Game: HeroCard Cyberspace

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fractaloon — 2008-10-31T10:34:58+00:00

Back of the box.

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fractaloon — 2008-10-31T10:28:56+00:00

Inside the box - the components fit very snuggly.

Thread: Re: "Sinner"?

Dreamshadow — 2008-07-06T23:56:36+00:00

In Shadowrun, a SIN (Social Identification Number) is the equivalent of today's Social Security Number (SSN). I've seen the word appear in several cyberpunk books, and I've seen SINner refer both to someone who has a number (and therefore can be tracked by the Govt.) and to people who do not (and that live under the radar).

*shrug*

Thread: Re: HeroCard Cyberspace: Review

raize — 2007-07-31T21:01:44+00:00

Great review, thank you!

Thread: Re: First Play, with incorrect spawn rule

snoozefest — 2007-07-16T19:59:12+00:00

TriTrog wrote:
Sorry about the spawning mistake, but upon first read of the rules, I didn't know that links joined separate networks. I thought that linked networks were a single network, but the play makes more sense now.

I think what we needed to do was to play as two teams (with the condition that you can't attack your teammate's avatars). That would've allowed us to feel like we had more control over the direction of the game and made us vulnerable to one less attack. I'd probably rate the game 6-6.5.

Locking tiles makes the game a lot better than I realized when we played. I found Gheos dull because most of the triangles never get locked.

No big deal - first plays are supposed to be screwed up in some way or other! As for the teams thing -- maybe so. I generally don't like fiddling with rules; there are too many good games that work as written for me to bother making/testing variants that the designer/playtesters should have come up with. But maybe team rules are in the game? Still, I'd guess 2er would be better, to speed up the game if nothing else. But we'll probably never play it again, I suppose .... I have heard good things about HeroCard Shogun, and some of the newer releases have cool themes, too.

Thread: Re: First Play, with incorrect spawn rule

TriTrog — 2007-07-11T02:55:36+00:00

Sorry about the spawning mistake, but upon first read of the rules, I didn't know that links joined separate networks. I thought that linked networks were a single network, but the play makes more sense now.

I think what we needed to do was to play as two teams (with the condition that you can't attack your teammate's avatars). That would've allowed us to feel like we had more control over the direction of the game and made us vulnerable to one less attack. I'd probably rate the game 6-6.5.

Locking tiles makes the game a lot better than I realized when we played. I found Gheos dull because most of the triangles never get locked.

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Kevin C — 2007-06-21T10:22:57+00:00

box cover graphics

Thread: First Play, with incorrect spawn rule

snoozefest — 2007-06-21T09:57:29+00:00

2nd meeting of our new game group (see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/22261 for the games played history). It was Ken's choice: a game he picked up recently, at Mensa Mind Games (pick # 247/250!). Mary and I had played a demo game of HeroCard Galaxy at Origins last year. At the booth, they really emphasized the combat rules -- there was not much else in the Galaxy game. This game, however, is more about board play and positioning -- but combat is still pretty important!

RULES
SETUP
Each player sets up their own area:
- Body, Mind, and Attribute X each represented by a card with either '4' or '8' (sum = 20) each: the 3 cards form the start of your Display; the numbers will limit how many cards of each type (B, M, X) you may play.
- Shuffle your set of cards (a mix of attack and defense cards numbered 2, 4, or 8), then draw a hand of 7 cards.
- Place 3 discs on "idle" spaces of Program card
- Put tokens (3 triangles = links or firewalls; meeples = avatars) in supply

Tiles:
- triangular tiles. Shuffle face down draw pile, then flip 2 face up.
- 8 tiles have "servers", the rest have "clients"; 1-3 connections from object to edges. Some have "nodes" where links may later be played.

PLAYER TURN
1. Discard up to 3 cards from hand
2. Draw up to 3 cards (hand limit 7)
3. Clear 3 face up cards from your display
4. Take 3 "Program" actions. In addition, may make one attack from one of your avatars to an adjacent avatar.
(Can also choose to Reboot: discard hand, clear display, may remove avatars, links and firewalls from board; draw 7 cards, end turn)

Program Actions
- Spawn: place a new avatar onto an empty client of a network where you have another avatar(s) are on a server(s)
- Firewall: place or move a firewall (triangle standing upright) to a connection on the board
- Link: place or move a link (triangle lying down) to an empty node
- Login: move an avatar along a pathway; may jump from any link to a like-colored link; may only move through empty spaces
- Probe: place a new tile (draw either of the face up tiles, or from the face down pile) adjacent to the board; edge(s) must align. If draw last tile from draw pile, trigger end of game (everyone gets 1 more turn after this one, then score).
- Remap: may move any tile touching the board by only 1 edge; all tokens on it move with the tile.

