Starter packs for fan-made Android: Netrunner follow-up, Project NISEI, have been released
After being delayed multiple times.
Project NISEI, the fan-created successor to living card game Android: Netrunner, has finally seen the release of its first starter packs.
System Gateway Starter Pack was initially announced in 2019, with a planned release date of Q2 2020. The release was then delayed to last December, before seemingly being pushed back to this month, eventually launching on March 28th. The creators behind the two-player card game are yet to confirm exactly why the Starter Pack has experienced multiple delays.
Update: A community manager for Project NISEI has told Dicebreaker that the reasons behind the delays to the release of the System Gateway Starter Pack were due to changes in the company team and allowing for enough time to release quality decks without the need for crunch.
Prior to the release of System Gateway, Project NISEI had seen the launch of decks - such as Downfall and Uprising - that were designed to be unofficial expansions to the original Netrunner, rather than entry-points for entirely new players.
System Gateway Starter Pack is intended to be a more accessible experience for beginners, capable of being played without previous knowledge of Netrunner and completely separate from the card game. The Starter Pack comes with one Runner deck and a Corp deck, as well as 10 additional cards designed to allow players to customise their decks once they’ve learnt the ropes.
Released alongside System Gateway Starter Pack is a Deckbuilding Pack containing copies of the cards found within the Starter Pack - on top of a selection of new cards - that players can use to start creating their own unique decks outside of the Starter Pack. These additional cards include identity cards representing each of the main factions in NISEI.
Project NISEI is an unofficial reboot of the original Netrunner card game designed to continue supporting the series after its cancellation by publisher Fantasy Flight Games in 2018. During the game, two players compete against each other as either a hacker or corporate agent in the realm of cyberspace. As the hacker, the player will be attempting to tear through the corporation’s security, whilst the player controlling the corp will have to disable the hacker before they can achieve their goal.
Prior to its cancellation by Fantasy Flight, Netrunner was supported by a series of fixed expansions that encouraged a passionate fan base - whose enthusiasm for the game led to the creation of Project NISEI, otherwise known as the Netrunner International Support and Expansion Initiative. Before being owned by Fantasy Flight, Netrunner was originally an expandable card game created by Richard Garfield, the designer of Magic: The Gathering and Keyforge, and published by Wizards of the Coast.
System Gateway Starter Pack for Project NISEI is available for $21 (£15) from DriveThruCards, with the Deckbuilding Pack being priced at $29 (£20) on the same website. Alternatively, both are available as a bundle on DriveThruCards for $45 (£32).