Game: Hacker: Deluxe Edition

Thread: Re: My rule variants

larienna — 2008-08-11T01:14:48+00:00

I have noted some raw ideas on a piece of paper. Some require new actions to be made to increase variety. It has not been carefully thought but here are some ideas. First there will be new actions strongly linked with the goal type. I tought that either the goals are hidden and everybody can do these action, or only the owner of the goal can perform these actions (require less components). Ex: player who needs to make an X number of trademark is the only player being able to put trademarks.

- Upload files: You hack to upload package of data to use the diskspace of the servers on the net. (It's something done currently today). When houscleaning, those packaged are cleaned too.

- Steal Data: You hack the server to get some important information. Each information you own add -1 to your bust roll. You can also sell this information to gain extra computer parts.

- Trademark: You hack to leave your nick name as a trademark on the server you hacked. Trademarks are never removed.

- Steal hacker: You can hack the hackers by stealing their back door, data package, etc.

- ??Set traps??: Just a bare idea I am not so sure what it was.

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Goal ideas. They are not balanced, and like illiminati, goals where you cannot loose progress (cuthullu) are easier to achieve. So I would rater promote goals that you cannot move back when achieving things through a VP system.

- Upload a certain amount of files on servers.

- Hold a certain amount of stolen data.

- Put a certain number of trademark in the game

- Control a certain number of hub server or regular server ( like the original rules) or connect to all server.

- hacker hunter: Kill hackers ( bad because of player elimination).

- thief: Steal a certain number of things throught the game from other hackers.

- Control all dial-ins

- Net breaker: Crash X system

- Good hacker: Make a certain amount of security improvements, and/or trigger housecleans.

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There is also another rule idea I noted which is the internet rule which is:

All hubs are connected to all hubs. So you can jump from a hub to an hub. Not sure if doing so makes you easier or harder to backtrack or hack.

Thread: Re: My rule variants

mjfassio — 2008-08-10T02:41:38+00:00

Any suggestions on goals?

Thread: Re: My rule variants

DrFaust — 2008-06-14T19:33:42+00:00

larienna wrote:
Personally, I think there are too much systems in the deck. It makes the network become to big for nothing. Having a lot of action cards is good because since it is a chaotic game you want many special events to happen.
I suppose it depends on one's past experience. I've only ever played one or two other people. In games like that, having a fistful of "get out of raid free" cards is really boring.

Maybe with your ICE house rule, they might see more use. Hopefully I'll get the chance to experiment with a larger group someday.

larienna wrote:
By the way, I had an idea of creating some sort of hacker goals like in illuminati to give you a reason to hack at a specific place. Right now there is really few motivation to hack somewhere instead of another.
That sounds like it could really perk things up, particularly if you made them secret goals, so you never know if that other player is trying to crash X systems, or just covering their tracks while accumulating Y Yentendo systems.

Thread: Re: My rule variants

larienna — 2008-06-13T13:52:55+00:00

So in this set-up, you don't reduce the number of action cards? I've felt there are already too many action cards relative to the number of systems, having had way too many three- and four-turn action card streaks.

Personally, I think there are too much systems in the deck. It makes the network become to big for nothing. Having a lot of action cards is good because since it is a chaotic game you want many special events to happen.

By the way, I had an idea of creating some sort of hacker goals like in illuminati to give you a reason to hack at a specific place. Right now there is really few motivation to hack somewhere instead of another.

Thread: Re: My rule variants

DrFaust — 2008-06-12T16:24:47+00:00

larienna wrote:
ICE: Use the unmodified roll.

This is exactly what me and my Hacker-crazy friend decided. It makes ICE an actual threat without being overpowering. Certainly taught how obnoxious being raided actually is!

larienna wrote:
Phreak: there are no phreak.

We've ignored this step almost from the beginning, first because there were only two of us, and then, as we taught the game to others, because we just forgot it was there. It's a clever way to include the social aspect of network cracking, but just bogs the game down.

larienna wrote:
Raid: Lose 1 system or faceup card of your choice.

Bust: First resolve "raid". Then lose 1 system or face up card of your opponent's choice.

I think these make being raided and busted much more palatable. They're setbacks without being incredibly crippling like normal raids and busts are. I'll have to try them out next time we play.

larienna wrote:
Game setup: The card setup is changed at the beginning of the game. Separate the system cards from the action cards.

Separate the system cards in the following groups and mix each group seperately.

