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.
The game was launched in 2012. In 2017, a second edition of the core set was announced which replaced some of the original cards with cards from the first two expansion cycles. In 2018, Fantasy Flight Games' license with Wizards of the Coast ended, and the game was discontinued, with Reign and Reverie being the company's last expansion. During its FFG era, the game was known as a Living Card Game (LCG), which is an FFG-trademarked term for ECGs. After a brief pause, since 2019, the game has been produced by Null Signal Games (initially, Project NISEI), who release new compatible expansions and run organized tournament events.
Gameplay Like the original, the game is asymmetric and involves two players, one playing a hacker called "Runner" and the other playing a Corporation ("the Corp"). The goal of both players is to collect victory points (called "Agenda points") to a threshold of 7, but only the Corp's deck contains Agenda cards that are worth these points.
Both players only have a certain amount of game actions available in their respective turns. These actions can be used to draw additional cards, gain a currency called credits to pay for playing cards or using effects on them, or playing cards in different manners depending on the card type. Both sides have a card type for a one-time effect after which the card is placed in the discard pile of the side, but most cards are "installed" and remain on the table until they are discarded for an effect or removed by the other side.
The Corp can install Agendas or other valuable game cards called Assets or Upgrades. Such cards are placed into Servers, and other cards called ICE can be placed as countermeasures that protect these Servers. Rather than paying for the cost of a card when it is installed, all cards the Corp installs are placed face down and can be turned up later by paying its cost to activate them when the Corp wishes to or the Runner interacts with the card (this does not take a Click action). Cards discarded by the Corp are also placed face down in the discard pile. Installed Agendas can be advanced with a game action and if their requirements are fulfilled they can be scored, at which point they can also unlock additional gameplay benefits to the Corp. Other cards that are either beneficial to the Corp or detrimental to the runner can also be advanced, strengthening their effects and obfuscating which cards are Agendas and which are not or placing traps and ambushes for the Runner. The Corp's hand, deck and discard pile also each represents a Server that needs to be protected.
In their turn the Runner can play their cards for the respective cost on the card to improve their options or gain resources. However, their main goal is to perform "runs" which attack one of the Corp's Servers. In Runs they can utilize cards such as Programs that can disable ICE cards or bypass them. Once they have passed all ICE on a Server, they access all cards installed in that Server, and, depending on which Server they attacked, either a random card from the Corp's hand, the top card of the Corp's deck or all cards in the discard pile. If the runner accesses an Agenda card, they steal it and add it to their score area. Other cards can be placed into the Corp's discard pile if the Runner pays a cost to do so.
Some gameplay effects, such as certain ICE the Runner did not properly disable, will deal damage to the Runner which takes the form of discarding a random card from the Runner's hand. If they need to discard more cards than they are able to, they are "flatlined" and lose the game. Meanwhile the Corp is forced to draw a card every turn. This will force Agenda cards into their hand they need to prevent the runner from stealing, and if they are required to draw cards from a depleted deck they lose the game.
Differences from the original While the game retains much of the gameplay of the original, there are some key differences:
The original Netrunner game was sold in randomized booster packs and semi-random starter decks, similar to Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games. Fantasy Flight's version has been built like its other Living Card Games. The expansions are sold in fixed, non-random sets, either as monthly packs ("Data Packs"), or, less frequently, deluxe box expansions. While this approach virtually eliminates the secondary card market, card speculation, and draft formats, it also promotes an equal playing field and game play over the value of the cards. Fantasy Flight reprinted the original card set and various data packs after they sold out; this is similar to the company's support of its other Living Card Games. Collectible card games (like Magic) do not reprint card sets, preferring to re-build the card base and help support a secondary card market and card pricing speculation. The setting for the original game was based on the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG. The game has been moved to Fantasy Flight's Android setting. The original game had only two factions: Corp and Runner. The new version splits the two factions into four Corps (Jinteki, NBN, Haas-Bioroid, and the Weyland Consortium) and three core Runner types (Anarch, Criminal, and Shaper) as well as 3 Runner mini-factions (Adam, Apex, and Sunny Lebeau). Every deck must have an identity card from one of these factions. This card may grant one or more special abilities and sets deck-building constraints. A deck cannot have more than three copies of a single card (by name) in it, unless specifically stated on the card. In the original game, no limit was imposed. In the original game, the corp had a maximum deck size for specific numbers of agenda points (for example, 18-19 agenda points meant a maximum deck size of 45 cards, 20-21 agenda points meant max 50 cards, and so on). In the new game, the relationship is reversed; a deck size interval is tied to a number of agenda points (for example, a 45-49 card deck must have 20-21 agenda points). This means that the corporation must decide between using the lower number for more consistency, the higher number for lower agenda density, or somewhere in between. Some terminology has changed: bits have been replaced with credits, actions replaced by clicks, and data forts replaced by servers. Also, some card types have been renamed (for example, Prep cards are now Events). Some mechanics have been simplified or otherwise altered. In the original game, the "trace" mechanic was a blind bid, with both players revealing their bids simultaneously. Now traces are done openly, with the Corp bidding first, followed by the Runner. In the original game, the Corporation would lose the game if they received 7 Bad Publicity tokens. In Android: Netrunner the Corporation can have any number of Bad Publicity tokens without fear of losing, but each Bad Publicity token gives the Runner a free "temporary use" credit to use during each run. Due to these changes, cards from the two games are not interchangeable. Richard Garfield has stated that "almost all [changes] are reasonable simplifications or elaborations on the original mechanics", and that he is "confident that care was taken not to change for the sake of change."
