A-Z backlog challenge: System Crash Review

System Crash is another single player Collectible Card game. However this one is a lot less rushed and more polished than Northmark: Hour of the wolf.

Instead of using the tired fantasy theme which dominates CCGs, Rogue Moon studios is set in a cyber-punk future. You start the game as a hacker trying to make enough money to pay off an outstanding debt. As the game continues, you are drawn into a conspiracy involving corporations, crooked law enforcement and other criminal elements. There's quite a bit of text between missions but the writing is good enough and there's some decent artwork which keeps you feeling invested in the story.

There are some interesting mechanics in the game which separate it from the norm. You have 4 columns to play your units. These will attack the enemy unit opposite them taking into account attack, defense and life points. If there is no enemy unit opposite, instead of decreasing the enemy life points you gain points yourself- as if your unit has gained a piece of info required to make the mission a success. When you have gained enough points (usually 50) you win the mission. If the enemy gets there first, then you lose. Units can be given equipment which buffs or debuffs them. there are also action which act like instant spells as well as programs which are like global enchantments. I think it was a good decision to make programs only last a specific number of terms so you don't feel compelled to add many cards that destroy programs if you don't want to. Some programs and units, if they have the term hacking, give you points at the start of each turn to get you towards 50 without requiring attacking through enemy defenses.

You will select missions off the world map, some which are story missions and others extra side missions. You are given a brief overview which hints at the type of enemies you will face and any bonuses you or they will get. You will also be told what rewards you will get in terms of money and cards.

Most of the time you ar given rewards that are random cards of a certain rarity. This adds to the replayability as the cards you find will push your deck in a certain direction with you using the money you get to be buy specific cards to full out your deck at the black market.

There are also a number of factions which give cards of the same type some bonuses and also are suited to certain tactics. For example the Anarchs are a rush heavy deck which look to do a lot of early damage with cheap units and cards which buff their attack. Mechs and Law enforcement are more geared towards late game and runners focus on hacking so you might want to combine them with cards which decrease enemy attack damage so they stay on the field for longer. You also have Yakuza who gain bonuses from manipulating cards in their hand.

You cannot replace a unit on the field with another from your hand so if you have 4 weak units on the field you may have to kill one of your own with a damage card to make space for a stronger unit. If it was a multiplayer game, I think where would be some issues with card balance but as you are playing against AI only it doesn't matter too much. The odd card having a lower cost than they should isn't a big deal. The enemy are pretty well but together thematically as well and there are none that feel overly strong or gimmicky. You may in fact find the game getting a little easy. You can mix it up by making your deck more flavourful instead of just being the best you can possibly make it.

I found this a fun game and the campaign was a good length at around 12 hours. I'm surprised it didn't get more attention and sales. There's also a vampire expansion pack or mini campaign which was released for Halloween.

Release Year: 2016
Rating: 75
Normal Price: $14.99
Best sale price: $11.24 (-20%)