View source for Hacker (card game)

'''''Hacker''''' is a [[dedicated deck card game]] for 3–6 players published by [[Steve Jackson Games]] (SJG) in [[1992 in games|1992]].

==History==
{{main|Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service}}

In early 1990, SJG was developing a game called ''[[GURPS Cyberpunk]]''. On March 1 of that year, the company was raided by the [[United States Secret Service]] as part of a nationwide investigation of data piracy.<ref name=SJSS>{{cite web | url =http://www.sjgames.com/SS/ | title =SJ Games vs. the Secret Service | website =Steve Jackson Games | access-date =2019-07-26 | quote = On the morning of March 1, without warning, a force of armed Secret Service agents – accompanied by Austin police and at least one civilian "expert" from the phone company – occupied the offices of Steve Jackson Games and began to search for computer equipment.}}</ref> The agents took computers, printers, hard drives, at least one pocket calculator, over 300 floppy disks, and an entire [[Bulletin board system|BBS]] server.<ref name=SJSS /> In the court case that followed, the Secret Services justified their actions by calling ''GURPS Cyberpunk'' "a handbook for computer crime".<ref name=SJSS/> 

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 (magazine)|Dragon]]'':
* 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, "[Steve] Jackson has made a fair hack at the subject... but he should have debugged a few more times before running it."<ref name=dragon185>{{cite journal|last=Varney|first=Allen|authorlink=Allen Varney| date=September 1992 |title=Role-playing Reviews II|journal=[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]|publisher=[[TSR (company)|TSR, Inc.]]|issue=185|pages=84–88}}</ref>
* 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."<ref name=dragon200>{{cite journal|last=Varney|first=Allen|authorlink=Allen Varney| date=December 1993 |title=Social Board Games|journal=[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]|publisher=[[TSR (company)|TSR, Inc.]]|issue=200|pages=120}}</ref>

==Awards==
''Hacker'' won the 1992 [[Origins Award]] for ''Best Modern-Day Boardgame''.<ref>{{cite web 
 | url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1992/list-of-winners
 | title=Origins Award Winners (1992)
 | publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
 | accessdate=2008-03-24 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080415213154/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1992/list-of-winners <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-04-15}}</ref>

''Hacker II'' won the 1993 Origins Award for ''Best Modern-Day Boardgame''.<ref>{{cite web
 | url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1993/list-of-winners
 | title=Origins Award Winners (1993)
 | publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
 | accessdate=2008-03-24 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080307115244/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1993/list-of-winners <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-03-07}}</ref>

==Reviews==
*''[[Challenge (game magazine)|Challenge]]'' #67 (December 1992)
* ''[[Casus Belli (magazine)|Casus Belli]]'' #71 (Sep 1992)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/casus-belli-071/page/n17/mode/2up | title=Casus Belli #071 | date=1992 }}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.sjgames.com/hacker/ The official ''Hacker'' home page]
* [http://www.sjgames.com/hacker/deluxe/img/hacker_rules.pdf The official ''Hacker'' rules]
* {{bgg|1250|''Hacker''|1248|''Hacker II: The Dark Side''|10707|''Hacker: Deluxe Edition''}}

[[Category:Cyberpunk_games]]
[[Category:Dedicated deck card games]]
[[Category:Steve Jackson (American game designer) games]]
[[Category:Origins Award winners]]
[[Category:Steve Jackson Games games]]



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