Tabletop_Gaming__Issue_27__February_2019

Assembly

Build. Solve. Escape. "It’s a sharp, sweet, fun

little coop game."

• Rahdo Runs Through

"A iendish puzzle that will

delight any soloist."

• Ricky Royal, Box of Delights

"This little 2 player game is both

wonderfully simple and rich."

• Rory Somers, Polyhedron Collider

"I'm still on a high from

playing Assembly."

• Zee Garcia, The Dice Tower

Wren

Games

Your Guide to the New

World of Tabletop Games

“Full of good

humour.....

Probably the best book

about games ever.”

• Alan R Moon
  Designer of
  Ticket To Ride

Fully Revised

Second Edition

Now in Paperback

Words by Matt Jarvis

e rst roleplaying game set in the world of Android: Netrunner will put you right at the centre of New Angeles’ cyberpunk dystopia. Step into the Shadow of the Beanstalk

18 January 2019

Shadow of the Beanstalk is the most intimate look at universe to dateAndroid’s cyberpunk

A

ndroid: Netrunner live announced last summer that When Fantasy Flight Android.is dead, long

its living card game reboot of Richard Gareld’s ‘90s CCG Netrunneran end after six years, the news would be coming to

was unsurprisingly received with an amount of shock and disappointment among fans. Disappointment that one of – if not tabletop games ever made was being cut o in its the – most acclaimed competitive

prime, combined with the surprise of the timing mere months after the game had been updated with a revised core set and long-awaited rotation for tournament play.

at the decision of Wizards of the Coast – the Gathering NetrunnerEven those working on the game seemed surprised maker that owns the rights to the original – not to renew the licence it had granted to Magic: e

Fantasy Flight to work on announce the end of the game line,” studio head Andrew Navaro wrote in a blog post at the time, while “It seems like the timing couldn’t be worse to Android: Netrunner.

lead developer Michael Boggs described his own “mix of sadness, confusion and nostalgia” at being told the game was to be brought to a close.Both designers added their hope that Netrunner’s

passionate community would keep the game alive after its nal expansion, impressive six-year run.“I hope and believe the community will keep it alive Reign and Reverie, wrapped up its

for years to come,” said Boggs.doesn’t suddenly turn it into a game that’s not worth playing,” Navaro added, pointing out the continued “Just because we won’t be printing it anymore

popularity of the original after it too had stopped being updated: “eir patience and dedication were eventually rewarded by the resurrection of the game they loved.Netrunner among fans long

day history will be regarded as a signicant chapter of its much longer journey.”“Personally, I hold out hope that one Netrunner will return, and that our part in its

TAKE BACK CTRLWhile buried amongst the bittersweet reminiscences lay a icker of hope for the future of the wider Android: Netrunner’s fate had been sealed, Android

universe – the futuristic setting Fantasy Flight had relocated its reboot of the card game to in place of NetrunnerCyberpunk 2020’s origins in the world of ‘80s tabletop RPG.

worlds of the gritty streets of SanSan to the warring colonies of Mars,” Fantasy Flight vowed.“While Android: NetrunnerAndroid will continue to be explored, from is coming to an end, the

turn out to be the deepest exploration of the universe yet. roleplaying sourcebook to take place in the setting, e next journey into the cyberpunk world would Shadow of the Beanstalk is the rst Android

giving players the chance to live out their adventures in both the near-future real world depicted in murder-mystery series starting point board games New Angeles and AndroidAndroid: Inltration and its follow-up ,

and the Network that served as the battleeld for and cyber bank heist those games each focused on just one slice of the Matrix-like virtual space known as the Android: MainframeNetrunner. Where

connected world, the parts of the universe together for a closer look at its technological and social strata than ever before. “Up until now, you’ve seen Shadow of the BeanstalkAndroid in either a big- brings all of

picture view – theAndroida lens that’s very focused on the Network: Netrunner and ,” says developer Samuel Gregor-Stewart. New Angeles Worlds of Androidboard games – or through [book] and the Android:

“In the board games, you’re ying over New Angeles at a very high level – quite literally in some cases – then swooping down to have specic interactions.”

tabletopgaming.co.uk 19

2019 PREVIEW: THE YEAR’S 10 BIGGEST GAMEStabletopgaming.co.uk January 2019

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