next »

[InfiniteStateMachine]

I play this a couple times a week at lunch with some people at work.

the game is really fun. There are a couple issues

1) Takes a long time to learn. I had to play about 15 games before I stopped constantly referring to the instruction manual.
2) The game has jargon-itis. It could be a lot simpler if they didn't give silly names to different game elements. For instance the pile of cards you draw from is called the stack for the hacker and R&D for the corp. If you are a programmer it's even more confusing because the names make no sense in that regard.
3) 2 of the damage types do the same thing. They could have just given it the same name.

Anyways great game despite those issues. There's a podcast that a local game developer here in Vancouver does that's ONLY about this game. I haven't listened to it yet because I'm still not that great at the game (I still play the premade decks) but I'm getting close to that point.

https://www.idlethumbs.net/terminal7

[Nillo]

The jargon creates a learning curve, but I think it helps a lot with the flavor of the game once you've figured it out. It seems much cooler to "make a run on R&D" than to "attack the opponent's deck". And it makes sense that the Corporation is getting new tools from the R&D department.

I'm really impressed with the flavor of the game overall and how it's reflected in the game mechanics. When you play as the corporation, you get the feeling of being more powerful than the runner, but also more sluggish and slow to take action. The runner is relatively weak compared to corporate ICE, but they are able to control the flow of the game by choosing when to jump into the fray and when to pull back.

The net/meat damage distinction is important for flavor as well. Net damage is dealt to the runner in the digital world of running. Meat damage involves simply going to the runner's location and blowing them to pieces with explosives. Which is why you normally need to tag the runner before dealing meat damage to them. The tag tells the Corp where the Runner is, so they can go and beat them up.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Yeah I do get that there's narrative related reasons for these differently named but identical functioning mechanics but it still makes it quite confusing to teach people the game.

Anyways these are just minor issues in the grand scheme of things. It certainly is a fun game.