Attacking - uses the standard HeroCard system
- target avatar must be in adjacent hex
- normally only 1 attack/turn; some cards may allow one extra attack
- play a Base Attack card and any Attack Modifier cards you like
- defender plays Base Block card(s); may also play Block Modifiers
- alternate playing cards till both players pass
- card play is always limited by B/M/X numbers -- sum of all face up cards in your Display may never exceed your starting setup limit
- cards have various strengths; all cards played THIS TURN are added -- higher sum wins (defender wins ties)
- if attacker wins, may use the defender's 3 Program actions (e.g., make them move their avatars, remap, put up firewalls, etc.)

END GAME SCORING
- Networks are worth points:
... 1 per empty client
... +3 if complete
... Player(s) controlling most servers get full points
... Players with fewer (>0) servers get half points
- 1 VP per Idle Program action
- Most VP wins

GAME SESSION
I secured a nice network in the mid-late game, managing to close it off and have control of 2 servers (vs. 1 for Mary and Jason). Of course, I was attacked by 2 (or all 3?) players in a row, destroying my position - got knocked off servers and locked behind firewalls, with my X 'twisted' (unusable till I discarded 3 cards), with only a few cards left in hand. This was partly because Ken spawned right next to me (off his network) and partly because of the nature of the game -- I was a prime target. All 3 had managed to build a little networks in addition to the main one. Jason triggered the end of the game by completing his network. With no hope for scoring any VP, I used my last turn to do several remaps, making that network incomplete and almost fixing the board in place (no tiles touching only 1 other tile, so no more remaps). Mary completed her network and tried to secure it by good link positioning, but our misplay of the spawn rule allowed Jason, on his last turn, to jump in and score a bunch (6?) of extra points and win the game (Ken just idled).

COMMENTS
- interesting board play: you can do a lot with the remap action, significantly changing the layout of the board. With only 3 actions, though, you're encouraged to attack other players and use their 3 actions to fiddle with the board. Fixing portions of the board (once a hex is formed with 6 triangles, each triangle touches 2 others and can therefore not be remapped again) allows some of your manipulations to stick -- you have to try to time it just right.
- took way too long. Part of that is just the newness of the game, but
- we played a major rule (spawning) incorrectly, allowing spawning an a client of any network (not just where you were on the server) -- really messed the game up! Played correctly, we would have had a few more networks in the game, and positions would be more defensible. The way we played, someone could (and did!) just jump in and 'steal' a LOT of points!
- probably best with 2: faster, and less prone to pile-on: once someone is in a fight, it's easy for the others to pick on that player since they can't defend themselves (B/M/X cards are 'full' and hand is depleted).
- need to play it again, with the correct rules! Still, a rating of 6 is probably not far from where this will end up.

Ratings
KenW ?
MaryP 5
RP 6
JasonW ?wants to play with the correct rules!
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Average 5.5

Thread: Re: "Sinner"?

tablestar_rob — 2007-05-22T22:11:27+00:00

Hey Bill,

No translation error, just a cool name. It seemed to work for a future pop star.

Rob

Thread: Re: "Sinner"?

beri — 2007-05-19T18:55:31+00:00

It was that way in playtesting, and they were aware of it. I think it was just a neat word. Nothing about it in the rulebook?

Thread: Re: "Sinner"?

Elvisx — 2007-05-19T18:31:37+00:00

I couldn't say for sure, but I suspect it's just a typo -- depending, of course, on the designer's opinion of pop singers.

Thread: "Sinner"?

Shijuro — 2007-05-19T00:19:18+00:00

Was this perhaps a translation error?

The other 3 characters have descriptive names but unless I'm missing some provocative flavor text, she seems to be a pop Singer.

Anyone know for sure?

Thread: Re: HeroCard Cyberspace: Review

jtrleone — 2007-04-25T22:57:19+00:00

Extensive review. That's what I've been looking forward to reading. Thank you!

Thread: HeroCard Cyberspace: Review

Zelgadas — 2007-04-22T01:13:55+00:00

HeroCard: Cyberspace is the most recent addition to TableStar Games’ HeroCard series of board/card games. The fundamentals of the card battle system are the same as in all of their previous offerings, though there are a few new (and very interesting) rules introduced via some characters. The board game, however, is pretty different from any of their other HeroCard games, and is both strategic and engrossing. I feel, at this point, like I should mention something: Cyberspace has been, for a while, the HeroCard game that I’ve been least excited about, so I felt some trepidation when I sat down to review it. My opinion has, in many ways, reversed, however, as I’ll explain in this review. It’s not that Cyberspace is without its faults; like all the HeroCard games, this game is not perfect. However, like the other games in the series, this is a very good game, both in its own right and as an addition to the series as a whole.

