''Hacker'' is a

dedicated deck card game A dedicated deck card game is one played with a deck specific to that game, rather than a pack of standard playing cards. Educational packs of cards were being printed by the late eighteenth century, initially designed merely to inform, but later b ...

for 3–6 players published by

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

(SJG) in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

History

In early 1990, SJG was developing a game called ''

GURPS Cyberpunk ''GURPS Cyberpunk'' is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk-themed role-playing games set in a near-future dystopia, such as that envisioned by William Gibson in his influential novel ''Neuromancer''. It was published in 1990 after a significant delay c ...

''. On March 1 of that year, the company was raided by the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

as part of a nationwide investigation of data piracy. The agents took computers, printers, hard drives, at least one pocket calculator, over 300 floppy disks, and an entire

BBS BBS may refer to: Ammunition * BBs, BB gun metal bullets * BBs, airsoft gun plastic pellets Computing and gaming * Bulletin board system, a computer server users dial into via dial-up or telnet; precursor to the Internet * BIOS Boot Specificat ...

server. In the court case that followed, the Secret Services justified their actions by calling ''GURPS Cyberpunk'' "a handbook for computer crime". In 1992, SJG made a card game called ''Hacker'' based on the Secret Service's beliefs. In 1993, SJG released the supplement ''Hacker II: The Dark Side'', which added new rules and new cards to the gameplay.

Gameplay

The original game has 110 cards, 172 die-cut cardboard counters, 53 thin cardstock counters, two network ID cards, and a plastic ziplock bag. The players use cards to construct a computer network, and then roll dice to try and infiltrate the system. Successful entry gains access to new systems, or the ability to crash the system or upgrade the player's equipment. If too many hackers try to infiltrate the same system, it initiates a system housecleaning. A player can also be raided by the FBI or Secret Service. The first player to gain access to 12 systems wins the game.

Reception

Allen Varney reviewed the game twice for ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'': * In the September 1992 edition (Issue 185), Varney found the game didn't have enough player interaction. Varney also didn't like the length of the game, which he felt went on too long because "When a ''Hacker'' game player pulls ahead of the pack and becomes 'Net Ninja', the others can bring down the Ninja easily, leading to a draggy war of attrition." Varney concluded, " teveJackson has made a fair hack at the subject... but he should have debugged a few more times before running it." * A year later, in the December 1993 edition Varney gave a retrospective thumbs down to the game because of the lack of differentiation between players' roles. "Though individual roles aren’t vital, it helps when a social game gives each player a unique identity — a particular game position, a special power, or just a name. ''Hacker'' misses a bet on this count."

Awards

''Hacker'' won the 1992 Origins Award for ''Best Modern-Day Boardgame''. ''Hacker II'' won the 1993 Origins Award for ''Best Modern-Day Boardgame''.

Reviews

*''

Challenge Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

'' #67 (December 1992) * ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #71 (Sep 1992)

References

External links

The official ''Hacker'' home page

The official ''Hacker'' rules
* Cyberpunk_games Dedicated deck card games Steve Jackson (American game designer) games Origins Award winners Steve Jackson Games games {{card-game-stub