https://earthbornegames.com/wp-content/uploads/HWA000-Preview-Quick-Start-1-2048x1583.webp – Been reading about an in-progress card game with Netrunner inspiration called Aidalon… my first-look reactions are…
• Finally… I actually do like that this has Runeterra's "interleaved turns" aspect, where each "click" is followed by an opponent's "click". That was always the most innovative aspect of Runeterra.
• Also… this being "symmetrical Netrunner" feels like an admission that most of Netrunner's fun comes from being the runner. Thing is, I like Netrunner's asymmetry and two deck types a LOT, just for what it does for flavour, and how focused both decks can be at conveying it.
This compression is obviously designed to give a lot more autonomy from a low amount of cards (deck size is only 35) and having "agendas" be implicitly self-protecting is definitely desirable… but, it means a lot of the meaning of each card type is pretty blunted and muddied.
• The flavour does not feel as smooth or resonant as in Netrunner. While the concept of characters gathering political power in a faction-fractured city is OK, it doesn't really explain how the "runner" also manages their districts like a "corp", or sell the stakes of a game.
• There's a LOT of role compression for cards… each zone is a "central server" but can ALSO have multiple asset-like cards… most installables have effects, but can ALSO be tapped for resources… "agendas" must be trashed to be stolen and serve as both "ice" and "asset"…