Fantasy Flight Games releases
Cycles Each Data Pack contained 60 cards, had a complete playset of new cards (typically three copies each of twenty cards), and was part of a six-pack "cycle". A new pack was released monthly during the cycle; between cycles the wait was typically three to four months.
Genesis + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon What Lies Ahead December 2012 Wireless Trace Amount January 2013 Wireless Cyber Exodus February 2013 Wireless A Study in Static March 2013 Wireless Humanity's Shadow May 2013 Wireless Future Proof June 2013 Wireless
Spin + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon Opening Moves September 2013 Microphone Second Thoughts November 2013 Microphone Mala Tempora December 2013 Microphone True Colors January 2014 Microphone Fear and Loathing February 2014 Microphone Double Time March 2014 Microphone
Lunar + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon Upstalk July 2014 Waxing Moon The Spaces Between August 2014 Waxing Moon First Contact September 2014 Waxing Moon Up and Over October 2014 Waxing Moon All That Remains November 2014 Waxing Moon The Source December 2014 Waxing Moon
SanSan + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon The Valley April 2015 Sun Breaker Bay April 2015 Sun Chrome City May 2015 Sun The Underway July 2015 Sun Old Hollywood August 2015 Sun The Universe of Tomorrow September 2015 Sun
Mumbad + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon Kala Ghoda January 2016 Blank Flag Business First March 2016 Blank Flag Democracy and Dogma March 2016 Blank Flag Salsette Island April 2016 Blank Flag The Liberated Mind May 2016 Blank Flag Fear the Masses June 2016 Blank Flag
Flashpoint + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon 23 Seconds July 2016 Titan Transnational Credit Sign Blood Money August 2016 Titan Transnational Credit Sign Escalation October 2016 Titan Transnational Credit Sign Intervention November 2016 Titan Transnational Credit Sign Martial Law December 2016 Titan Transnational Credit Sign Quorum January 2017 Titan Transnational Credit Sign
Red Sands + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon Daedalus Complex February 2017 Centurion Helmet Station One March 2017 Centurion Helmet Earth's Scion May 2017 Centurion Helmet Blood and Water June 2017 Centurion Helmet Free Mars July 2017 Centurion Helmet Crimson Dust August 2017 Centurion Helmet
Kitara + Expansion Name Release date Expansion Icon Sovereign Sight December 2017 Leafless Tree Down the White Nile February 2018 Leafless Tree Council of the Crest March 2018 Leafless Tree The Devil and the Dragon April 2018 Leafless Tree Whispers in Nalubaale May 2018 Leafless Tree Kampala Ascendent May 31, 2018 Leafless Tree
Deluxe expansions Deluxe expansions are released between cycles. Deluxe expansions originally focused on two factions (one Corporation and one Runner) and contain three copies of 55 cards. The fourth and fifth deluxe expansions break from this pattern; the fourth introduces three new Runner "mini-factions" along with its focus on a Corporation, while the fifth includes cards for all 7 factions and 3 mini-factions. + Expansion Name Release date Factions Expansion Icon Creation and Control July 2013 Haas-Bioroid, Shaper Brain Honor and Profit May 2014 Jinteki, Criminal Helix Order and Chaos January 28, 2015 Weyland, Anarch Eye Data and Destiny October 28, 2015 NBN, Runner mini-factions Trifold Reign and Reverie June 2018 All factions Omega
Narrative campaign expansions Narrative campaign expansions include new player cards (including Runner and Corp identities), printed player dashboards (referred to as "PAD sheets") to hold stickers that will affect future games played in the same campaign setting, and packs of secret campaign cards and stickers. A Core Set is required to play a narrative campaign expansion. + Expansion Name Release date Factions Expansion Icon Terminal Directive April 30, 2017 Criminal, Shaper, Haas-Bioroid, Weyland Heartbeat
Null Signal Games releases
Ashes +Expansion nameRelease dateExpansion iconDownfallMarch 2019BeanstalkUprisingDecember 2019Beanstalk
Magnum Opus reprint +Expansion nameRelease dateExpansion iconMagnum OpusJuly 2019Magnum Opus
System +Expansion nameRelease dateExpansion iconSystem GatewayMarch 2021PortalSystem Update 2021March 202121 in circular arrows
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