Characters and Card Play
Cyberspace introduces four new characters, and this is actually somewhat of a departure. In the other three current HeroCard titles, the core game comes with two heroes, while you can purchase two additional heroes for each as expansion decks. Not so with this game; all four heroes come packaged in the core box, and there are no expansions. The game includes the Bouncer, the Sinner, the Bioengineer, and the Cryptomancer. Thematically, there are some problems here. The game takes place in cyberspace, a virtual world; however, only the Cryptomancer really seems to embrace this idea; all of the other characters rely on attacks and blocks that are thematically physical or social, rather than virtual. I suppose it could be argued that these characters are simply virtual avatars, and that their attacks and blocks are imaginary constructs, representations of their manipulation of the code of cyberspace. This, to me, takes a bit too much justification on the part of the player, though, and I’m not sure everyone is willing to meet the designers halfway on this.

Despite these thematic problems, though, some of the characters are really interesting to play, and the Cryptomancer in particular provides a dramatically different way to play the game. The Bouncer relies heavily on attacking, attacking, attacking, and is the only character who has restricted base attacks; this means that he is (barring some fancy card-play) the only character who can attack twice in a single turn. The Sinner has a lot of card-denial abilities, forcing her opponent to discard cards and, thus, weakening her opponent’s position. The Bioengineer has cards that allow you to twist your opponents’ attributes, making them unavailable until he discards three cards from his hand, as well as a particularly nice card combination that allows you to play a card, then clear it from your attribute stack, then get it back in your hand, then play it again. The Retrovirus, Bioremediation, Recycle, Retrovirus combination is particularly devastating to an opponent, effectively twisting two attributes (which requires a total discard of six cards). It cripples an opponent’s attack and defense for a turn or two, which can be pretty nasty, and you don’t even have to be in the middle of an attack sequence in order to use it.

The Cryptomancer is probably my favorite of the four; most of his cards are deployed first, then played; this means that you lay the card face-down on the appropriate attribute stack instead of playing it immediately. A deployed card can’t be played in the same turn that it’s deployed, so you have to plan ahead, but it frees up room in your hand and the cards themselves are incredibly potent. Myofibril Spasms, for example, clears all of your opponents’ block mods and reduces his block total to 0, meaning that he has to play more block mods in order to have a hope of fending off your attack. Relay allows you to duplicate an attack aimed at you, aiming it at the player of your choice. First you resolve the attack aimed at you, then you attack your target with the same base attack, playing whatever attack mods you want on top of it. So, you get to attack on someone else’s turn, and it doesn’t use your exclusive action for the turn. Malware is a +9 attack mod, for only 4 mind points (all of the deployed cards have a cost of 4). The fact that 80% of the Cryptomancer’s cards are deployed cards means that you absolutely have to plan ahead, but it also means that, if you do plan ahead, you’ll have some really nasty surprises lying in wait for your opponents. It’s a new and interesting play style that I really enjoy.

The Game
The Cyberspace board game is actually a tile-laying game, with passing similarities to games like Carcassonne. The game comes with 24 triangular tiles, each containing a client or a server, as well as connecting pathways and sometimes nodes. Connecting pathways have to line up with each other, and you place tiles in order to form networks, essentially chains of clients and servers. Servers are required to control a network, and you can’t score points without them. However, servers aren’t worth any points on their own; only empty clients are worth points at the end of the game, and only if you control one or more servers in that network. Nodes are the endpoints of pathways, and you can place links or firewalls on them.

The game doesn’t introduce new types of cards like previous HeroCard games have, unless you count the program card. Each player gets a program card and three program tokens, small translucent disks. The program card consists of nine circles: three idle circles and six program circles. Your program tokens start on your idle circles, and you move them to your program circles when you execute those programs; each turn, you can execute three programs. You can probe cyberspace, allowing you to draw a new tile and lay it down on the board. You can remap, allowing you to move an existing tile somewhere else, provided that tile is a ‘pendant’ tile (a pendant tile can only be touching one other tile, not two or three). You can spawn avatars (each player can spawn up to three). You can login, which is a pseudo-techie way of saying ‘move’; you can move an infinite number of spaces, but intervening objects (like other avatars) block your path. You can create a link with one of your three link tokens, allowing you to move between different networks as if they were connected. Finally, you can create a firewall (again, with a link token), which blocks both movement and attacks. You can also attack and perform other card-based actions, as you normally would be able to in other HeroCard games.

