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Hacker Game

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Mon, 03/11/2013 - 05:19
Mr Doctor
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Joined: 02/11/2013

Hi,
I just started thinking on how to make a Hacker vs. System game.

These are some of the ideas so far:
[1] Be a card game alt. cards + modular board.
[2] Include a build system/arsenal phase were the hacker builds/buys (using prestige/cred points) his intrusion arsenal and the defender sets up his system (using a monetary budget) to try to withstand the impending attack.
[3] Two or more hackers can compete alt. join forces to take the system (third player) down.
[4] Some "attacks"/methods used are more covert than others; a successful injection of a trojan is more stealthy than spamming or a DDoS-attack. Some are more prestigious as well, earning the hacker VPs or it could be to just determine final hacker score. For instance; a zero day attack is infinitely more prestigious (and stealthy) than, say, brute forcing a password.
[5] Difficulty levels should range from gaining access to ordinary PCs to hacking government networks/banks/middle eastern nuclear research centrifuges with some sort of mission descriptions as well such as steal user accounts, delete files in a database or a try to break in and out and erasing any trace you where there mission etc...

So, what do you guys think? I'd be happy if someone had any feedback / suggestions / ideas to share.

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Tue, 03/12/2013 - 10:53
#1
Platypus_Lord
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Joined: 02/18/2013
similar to Netrunner ?

Are you aware of the existence of a game named Android:Netrunner ? It is a collectible card game very similar in principle to your concept.

It is a strict 2 players game, set in a cyberpubk universe. One player plays an evil corporation and must play and score some cards of his deck which are named "agendas". The other player is a netrunner, or "runner", a hacker that must defeat the corp's projects and steal the "agenda" cards.

The game is similar to magic the gathering in its basic principles : each player has a hand of cards, a draw pile and a discard pile. It is strictly asymetrical : the corp and the runner play with 2 completely different sets of cards.

The corp must build and defend "servers". The runner must attack those servers in order to steal the agenda cards. In order to defend a server, the corp places "ICE" cards facedown in front of it. Each time the runner tries to hack that server, the corp has the opportunity to activate the ICE and trigger its effects. It means that the runner cannot know in advance of the dangers of an attack. ICE cards vary in power, price and effect. Some of them are meant to simply keep the runner out of the server, while others are meant to hurt him (destroy his rig, destroy his hand, possibly kill him and end the game).
The corp's hand, draw pile and discard pile are all considered "servers" that the runner can try to access in order to find agendas. To win, the corp must build "remote servers", in which he can place his agendas in order to score them. He must spend some money and some time "advancing" the agenda (face down... it's important). During this time, the agenda is vulnerable to an attack by the runner in its remote server. Of course, some cards are "ambushes" that look like agendas but actually hurt the runner if he tries to steal them.

Overall, it's a game of deck building, economy management, risk taking and bluffing. If I compare it to your criteriae :

[1] It's a card game. The board is kind of modular insofar as the corp can create "remote servers" which serve as new point of attack for the runner.
[2] There is no separate phase, but the runner must indeed allocate some of his time and money building a rig that allows him to bypass the ICE that the corp plays.
[3] nope, it's a strict 2 players game
[4] there is only one way to attack a server. The runner either has the programms to bypass the ICE or he does not and suffer the consequences.
[5] Difficulty of the run is determined by the corp players who chooses the way he allocates its ressources and defenses. Besides, he can always bluff and install ambushes.

Maybe you already knew of the game, in which case I took a lot of time to ramble (but that's fine, I love this game and love talking about it :D). If not, I suggest you take a look, because it seems really close to what you want to do.

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Tue, 03/12/2013 - 15:54
#2
silasmolino
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Joined: 02/01/2013
Android: Netrunner...

...has set a bar for the standar, but I don't see any reason why you can't change the theme a little along with some of the mecahnics.

First, define the winning conditions: Access secret military information regarding nuclear testing in North Korea. Accessing next IP from Apple.

Success could be based on how many files you can access before being caught or blocked. Or what if the opposing player (the "Man" so to speak) is trying to retrace your steps to figure out where you are hacking from and who you are.

Card play would be used to perform actions such as ACCESS TERMINAL, ATTEMPT USERNAME, ATTEMPT PASSWORD, ATTAMPT HACK, ATTEMPT DOWNLOAD, etc...and the probability of your success could be determined by dice roll. Or perhaps the opposing player (the "Man"), has selected a 5 digit pass code that you have to guess through dice roll and application (select the correct number in the correct sequence), modified by cards (play certain cards to obtain the numbers and sequence of codes).

Just some ideas.

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