Spellfire: Master the Magic is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) created by TSR, Inc. and based on their popular Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. The game appeared first in April 1994, shortly after the introduction of Magic: The Gathering, in the wake of the success enjoyed by trading card games. It was the second CCG to be released, preceding Wizards of the Coast's second CCG Jyhad by two months. More than one dozen expansions for the game were released, and the final expansion was released in October 1997.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a multiplayer collectible card game published by White Wolf Publishing. It is set in the World of Darkness and is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game.

InQuest Gamer was a monthly magazine for game reviews and news that was published from 1995 to 2007. The magazine was published by Wizard Entertainment.

<i>Legend of the Five Rings</i> (collectible card game)

Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) is an out-of-print collectible card game created by a joint venture featuring Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA in 1995 and published until 2015, when it was announced that the game would be discontinued for a rules-incompatible successor that will be part of Fantasy Flight Games' Living Card Game line. L5R takes place in the fictional empire of Rokugan from the Legend of the Five Rings setting, where several clans and factions vie for domination over the empire.

<i>Guardians</i> (card game)

Guardians is a fantasy-themed collectible card game (CCG) published by Friedlander Publishing Group (FPG) in 1995. The initial set was sold in 60-card starter decks and 14-card booster packs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legend of the Burning Sands</span>

Legend of the Burning Sands (LBS) is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) published by Five Rings Publishing Group in July 1998. It was a spin-off from the earlier CCG Legend of the Five Rings. Legend of the Burning Sands was set in the same fictional world as Legend of the Five Rings, but with an Arabian setting rather than an East Asian one, with a few characters appearing in both games. Both games had similar mechanics and emphasized a continuing storyline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasy Flight Games</span> American game company

Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game developer based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a division of Asmodee North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galactic Empires</span> Card Game

Galactic Empires is an out-of-print collectible card game with a science fiction theme. It was published by Companion Games in 1994 until the company's bankruptcy in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood Wars (card game)</span> Collectible card game by TSR

Blood Wars is an out-of-print collectible card game produced by TSR, based on the Planescape campaign setting from Dungeons & Dragons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doomtrooper</span> Card game

Doomtrooper, also known as Doom Trooper, is an out-of-print collectible card game designed by Bryan Winter and was released in January 1995. It was originally published by Target Games and Heartbreaker Hobbies. It is based on concepts from the Mutant Chronicles franchise. Players use warriors to attack and gain either Promotion Points or Destiny Points. Promotion points can be used to win; Destiny Points are used to purchase more warriors and equipment. There are 13 different card types and over 1100 different cards available.

<i>Cyberpunk</i> (collectible card game) Collectible card game

Cyberpunk: The Collectible Card Game, also known as Cyberpunk, the CCG and Cyberpunk CCG, is an out-of-print collectible card game designed by Peter J. Wacks, based on R. Talsorian Games' dystopian near-future role-playing game Cyberpunk 2020.

Android is an adventure board game designed by Kevin Wilson and Dan Clark, published in 2008 by Fantasy Flight Games. Set in a dystopian future, where the Moon is colonized and androids and clones are real, players take on the roles of murder investigators, investigating a murder within the fictional cities of New Angeles and Heinlein, a colony on the Moon. Players attempt to gain Victory Points by solving the murder, solving the conspiracy, and/or resolving the investigators' personal issues. The player with the most Victory Points wins the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collectible card game</span> Game played using specialized playing cards

A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. It was introduced with Magic: The Gathering in 1993.

<i>Heresy: Kingdom Come</i> Collectible card game

Heresy: Kingdom Come is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) developed and published by Last Unicorn Games (LUG) in September 1995. The game was based on religion-themed fantasy in a cyberpunk setting.

<i>Android: Netrunner</i> Expandable Card Game

Android: Netrunner is an Expandable Card Game (ECG) produced by Null Signal Games, previously by Fantasy Flight Games. It is a two-player game set in the dystopian future of the Android universe. Each game is played as a battle between a megacorporation and a hacker ("runner") in a duel to take control of data. It is based on Richard Garfield's Netrunner collectible card game, produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996.

<i>BattleTech Trading Card Game</i>

The BattleTech Trading Card Game is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) set in the BattleTech universe. The game was developed by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) for FASA and released in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killer Instinct (card game)</span> Collectible card game based on the Killer Instinct video game

Killer Instinct is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) by Topps based on the Killer Instinct video game.

References

  1. ↑ Miller, John Jackson (2003), Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition, pp. 411–414.
  2. ↑ Lin, Jim (May 1996), "Up and Running", The Duelist, no. #10, pp. 86–88
  3. ↑ Forbeck, Matt (May 1996). "On the shelves". InQuest . No. 13. Wizard Entertainment. p. 20.
  4. ↑ Haines, Kathryn L. (September 1996), "A Look at Proteus", The Duelist, no. #12, pp. 59–66
  5. ↑ Schneiderman, Jason (September 1996). "New Netrunner expansion". Inquest . No. 17. p. 20.
  6. ↑ "Netrunner Online Hub: Card Sets". Netrunner Online. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  7. ↑ Rothstein, Edward (February 19, 1996). "Netrunner: Hacking With a Shuffled Deck". The New York Times . Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Jacking Out". www.fantasyflightgames.com. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  9. ↑ Theel, Charlie (2022-08-02). "Fans have taken back Android: Netrunner, the popular card game discontinued in 2018". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  10. ↑ "Trademark for games and figures". uspto.report. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Trademark for digital goods". uspto.report. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Notice of Abandonment". uspto.report. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  13. 1 2 Butcher, Andy (May 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane. Future Publishing (6): 56–59.
  14. ↑ "Inquest's Review of Netrunner".
  15. ↑ Haring, Scott D. (1999-11-25). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Most Influential Company and The Millennium's Most Underrated Game". Pyramid (Online). Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  16. ↑ Weld, Richard (April 2003). "Netrunner". Scrye . No. 58. p. 75.
  17. ↑ "Casus Belli #095". 1996.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.