How to Play Netrunner

Netrunner is an amazing game. Unfortunately the rulebook is a little hard to read in that the
flavour text within tends to sometimes overshadow the details you need to know to actually
play the game and the order in which it explains the game makes no sense to me.

I struggled a lot with learning how to play Netrunner at first but now I’ve gotten the rules down
pat for the most part. I figured I can pass what I’ve learned along and simplify the rules as much
as possible in the hopes of teaching this fine game to those that otherwise would not be able to
play it. So if you happen to have a starter set of Netrunner at home or maybe a small collection
but just have not been able to get your head around the rules maybe this will help!

Before We Begin…

I assume you already have a set of two decks to play with: one Runner deck and one
Corporation deck. (If not, there have been plenty of forum topics about the construction of
decks on BGG that you can check out.) Besides the decks you will also need some sort of chits
or tokens to denote the in-game currency and various other items.
Goal of the Game:
The Corporation Wins if:
- They score agendas worth a total of 7 agenda points
- They cause the Runner to discard more cards than he is holding
The Runner Wins if:
- They liberate a total of 7 agenda points from the Corporation
- The Corporation is not able to draw a card because their deck is exhausted

Start of the Game:

The Corporation begins with:
- 5 cards from their deck
- 5 bits worth of currency (use some sort of tokens/chits to represent bits)
The Runner begins with:
- 5 cards from their deck
- 5 bits worth of currency
- 4 MU (Memory Units) for the purposes of installation of programs

Important Icons:
The following icons show up on many different cards so it is important you know what they
mean.
1 bit (the number inside indicates the number of bits)

An action is required to generate the effect that follows this icon

Trashing this card is required to generate the effect that follows this icon

For example, in order to use South African Mining Corp (a Corporation card), the Corporation
player needs to spend 3 actions to gain 6 bits from the bank.
The Corporation’s Turn:
The Corporation always plays first. Their turn consists of always drawing one card from their
deck and then they must perform 3 actions which may consist of any of the following:
- Draw another card from their deck (known as their R&D, or Research & Development)
- Take a bit from the supply
- Install an agenda, ice, node, or upgrade card (Install means to put into play)
- Play an operation card
- Advance a card that is capable of being advanced
- If the Runner is tagged, pay 2 bits to destroy one of the Runner’s resource cards
- Perform an action by a card they already have in play.

The Runner’s Turn:

The Runner must take 4 actions during their turn, which may consist of any of the following:
- Draw a card from their deck (known as their stack)
- Take a bit from the supply
- Install a hardware, resource, or program card
- Play a prep card
- Make a run on a data fort
- If the Runner is tagged, pay 2 bits to lose a tag
- Perform an action by a card they already have in play

Both the Corporation and Runner may perform the same action multiple times during their turn
if they wish to do so.

Turn End:
At the end of their turn, each played discards down to their maximum hand size, which began
the game at 5 cards. (Note: Whenever the Corporation player discards cards he always places
them in his discard pile facedown. The Runner keeps his discards face up.)
The Corporation’s Play Area:
The Corporation player’s area consists of 3 major sections at the start of the game which are
referred to as central data forts:
- R&D (their deck) [short for Research & Development]
- The HQ (their hand of cards) [short for Headquarters]
- The Archives (their discard pile, which is empty at the beginning)

Besides these 3 areas, the Corporation player will be able to create areas off to the side which
are called subsidiary data forts. It is only in these subsidiary data forts where Agendas will be
advanced and eventually scored for points. Node cards can also be installed only in subsidiary
data forts. There is no limit to the number of subsidiary data forts the Corporation can have.

Let’s now take a look at what a typical Agenda card looks like.
Agendas:
Agendas are installed vertically and face down, and only in subsidiary data forts. Only one
agenda can occupy a given data fort at a time. The Corporation player can simply play an
Agenda creating a new subsidiary data fort or overwrite an existing agenda or node card in a
subsidiary data fort on their turn, trashing the existing card. (The trashed card is placed face
down in the Archives).

At the bottom right of the Agenda card is the number of agenda points the Corporation player
will gain when this Agenda is scored. When the Agenda is scored not only will the Corporation
gain these points but they will also receive the bonus that is written on the card. There are a
variety of different agendas in the game that have varying bonus effects and point values.

