zoom_in Click to enlarge

Android: Netrunner

▲ ▼

description Android: Netrunner Overview

Released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2012, Android: Netrunner adapted Richard Garfield's 1996 collectible card game into a contest between two very different opponents. Within its dystopian cyberpunk setting, a megacorporation protects its servers while a lone hacker, called a runner, attempts to breach them. The corporation advances agendas behind defensive cards, and the runner tries to steal those agendas through carefully chosen attacks. The unequal roles give each side its own cards and decisions, making knowledge of the opponent as important as deck construction.

Hidden information and the threat of a costly intrusion create a strong element of bluffing. Its Living Card Game model supplied fixed card contents in expansions rather than randomized boosters. That approach suited competitive deckbuilders who preferred planning purchases around known cards and exploring a game with distinctly different styles of play.

help Android: Netrunner FAQ

What are the two roles players choose from in Android: Netrunner?

Android: Netrunner is an asymmetric, two-player card game where one player assumes the role of a powerful megacorporation. The other player takes on the role of a lone hacker, known as a Runner, attempting to steal the corporation's hidden agendas.

When did Android: Netrunner originally release?

Fantasy Flight Games released Android: Netrunner in 2012, adapting the game from Richard Garfield’s original 1996 collectible card game. The 2012 version was designed as a Living Card Game to remove the randomized elements of traditional booster packs.

What is the difference between a Living Card Game and a Collectible Card Game?

In a Collectible Card Game like Magic: The Gathering, players buy randomized booster packs hoping for rare cards. Android: Netrunner was sold as a Living Card Game, meaning every expansion box contained a fixed, known set of cards that players could buy once.

What is the cyberpunk setting of Android: Netrunner?

The game is set in Fantasy Flight Games' Android universe, a dystopian cyberpunk future heavily inspired by Blade Runner. Four massive mega-corporations—Jinteki, Haas-Bioroid, Weyland Consortium, and NBN—vie for control against the underground network of runners.

swap_horiz

Looking for Android: Netrunner alternatives? Compare top competitors ranked & scored

arrow_forward