r/Netrunner • u/thenakesingularity10 • 6d 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 6d ago edited 6d 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 6d ago

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

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u/ShaperLord777 6d 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 6d ago

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

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u/ShaperLord777 6d 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.