So in this set-up, you don't reduce the number of action cards? I've felt there are already too many action cards relative to the number of systems, having had way too many three- and four-turn action card streaks.

Thread: My rule variants

larienna — 2008-06-11T19:40:41+00:00

EDIT: I got problems, it cutted some part of my text. I need to retype almost all of it, damn! it seems it does not take the minus-equal symbol.

Hi, this is some rule variants I have designed a long time ago. I did not seems to have posted them here. It's been a while, I'll try to transcript what I had written. Hope it's understandable. If somebody could give feed back on these rules, it could be greatly appreciated.

ICE: Use the unmodified roll.

Houseclean: Normal houseclean is done by rolling lower or equal to 5. Those triggered by hacker works by rolling lower and equal to 7.

Phreak: there are no phreak.

Help: Players adjacent or in target hacked system can help the hacker by giving him +1 for each player +1 for each system bonus once.

Hinder: Players adjacent or in target hacked system can hinder the hacker by giving him -1 for each player and can cancel any system bonus if he own the same bonus. You cannot give extra -1 due to system bonus.

Same root: According the the calculation above, it gives +3 or -3.

Raid: Lose 1 system or faceup card of your choice.

Bust: First resolve "raid". Then lose 1 system or face up card of your opponent's choice.

Game setup: The card setup is changed at the beginning of the game. Separate the system cards from the action cards.

Separate the system cards in the following groups and mix each group seperately.

Hub: System with hub.
In-Dial: System with indial
Out-Dial: Sytem with outdial
Text: System with a special text ability.
Plain: System with nothing special.

According to the number of players, the start up net will have the following systems:

2 players: 1 hub, 3 in-dial, 1 out-dial, 1 text, 2 plain.
3 players: 1 hub, 3 in-dial, 1 out-dial, 2 text, 2 plain.
4 players: 1 hub, 3 in-dial, 2 out-dial, 3 text, 3 plain.
5 players: 2 hub, 4 in-dial, 2 out-dial, 3 text, 4 plain.
6 players: 2 hub, 4 in-dial, 2 out-dial, 5 text, 5 plain.

Then, select additional systems that will be shuffled in the deck of action cards:

2 hub, 3 in-dial, 2 out-dial, 4 text, 4 plain.

Discard the left over systems. You are ready to begin.

Thread: Re: ICE hardly matters?

Razmus — 2008-05-21T03:37:22+00:00

I think we might give that a try. Would certainly add some danger to hacking indials.

Thread: Re: ICE hardly matters?

DrFaust — 2008-05-21T03:06:53+00:00

Razmus wrote:
So we played our first couple games of Hackers: Deluxe. I think we might be doing something wrong. ICE 2 to 5 seems I be pretty much the same thing, as everyone seems to have +2 or 3 to hacks. So basically, the only way to trip ICE is to get 1s or hit a big system.

So, am I missing something?

No, that's been my experience as well. We've tried using the unmodified die roll, without bonuses, to trigger ICE. It interferes more frequently, and is annoying when it does, mostly because one loses all one's nifty gear in a raid.

Thread: ICE hardly matters?

Razmus — 2008-05-19T18:15:33+00:00

So we played our first couple games of Hackers: Deluxe. I think we might be doing something wrong. ICE 2 to 5 seems I be pretty much the same thing, as everyone seems to have +2 or 3 to hacks. So basically, the only way to trip ICE is to get 1s or hit a big system.

So, am I missing something?

Thread: The "Leetest" of Them All

DrFaust — 2008-01-30T05:08:04+00:00

Tonight, four of us met at the Coffee Shop of Doom: Jon, Alex, Abe and myself. Alex had been itching for a game of Hacker for some time and I been deprived of early 90s cybercrime since mid-summer, so I was ready for a go as well. Neither Abe nor Jon had played the game before. They were, however, largely familiar with how Steve Jackson game go, so there wasn't much work bringing them up to speed, beyond helping count the myriad bonuses. While we were playing with the deluxe version, we elected not to use any of the optional rules for the sake of the new players. With that, we dove into the race to become the elitest hacker of them all.

We started off building the initial network, which wound up sprawling more than I expected. In the past games I've played, the network at the beginning of the game is pretty compact and regimented. It didn't work out that way this time. Instead, there were several sprawling arms of linked systems. I started wondering if our small table would be able to be accommodate everything. Fortunately, about halfway through the game we were able to commandeer the table next to ours, which made space a non-issue.