Cyberspace is all about building a network, and then securing it as best as you can. If you get a secure enough position, you can think about expanding into other peoples’ networks, but doing so from the outset is a surefire way to wind up in a bad situation (which I found out on my first play session). True to its theme, it’s extremely difficult to protect a network once it’s in place; there are any number of things that hackers can do to worm their way in, and the larger your network is, the more difficult it becomes to protect it. There are often dilemmas during play, as well. It’s much easier, for example, to protect a network with no (or few) nodes than one with many, but you need nodes in order to close the network (because a closed network is worth more). However, those very nodes make your network vulnerable to other players linking to it. So, you can place your own links or firewalls to block them, but you’ve only got three link tokens to use, so you have to budget them. It’s a very strategic and cerebral game, and the person who out-thinks and out-plans her opponent will usually win.

Things I Liked: The strategic depth of Cyberspace is really apparent a few turns in, and some of the characters are a lot of fun to play. I like the tile-laying aspect of the game, as well as the fact that you can move tiles already in place. The game becomes extremely tense in the last few rounds of play, as everyone tries to take as many networks as they can and devalue their opponents’ networks as much as possible. Thematically, the fact that networks are so vulnerable once they’re truly established is very true to life.

Things I Didn’t Like: Some of the characters seem at odds with the theme. While they’re certainly based off of standard cyberpunk tropes, they’re not necessarily thematically appropriate in cyberspace. Also, the game uses a sort of faux-anime style that just doesn’t sit right with me. I think I’d rather they had used computer-generated graphics, as they did with Galaxy; I think it would have been more in keeping with the theme, and probably would have looked a little better. Finally, the figures and tokens are made of a strange, very pliable, somewhat sticky plastic-rubber substance that looks like candy. I have no particular problem with this, except that it seemed to lead to some of the figures being bent out of shape when I opened the box.

The Bottome Line: While Cyberspace was the HeroCard game that I was least interested upon reading what was available on the website, after playing it I actually like it a lot. It’s not apparent how deep and fun the game is just from reading the rules; you have to actually play it to really see. I’m a fan of the HeroCard series in general, and if you’re not, I’m not entirely sure that this game will convince you otherwise (though the manual does provide a variant called ‘bit duel’ that eschews card duels in favor of flipping a coin when you attack). If you liked the other HeroCard games, though, you could do much worse than to buy this game.

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koshianok — 2006-12-22T17:10:49+00:00

Thread: Re: in the net no one scream

jtrleone — 2006-11-14T19:35:48+00:00

Nice review considering the language barrier. Thought hammer has the game for $23 or dented for $20. I'm really considering buying it from them, but I want to get a huge package deal going so other people who are also ordering don't have to pay the shipping fee.

Right now, all I want is Cyberspace and For Sale. And Khet.

Thread: Re: in the net no one scream

adel10 — 2006-11-12T09:57:14+00:00

some online shop have the game
have a nice day
alain

Thread: Re: in the net no one scream

Rompcat — 2006-11-11T20:18:36+00:00

Keep 'em comin!

Thread: in the net no one scream

adel10 — 2006-11-11T09:10:02+00:00

this my first review in inglish so ...*

First off all this game use the same core mechanism than the other game from tablestar, just here you have four deck (heroes) of only 20 cards
instead of 30 and 2 heroes in the other game

the material is really cool for a 27 $ games
88 cards (ccg size)
12 spawn
12 plastik marker
12 circle marker
24 tiles for elaborate network
personaly i apreciate the manga design for cards and tiles

you win if you control more network than your adversary
the game end one turn after the last tile is revealed

here you apreciate the size of the deck because you need to count on your ressource, card came faster

in yout turn you 're allowed to do 3 program among 6, you can do 3 time the same if you want

extend the network
move one of your avatar ( you have 3)
create a link between network
create a firework
spawn an avatar
move a part of the network

and you can make one attack
with this attack you can destroy a firewall, a link or hack one of your adversary (the funiest option)
if you defeat your oponent you can do 3 new program but this time you use only the adversary piece, it means you can, move his link, move his avatar etc

or you can pass your entire turn to reboot: you remove all your piece from the board for a better attack later

since netrunner the ccg, it's the first time i play a hacker game with the real sensation i do something in the web, and the feeling is great

a game with 2 player last 1 hour
for 4 players count 90 minutes
the set up take 5 minutes the rules are really easy to understand,

i had just one bad thing to say , the heroes cryptomancer is too strong in a 2 player game
for the rest it's a great game and not really expansive
have fun
alain

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tablestar_rob — 2006-06-06T21:32:30+00:00

HeroCard: Cyberspace, Cryptomancer Hero

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tablestar_rob — 2006-06-06T21:29:13+00:00

Herocard: Cyberspace, Sinner Hero

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tablestar_rob — 2006-06-06T21:24:21+00:00

HeroCard: Cyberspace Box