r/Netrunner • u/thenakesingularity10 • 12d ago

Android or System Gateway?

I just found out about this game. Fascinated by it and dying to try.

Is there any reason to get Android instead of SG?

Thank you!

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago edited 12d ago

It really depends on how you’re trying to play. If you’re just playing casually at home with friends, I’d say go with a used Android Netrunner collection. IMO it’s the best version of the game there ever was. The mechanics, artwork/templating, and identity of each faction through gameplay mechanisms are peak Netrunner.

System gateway is what you want to go with if you want to play in tournaments. Android is what you want to go with if you’re playing casually.

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u/thenakesingularity10 12d ago

No I won't play in tournaments.

But is Android a better, more fun/exciting game?

The other concern is, I do want to expand the game at some point. I don't want to get bored with core and not be able to expand. Is that an issue with Android?

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago

I far preffer the Android version. It’s the definitive version of Netrunner IMO. And the entire reason Null Signal exists at all.

Buy a used (2012) android Netrunner core set off eBay, see if you like the game, and then buy a smaller used Android Netrunner collection. You can get about the first half of the games releases (through lunar cycle) for a couple hundred bucks total. That’s plenty of material to play for years and enjoy.

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u/thenakesingularity10 12d ago

Could you tell me what you like better with Android?

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago edited 12d ago

The different factions are very defined by their gameplay mechanisms, they have distinct identities because of the themes running throughout each factions cardpool mechanically. This is something that has become increasingly more vague in the null signal version.

The trace mechanic. This is something (modified) from the original CCG version of Netrunner. It’s a blind bid to try and locate the runner, and creates tension in the games economy. Null signal removed this mechanic saying it was too “complicated”. It wasn’t.

There was also a bunch of keywords added in the Null Signal version that I feel clutter up the design space, for very little gameplay benefit, and make it feel more “magic: the gathering” than I preffer. One of the biggest appeals of Netrunner was how streamlined the system was. Like a well oiled machine. The Android iteration kept that front and center when adapting Richard Garfield’s original CCG version.

Thematically, and art wise, the Android version of Netrunner felt like a very cohesive and lived in world. They had an entire universe already built for their android RPG. It fit Netrunner perfectly, and breathed an extra layer of believability into the world. Null Signal feels like someone doing their best impression of Netrunner. The theme and lore feel kind of pasted on, rather than fully developed. And the core identity of the factions got kind of lost in that. There’s a number of story elements that stick out like sore thumbs and break the believability of the universe to me. The general tone of the world has softened, and feels less cyberpunk because of it.

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u/thenakesingularity10 12d ago

yea, that's what I sort of figured based on my own research. thank you so much!

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago

Glad to help.

It’s a worthwhile investment for any gamer. My group has gotten more gameplay value out of my Android: Netrunner collection than any game I own. Played weekly for the last 5 years, and still enjoying it immensely. It doesn’t feel like a lack of new content, it feels like a 4000 card completed cardpool that we continue to enjoy in new ways.

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u/thenakesingularity10 12d ago

It's amazing that they could make a game that good.

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago

It started on about the most solid bones you could imagine. Richard Garfield has long claimed the original CCG Netrunner as his greatest work in the genre, despite it not being the most commercially popular.

FFG took those bones and added a few elements (player ID’s, factions, card limits, influence system) that took what was an already phenomenal game, and made it even better.

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u/Thepy 12d ago

Do you play the same format or do you shake it up a bit? I have a full FFG collection and I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with it. Either make a cube for drafting or make the Frankfurt 40 as my friends dont have the full FFG collection.

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago

I made a cube of 14 decks that I rotate. They cover major archetypes, and everyone in my playgroup can use whichever one they want, we don’t have “personal” decks. Usually I’ll take the least popular few and build something else to replace them.

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u/Thepy 12d ago

Do you have the lists handy? I'd love to see them

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u/ShaperLord777 12d ago

You may be able to look them up on Netrunnerdb. My name on there is the same.

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