The basic goal of Hacker is to be able to access illicit accounts on twelve different computer systems. That was what we all worked towards tonight. Abe placed the first card so I could go next, showing some of the different placement rules -- which I always thought were suprisingly stringent, but no matter. After that, we just kept going around until we'd placed all our starting cards. Alex took the first turn, placing a card and opting to pass so he could upgrade to a Yodel Modem. Abe made some unsuccessful hacking attempts at the GreedComm in-dial, I also upgraded my modem and I believe Jon took a stab at Enormous State University for his first hack, which was a surprising choice, since ESU has Security 10 and Jon was relying solely on the dice. He failed, unfortunately.

The next couple rounds progressed smoothly. I started making in-roads at GreedComm and worked my way across less secure systems like Dogmatix and the Veterans Administration. GreedComm's other connection went straight into HAL, Inc., which is a high-security BizNet hub. It not only grants an accesspoint to all the BizNet systems to root users, but it gives an additional +1 to hacking HAL systems in general. It's a sweet target, but it's also really intimidating for beginning hackers, so decided to leave it alone, figuring no one else would have the gear to make that assault for a while. So I thought, until Alex pulled a Back Door card. Where else could he play it but HAL, Inc.? Now he had permanent root access to a hub, which is a strong position in terms of the game, but also a very prestigious hack; and really, prestige is what Hacker's about. We always keep an eye on who's currently the Net Ninja.

As the game progressed, Abe took a strong lead. Not only did he roll several boxcars, essentially getting free accounts that didn't use his allotted hacks per turn, but he also gained the Off-White Box early on, which makes hacking much easier, as well as the friendship of some Dutch hobbyists a little while after that, giving him an extra hack per turn.

Jon, on the other hand, seemed to struggle through the first half of the game. He opted to have another go at Enormous State University and eventually got on that system successfully. As time passed, though, he picked up speed. He gained some hacking allies and also found a secret in-dial to the Coast Guard's computer systems, of all things. With the Coast Guard and ESU on different arms of the network, he was able to start working towards the center of things.

Looking back, I can see the reasoning behind Jon's choice to stay away from GreedComm. Alex, Abe and myself were all piled on the GreedComm in-dial. One more account on that system and we'd have to start checking to see if the sysadmin would clean house. It never actually happened, but it was a concern, particularly on an in-dial system. In retrospect, it was a bit foolish on my part to rely on a regular access account on GreedComm for what turned out to be the entirety of the game. I could have lost it very easily, particularly when Alex decided later on to trigger housecleanings to pare back Abe's lead.

Alex, unsurprisingly, made very good use of his root account with HAL, Inc. He placed NORAD right next to HAL, Inc., so he was rooted on there almost immediately afterwards. From there he spread out to almost all the MilNet systems in the network, which greatly outnumbered the BizNet systems. Some systems seem to show up every game and NORAD is one of them for some reason. After a while, I threw some computer troubles Alex's way, costing him a whole turn, because I wanted Abe and Jon to be able to spread themselves around more.

Which they did with gusto. Towards the end of the game, it was Abe and Jon who were trading the Net Ninja badge back and forth. At one point, with Abe just one system away from winning, Alex triggered housecleaning on the one system he hadn't managed to make himself a root user, ComSecMilNavPac. I threw in a fried modem, just for good measure. In the end, though, it wasn't enough to slow him down. Abe retook ComSecMilNacPac and enough others to achieve twelve systems.

What we really needed that game were some Raid cards. Not one of the seemingly copious police, Secret Service and FBI cards deigned to make an appearance. In past games I've played, I've had literally three or four sitting in my hand. It was a little surprising, given how many special cards are in the deck, compared to system cards. Still, that's how the shuffling goes. The cards you wish would show up just don't sometimes.

It was a pretty good game. It wasn't as awesomely ridiculous game of Hacker as I've played in the past, but it was good. It was mostly the others who accumulated some impressive bonuses to their rolls. I was pretty low-key, sticking with slow and steady.

One of these days, I'm going to have enough people together to not only play Hacker, but take greater advantage of the phreaking and narking phases of the turns. Part of the game is making life difficult for your competitors. When the cards don't show up, as happened tonight, narking can be a less precise method to slow down a runaway leader. Of course, it may cost yourself some accounts, but that's worth the risk most times. The only thing that's really hard to recover from is the authorities confiscating equipment.