Now, scoring an agenda is no easy task. Listed at the top right of the agenda is its difficulty. This
is the number of times this agenda needs to be advanced before it is scored. Advancing an
agenda by one requires one action. Whenever the Corporation advances a card they will need
to place an advancement counter onto the card. Once the required number of advancement
counters has been placed on the Agenda, the Corporation can flip over the card to reveal it,
automatically scoring the appropriate number of Agenda points and resolving the bonus the
card provides.

If a Runner is able to access an Agenda before it is fully advanced, he automatically

steals/liberates it and claims the Agenda points, ignoring the bonus effect written on the card
as it only applies when the Corporation scores the agenda.
Nodes
Besides Agendas, subsidiary data forts can also house Nodes. These cards provide the
Corporation with some benefit and can sometimes serve to distract the Runner from stealing
actual Agendas if he believes a node is an Agenda. This is because sometimes nodes can be
advanced; if so, this will be indicated on the card.

Nodes are installed vertically and face down, and only in subsidiary data forts, just like Agendas.
The effect of the Node doesn’t come into play until the Corporation activates, or rezzes, the
Node by paying its Rez Cost listed on the top right of the card. If the Runner ever accesses a
Node, they can pay its trash cost with their own bits to put it on top of the Corporation’s
Archives.
Upgrades:
Upgrades are cards that serve to improve the data fort they are installed in. Upgrades can be
installed in ANY data fort (even central ones). There is also no limit to the number of Upgrades
in a given data fort.

Upgrades are installed vertically and face down just like Agendas and Nodes. If an Upgrade is
installed in a central data fort, it is placed behind the appropriate pile. (If an Upgrade is installed
inside HQ, it is placed behind the bit pool.) Upgrades must be revealed and rezzed to take
effect.
ICE:
Now that you know the 3 types of cards that can be installed in data forts you’ll need to next
learn about the cards that serve to protect them from being accessed by the Runner. Intrusion
Countermeasures Electronics, or ICE for short, are those cards.

ICE is installed horizontally and face down in front of the data fort it is to protect. The first piece
of ICE on a data fort can be installed at no cost to the Corporation. If the Corporation player
wishes to install additional ICE onto a data fort, they must play 1 bit for each ICE card already
installed on that fort. New ICE is always placed in the outermost position, in front of any
existing ICE. (If the Corporation player so wishes, they can trash any existing pieces of ICE
already on the fort to lower the cost of the new ICE being installed. This does not use up any
actions.)
ICE can only be rezzed when the Runner approaches it during a run on that fort. At that time
the Corporation can choose to either pay the rez cost of the ICE, activating the ICE’s
subroutines, or to let the Runner through. Once ICE has been rezzed it remains active and need
not be paid for again. (It helps to denote whether ICE has been rezzed or not with tokens or
chits. I personally place a token over the rez cost as an indicator that it has already been paid
for). Subroutines will be explained later on in this post in the Runner section.

It is important to note that there are 3 types of ICE: Sentry, Wall, and Code Gate.
Operations:
Operations are one-time effects that are immediately executed and then sent to the Archives.

To play an Operation card, the Corporation player spends an action, pays the cost, executes the
card’s effect, and then trashes it.

PHEW! That’s essentially it for the Corporation.

The Runner’s Play Area:
The Runner’s play area is much less distinct than the Corporation. Any cards the Runner installs
will be placed in front of him as he chooses. There are no defined areas in which cards need to
be installed, but it helps to keep installed cards grouped by their type for ease of play.

There are 4 types of Runner cards: Program, Hardware, Resource, and Prep cards. Unlike some
of the Corporation cards which are installed face down and can be rezzed later, all Runner cards
are installed face up and must be rezzed at the time of their installation.

Prep:
These are analogous to Operations. At the upper right is the cost that must be paid for in bits so
that the card effect can immediately take place. Afterwards the card is placed in the Runner’s
discard pile (called the trash). These are the only Runner cards that are discarded after they are
used. Every other type of Runner card stays in play after being rezzed.
Resources:
The Runner can have any number of resources in play. Installing a resource takes an action and
the required number of bits listed on the upper right of the card.

During the course of the game, if the Runner is given a tag by the Corporation, the Corporation
can trash one of the Runner’s resources on their turn by taking an action and paying 2 bits.
Hardware:
The Runner can have any number of hardware installed. Installing a piece of hardware takes an
action as well as the required number of bits listed on the upper right of the card.
Programs:
Every program card has a Memory Unit (MU) cost. The Runner begins the game with 4 MU. The
combined cost of the Runner’s programs in play cannot exceed the number of MU he has.
Installing a program takes an action as well as the required number of bits listed on the upper
right of the card. The Runner can choose to overwrite one or more programs they already have
in play, whether or not they need to free up MU. This trashes the program(s).

