You're in.

It's taken you a while, but you've finally cracked through the corporation's cyber defenses. Your computer rig has been built nearly to perfection, icebreakers that allow you to bypass almost anything, resources that make you that much harder to trace and detect.

But still, your finger hovers over the enter button. Once you access the database, there will be no going back. Is it the vital information you need to expose the corporation once and for all, or a trap meant to ensnare and possibly destroy you?

Steeling your resolve, you press the button...

Welcome to Android Netrunner, one of the best board games ever made and certainly the favorite of my entire collection. It's not quite as versatile as Star Realms or Quantum (a review of which is to come), nor is it as simple to pick up as either game.

However, hiding within Netrunner is a depth that I never knew was possible for a board game. For just over 25 bucks usd you get seven decks of cards (three runner decks and four corporation decks) that allow for endless gameplay options and customizability. I've had the game for over six months and am nowhere near reaching the limits of the possibilities.

Before we begin, as usual feel free to skip to the Buy If section at the bottom!

I'll admit, when the game first arrived on my doorstep and I opened the box I was a bit put off. The box is rather large, but the contents are only two decks and various markers? Uh-oh, was this going to be another Dungeon! - big promise, little depth?

But once I cracked open the included rule book all such fears evaporated. If anything, the game became somewhat intimidating. After a few attempts to play the game with a friend (along with consulting the rule book quite often) the clouds began to clear and one of the most addictive and beautiful board games ever created was revealed.

Netrunner is played with two players, one playing as the runner (a.k.a. hacker) and the other as the corporation. It's considered an asymmetrical game because both players have turns that work differently in significant ways. The corporation uses their hands of cards to build servers, protecting them with ice (which are essentially firewall cards). The hacker uses her cards to build her rig (her computer) to make it able to get past the ice and access the corporation's servers.

^source

Corporations can score agendas by using turns and paying credits (which they place on the back of the card - all of the corporations cards are played face down). The runner must try to deduce which cards are agendas and steal them for himself. The object of the game is to get seven agenda points.

The game is pure genius. The corporation has cards that she can advance in order to throw the runner off and have them waste valuable time, but the runner also has cards that can reveal the contents of servers for free. The game is a matching of wits, and anyone could make a crucial mistake at any time.

The decks different runners (three) and corporations (four) each play dramatically different, allowing for different match ups and combinations that will require different play strategies depending on who you are playing as and who you are playing against that round.

The basic box has more than enough value to warrant buying the game, but if you feel you want even more variation you can always buy any of Netrunner's many expansions. So...

Buy If:

1.) You are a couple looking for a board game or have a best friend with which to play. The game is absolutely awesome - but it's clear it was meant to be played fairly regularly because of the learning curve (i.e., teaching a new person is a little bit of a pain - though only just a little once one person understands it).

2.) You want a deep, personal game that allows you to get into the head of your opponent and play plenty of mind games.

Don't Buy If:

1.) You want something that will take ten minutes to learn.

2.) You want a game that will accomodate many players.

3.) You didn't like the movie Blade Runner, have no imagination, and enjoy punting babies across a field.

Conclusion

This game is great. Deck builders like this one give you so much for what you pay that it's incredibly hard to give a reason why you shouldn't pick them up. If you want a deck builder that can accommodate more people, Star Realms is along these lines (though you'll need to buy two decks for more than two players) and Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn should do the trick, too. However, you should still get Netrunner.

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