And that was Hacker. Abe had to depart, but Alex and Jon stuck around to try a tile game I'd had around for a while, Agora.

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samus — 2007-06-23T23:02:43+00:00

Totally crippled by the dreaded worm!

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Ryhesling — 2006-10-09T16:33:28+00:00

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Ryhesling — 2006-10-09T16:30:28+00:00

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WasQ — 2005-07-05T19:44:19+00:00

Wrong number??

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WasQ — 2005-07-05T19:44:09+00:00

Hacking...

Thread: User Review

klz_fc — 2005-02-18T17:20:12+00:00

The object is to have accounts on a predetermined number of systems on the Net. This edition combines the earlier base set and the expansion, Hacker II: The Dark Side, though you only have pieces for 6 players instead of the 8 you would have if you had bought the original boxes.

The game consists of 6 player computer consoles, a number of upgrades for these consoles (such as modem upgrades, a better computer, or other hardware), two sided chips for each player (each with a distinct color and pattern that makes it easy for colorblind players to identify whose chips are in play), handcuffs, various other chips and 165 playing cards. The player chips have a hollow picture on one side and a solid (filled-in) version on the other side.

The cards are either System cards (representing specific company sites) or Specials. System cards are either Indials (where hackers can start creating accounts), regular systems, or Outdials (Optional rule). At the start of the game, a predetermined number of Indials and regular system cards are shuffled and delat to the players and players create the Network. The system cards have varying number of connection icons on the sides of each card. Connectng icons match up (similar to Illuminati but simpler), but cards cannot overlap or touch along corners when being placed.

Once the Net is set up, players draw cards. System cards must be added to the Net immediately, while Specials are kept until needed. Players then choose to either upgrade a component (either the system, or the modem) and end their turn, or may attempt to hack into systems and gain accounts.

Players start with plain clones and a basic modem, which gives 2 hack attempts and no bonuses to the hack attempt.

Players choose one target system and try to roll the Security number or higher (after modifications) on 2 six sided dice. For the first system, it must be an Indial. After that the player may choose another Indial or may choose a system connected to an Indial (via an unbroken string of accounts). Hubs are connected to other computers with the same Network type (such as Milnet) in one direction (they can be used to hack for an account elsewhere on the Net, but can only be targeted by a directly connected system).

Success gets you a regular account (denoted by placing a chip with the hollowed out side face up). Rolling over the target number by at least 4 will get you a root account (which uses the solid face) and that will get you bonuses, but still counts as one system towards the game goal. If you fail, you may try again. If the system contains ICE, and you roll below the ICE number, however, bad things can happen. Not only did you not get in, but you lose your account on the system you tried to hack from. If the ICE was on an Indial you were hacking from home, you got Raided by the Feds and you lose all of your upgrades. You could then be busted, and have to roll dice to avoid that.

Bonuses to hacks come from modem upgrades, Specials, root access on the system you’re attacking from, having the most systems hacked, etc.

During a turn, players may also Phreak (allowing other players who can legally try to hack a system you have an account on), or Nark (try to throw hackers off of a particular System). The expansion cards also allow viruses, worms, and black ICE to be added into the game, but it will make the game much longer. Lite rules are also included that tell you which cards to remove for a game that palys in about an hour, and so far this is a fairly accurate assessment.

Despite the fact that a lot of the phrasing, jokes, and even some of the concepts are out of date, the game’s mechanics are still very solid and a lot of fun to play. The lite rules are more friendly for more casual players and still gives the feel for the game’s deeper roots, while the expansion adds plenty for the hardcore 4 hour game marathon fans.

The game comes with everything printed on thin cardboard, and while the chips are pre-cut, the system consoles and upgrades need to be cut apart with scissors. There are also no dice (though it doesn’t mention that anywhere on the outer box). It’s not terrible if you already have a pair of dice available, but it’s annoying to have to raid another game or buy a pair to throw in the box. A urn summary on the back of the rule book would have been great since it’s currently buried on page 4 of the rulebook. Some phrases, such as Nark may take time for some players to get used to, and some outdated jokes (The Amoeba 3000, for example) will generally get a shrug from anyone who wasn’t into computers in 1991. Like Illuminati, though, the game’s roots are still very solid and a good game is in print.

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frickinmuck — 2004-06-17T01:35:35+00:00

back of box

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frickinmuck — 2004-06-17T01:35:34+00:00

game layout

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kling — 2004-03-26T18:41:25+00:00

Hacker Deluxe Edition cover scan.