" My god someone finally got it right! "

      Title: Cyberpunk the CCG by Social Games

      Format: Sci-Fi Collectible Card Game

      Reviewing Monkey: Prof. Bobo

      The Hype: A few years ago a company that shall remain nameless made a CCG based on part of the Cyberpunk universe and released it with much fanfare. I awaited it with baited breath and when I finally got my hands on a copy I was completely and totally crushed. The game, unquestionably, was swill and I thought it would mark the end of any potential future for the product. But now, to the industry's surprise, Social Games in cooperation with R. Talisorian games is releasing a new Cyberpunk CCG…and this monkey is here to tell you that this game completely kicks ass!

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Playability: Steeped deeply in the Cyberpunk universe, to begin play you need to select a sponsor (as in someone that is going to help finance your hits and missions on other players). The sponsors range from corporations (Militech, Arasaka & Biotechnica), to street (the gangs, the mob & the nomads) and on to government sponsors (cops). From there players earn EB (EuroBucks), and they spend them putting locations and runners into play, and equipping those runners with vehicles, gear, and even cyberware. The equipment needed for runs is put into a place called a stash and then from there is moved to your runners which will give them bonuses in combat or other advantages. The stash can also be raided as well and if it is raided successfully you lose all the cards in it.
          Combat is pretty straightforward as you select your runners to go either attack a location or go out on a operation and if successful you gain ops points (and a bonus if you complete a operation). There are three ways to win the game by either gaining 100 Ops points (which is done by going out on missions), 100 style points (by putting runners into play and playing cards on your runners) or by a sponsor victory (each of the sponsors has a unique condition that secures victory, example: the gangs have to build a working punknaught and then play the card trashing the corporate zone).
          While the rules seem a bit unclear and complicated at first, once you start playing the game it becomes clear and fluid. The rulebook at times is a bit hard to read, and the small type doesn't make things any easier, but when you finally get going you really feel as if your playing a RPG in CCG form. There are the different character classes and they all have advantages inherit to their class (fixers being able to get gear that they need, solos being good at combat, etc.) There is an expanded rulebook complete with examples on www.cyberpunkccg.com. 5 out of 5

      Aesthetics: The look of this game is very unique and it does have a style that reflects the Cyberpunk universe. Granted some of the artwork that is used in the game can be found in some of the RPG supplements and rulebooks, but there are also some talented artists that worked to create new and innovative pieces for this game. 4 out of 5

      Value vs. Cost: The cost of the game is around the same as the other card games on the market today, so $9.99 will get you a starter deck and $2.99 buys booster packs of 10 cards. Collecting the entire set of these cards won't be an easy task, however, as there are around 365 cards in the initial set alone! Getting started for reasonable play won't set you back too much, though, so it's still a good choice if you're looking into getting involved in a CCG. 4 out of 5

      The Verdict:

My god someone finally got it right!

      The Good: Reflects all the role-playing elements of Cyberpunk in a card game!

      The Bad: The rules can be a bit hard to read at times and some of the art is recycled…but those are my only complaints!

      The Overall Ugly: D'oh! Empathy loss…you go psycho and you die. Careful of that cyberware kiddies.

      What it's Worth: Who cares! Go get a deck now and start playing!