Android: Netrunner

Some games return to the table without needing to announce themselves. Project Nisei’s very good fan-made starter set gave me an excuse to play six more games of Android: Netrunner, and it immediately reminded me why I still consider it the finest CCG/LCG of them all.

The game begins with building the decks, well before the first card reaches the table. If you built both of them yourself, you know what is inside and some of the pleasure of discovery is inevitably gone; there is still real satisfaction in watching your own ideas come alive across from another player.

That is where the contest between players lives. A handsome deck is not enough: you must read it properly in play and answer what the other player puts in front of you. Even with familiar lists, those six games had enough tension to make me forget that I already knew some of the cards that were coming.

I also picked up plenty of old Vs packs and made some lovely, odd decks. There is a pleasure in that construction, certainly, but as games they do not stand beside Blue Sun. Methadone, at best.

If you have even the smallest hesitation about System Gateway, stop hesitating and press the button. It is a quietly excellent way back to a game that still knows exactly why we loved it.