If at any point the Runner has too many programs in play for the MU they have, they must
immediately trash enough programs to correct the situation.

Making a Run on a Data Fort:

In order to steal an agenda from a data fort the Runner needs to make a run on that data fort
and deal with any ICE that is protecting it. If he is able to make it past every piece of ICE from
the outermost to the innermost guarding a data fort his run is considered to be successful. If
there is no ICE protecting a given data fort, the Runner can access that data fort automatically
when he makes a run on it.

The reward for successfully making a run on a data fort depends on the data fort itself.
A successful run on R&D (the Corporation’s deck) results in the Runner looking at the top card
of R&D. If it is an Agenda, he reveals the card to the Corporation player and he automatically
steals it and receives the listed amount of Agenda points. Otherwise, he has the option of
paying the trash cost of the card with his own bits to send it to the Corporation’s archives. If he
doesn’t want to do this he simply leaves the card on top of R&D.

A successful run on HQ (the Corporation’s current hand of cards) results in the Runner looking
at one random card from the Corporation’s hand of cards. If it is an Agenda, he reveals the card
to the Corporation player and he automatically steals it and receives the listed amount of
Agenda points. Otherwise, he has the option of paying the trash cost of the card with his own
bits to send it to the Corporation’s archives. If he doesn’t want to do this he simply gives the
card back to the Corporation’s hand.

A successful run on the Archives (the Corporation’s discard pile) results in the Runner looking
through all the cards in the Archives. The Runner takes any and all Agendas he finds there and
scores them. Afterwards all the cards remain in the Archives.

A successful run on a subsidiary data fort results in the Runner looking at all nodes, upgrades
and agendas installed in that data fort. Agendas are scored for the Runner, and in the event of
accessing a node or upgrade, the Runner has the option to pay the trash cost for any of these
cards to send them into the Corporation’s Archives.

Dealing with ICE:

There are 3 stages in dealing with a piece of ICE:
1) Approach - The Runner is approaching a piece of ICE. If that piece of ICE is not already
rezzed, the Corporation player can rez it at this point, flipping the card face up if it
hasn’t been revealed yet.
2) Encounter - If the ICE is rezzed, the Runner encounters it and must deal with all its listed
subroutines. The Runner can use any of his ice breaker programs to break the
subroutines (preventing them from taking effect). If the ICE is not rezzed or if all the
subroutines are broken that piece of ICE is passed by the Runner. Any unbroken
subroutines take effect, in listed order from top down on the card. If none of the
unbroken subroutines end the run the Runner passes the ICE.
3) Post-Encounter – The Runner has the choice to either approach the next piece of ICE, or
to jack out (voluntarily ending the run). This is the only time the Runner can jack out.
Icebreakers:
Icebreakers are programs the Runner will need in order to break through subroutines on ICE
they pass when they make a run on a data fort.

Each piece of ICE has one or more subroutines on it. To break a subroutine the Runner needs to
have an icebreaker program in play. Each icebreaker affects a certain type of ICE it references
(walls, code gates, sentries). In the above image for example, the Black Dahlia icebreaker can
break sentry subroutines (but it won’t help you in dealing with code gate or wall ICE).

If the Runner has an appropriate type of icebreaker in play the next thing he needs to do is
ensure his icebreaker has enough strength to break the subroutines on the ICE. The
Icebreaker’s strength is listed in the lower right corner of the card. In order to be even able to
break a subroutine the Icebreaker needs to equal or exceed the ICE’s strength (which is listed
on the lower left of the card, or lower right of the card when viewed from its side). Most
icebreakers allow the Runner to pay a certain amount of bits to increase the strength of the
icebreaker. In the above image for example, the Runner can pay 2 bits to increase the strength
of Black Dahlia by 1. He can pay this amount as many times as he needs to get the icebreaker
strong enough.

Once the icebreaker is strong enough, the Runner can pay the appropriate amount of bits listed
on the icebreaker to break a subroutine. Usually a single icebreaker is used to break all the
subroutines of a given piece of ice, but the Runner may break each subroutine with a different
icebreaker.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The increase in Icebreaker strength only lasts for the current piece of ICE
the Runner is dealing with. If the Runner passes that piece of ICE and then encounters a second
piece of ICE, he’ll need to pay to increase the strength of his icebreaker again if that ICE is
stronger than the base strength of his icebreaker.

