Hacker: The Computer Crime Card Game

Complexity Medium Cost £25 Duration Medium-Long Players 3-6 expands to 8 Producer Steve Jackson Games Size Large

Premise

Drink caffeine, eat pizza and hack computers

Review

Hacker started as SJ's revenge on the Secret Service after their illfounded raid, but despite this, it is an excellent group game. The only downer is that you will need a large table to play as the game tends to spread all over it. If you don't have a table use the floor!

If you've played Illuminati you will recognise the basic mechanics of this game, but this isn't a straight lift of it and easily stands alone as a unique game.

The aim of the game is to achieve hacker God-hood by becoming 'root' on 12 systems. To do this, you have to hack into the system and then become 'root'. To do this, you have to roll higher than the security value of the system. You add the value of your trusty PC (which you can upgrade to gain various bonuses), and any bonuses for any specialist knowlege you may have. For example, if you are root on a system of the same type, you get a bonus. If you are root on an adjacent system you get another bonus.

After you're in, you can invite your buddies in too. This may seem counter-productive but it tends to have the effect of causing the sleepy administrators of the system to wake up and houseclean. If you're root you're unlikely to be removed, but a mere user on the other hand...

The game hots up because to claim systems for victory etc. they have to be connected in an unbroken chain back to your system. If someone crashes a critical system, then you can't claim it or any systems that use it as part of their connection.

The game is full of other fun excursions, and mirrors the 80's/90's world of hacking very well indeed. The one fantasy aspect is ICE (Intruder Countermeasure Electronics). Some systems are very heavily proctected and if you fail to get in, you could trigger the ICE. If the ICE get's you, you're raided, and you could end up being busted (and out of the game after three busts) and certainly losing all your lovely equipment.

Players can also initiate raids against people using some of the many special cards, so you can emulate that Secret Service raid against SJ if you want to. Of course, it can be countered by the Congressional Inquiry card - just like real life.

The game could be constructed better. The cards are OK, but not as humourous as they could be. The other components, especially the cardboard ones are quite flimsy however, and I recommend that you reinforce them. Hopefully, in the next edition, the production quality will be higher.

This is a great group game, but it is an all-nighter sort of game. Normally, it's very hard for someone to run away with the game, which means that it's usually fun for all. Also even out of your own turn, there are opportunities to play. There's also considerable scope for diplomacy.

Expansions

Hacker II: The Dark Side

The standard game supports upto six, but this expansion set allows another two to play, as well as adding all sorts of stuff to make the game go even longer. I recommend that you don't play the virus and worm rules, unless you want a very long game. Strangely, in recent times I have seen the expansion around, but not the original set.

Rating

Back to Home Page