Android: Netrunner – Second Thoughts

About this expansion

Android: Netrunner – Second Thoughts is a 2013 data pack for the two-player Android: Netrunner card game, with sessions listed at approximately 45 minutes.

The second Data Pack in the Spin Cycle, Second Thoughts asks both corps and runners to reconsider how they wage their escalating cyberwars. New encryption and decryption technologies may offer flash and sparkle, but basic efficiencies still have an important place in the struggle.

For runners, the pack explores new angles and inventive uses for programs. It also emphasizes becoming more creative and less obvious with program design, encouraging a closer look at how familiar tools can support nuanced strategies.

Corporations receive ways to pursue a two-pronged assault on runner culture. They can employ lethal new ICE and Black Ops teams while also strengthening their public images through new PR campaigns.

• Runner focus: creative program design, inventive program uses, and fresh approaches to cyberwar.
• Corporation focus: lethal ICE, Black Ops teams, and public-relations campaigns.
• Strategic tension: economy, efficiency, encryption, decryption, and public perception all shape the contest.

The pack’s central question is whether victory must come from shattering an opponent’s economy. Perhaps the more powerful play is to change the nature of the contest itself, controlling the message as well as the game.

With its focus on perception, program design, and contrasting corporate pressure, Second Thoughts expands the themes of Android: Netrunner while inviting both sides to rethink familiar strategies.