Let’s use the above image as an example. The Runner approaches the piece of ICE. The
Corporation decides to rez it by paying 7 bits. The ICE is now active and the Runner will need to
deal with all the listed subroutines. Black Dahlia can break sentry subroutines, and Triggerman
is a sentry type ICE. Triggerman only has a strength of 3, so the Runner does not need to pay
any bits to increase the strength of Black Dahlia. There are two subroutines listed, so the
Runner can pay 4 bits in total to break both of them (it costs 2 bits to break one sentry
subroutine with Black Dahlia).
If the Runner does not break all the subroutines of a piece of ICE, he suffers the effect of each
of the unbroken subroutines, in the order they are listed on the card. A subroutine that ends
the run does so immediately, and any following subroutines do not take effect.
Going back to the above example, if the Runner didn’t have enough bits to break both
subroutines but he had enough to break only one of them, he might break the second
subroutine but allow himself to suffer the effects of the first subroutine. In that case the
Corporation player would choose one of the Runner’s programs and trash it. Afterwards the
Runner is considered to have passed through the ICE successfully.

Damage:
Some cards or subroutines on ICE will allow the Corporation to cause damage to the Runner.
There are 3 types of damage that can be suffered by the Runner.
- Net Damage – the Runner discards one random card for each net damage he suffers
- Meat Damage - the Runner discards one random card for each meat damage he suffers
- Brain Damage - the Runner discards one random card AND his maximum hand size is
decreased by one for each brain damage he suffers

If the Runner is forced to discard more cards than he currently has or has a maximum hand size
of zero at the end of his turn, he is considered flatlined (dead) and the Corporation
automatically wins.

Trace Attempts:
Some cards or subroutines on ICE will allow the Corporation to perform a trace attempt on the
Runner. If the trace succeeds, something bad usually happens to the Runner.

What this means for the Corporation:

- If a card calls for a trace, it is indicated by the term “trace n”, where n is the trace limit.
The trace limit is the maximum number of bits the Corporation can spend on that trace.
- The Corporation player’s trace value starts are 0 for each trace attempt.
- The Corporation can increase the trace value, paying 1 bit for each point in increase.
- These bits are secretly chosen. The Corporation hides the amount of bits they are paying
in their hand until both players simultaneously reveal how much they are paying.

What this means for the Runner:

- The Runner needs to select one card that he has installed that provides him with a base
link value. Otherwise he is considered to have a base link value of 0.
- In order to increase the link, the Runner needs to use any installed cards he has to allow
him to increase his link value. Usually cards that provide base link values also allow the
Runner to increase the link, but other cards can do this as well. The Runner can use any
number of other non-base link value cards to increase his link.
- Unlike the Corporation, there is no limit to how much the Runner can spend to increase
his link value.
Trace Attempt Protocol:
1) Both players secretly note how many bits they are spending to establish their trace and
link value.
2) The Runner states which base link card in play, and which cards that aren't base link
cards, he is using to establish his link value.
3) Both players simultaneously reveal how many bits they are spending.
4) Compare the Corporation’s trace value to the Runner's link value. If the trace value
equals or exceeds the Runner's link value, the trace is successful for the Corporation
player.

In this example, the Corporation player plays the operation card Chance Observation because
the Runner attempted a run during his last turn. This initiates a trace attempt on the Runner.
The Corporation player secretly decides to spend from 0 to 5 bits. The Runner declares that he
is using his Baedeker’s Net Map as his base link card. This gives him a base link value of 1
instead of 0 (at a cost of 0 bits). He then decides to spend 3 bits, making his total link value 4
(base link of 1 + 3 bits = 4). The Corporation reveals how many bits he spent. Surprise! 4 bits,
making the Corporation’s trace value 4. Since the trace value = the link value, the trace is
successful, and the Runner is given a tag. (Note tags with some sort of chit/token).

Tags:
Tags are usually given to the Runner with successful trace attempts but they can be gotten in
other ways as well. If the Runner is tagged the Corporation can spend an action and pay 2 bits
to trash one of the Runner’s resources. To get rid of a tag the Runner can spend an action and
pay 2 bits to lose one of his tags.
Closing Thoughts
That’s it! You should be able to get into a game and go through it. It may take a few turns or
even a complete game or two before things click but Netrunner is definitely worth it.

I realize I might have missed a thing or two, so if you noticed anything missing or something
that is somewhat unclear let me know and I’ll try to fix it.

Happy running (or Corporation-ing, if that is your thing)!