ENCAPSULATE 2012
2012
Collectable Gaming Forever Changed
Words by Matthew Vernall
Take that Mayan Calendar! As well as surviving another foretold apocalyptic date, 2012 also saw Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, the ‘better than anyone expected’ London 2012 Olympics and the Box Office Busting team-up film that has now defined modern cinema, The Avengers (amusingly referred to as Avengers Assemble in the UK so it wouldn’t be confused with the 1960’s TV show, look that gem up when you can.)
As the UK embraced superheroes and superathletes, we saw a healthy selection of industry-defining releases that would change the course of tabletop gaming. Join us as we look back at 2012!
ANDROID: NETRUNNER
It wasn’t that Netrunner was a new game; the asymmetric collectable card game designed by the legendary Richard Garfield first released in 1996. Nor was it the debut of the Android universe or the idea of ‘Living Card Games’ both having been developed and trademarked by Fantasy Flight Games for previous products. It was the infusion of a fascinating card game system, a jaw-droppingly cyberpunk world and one of the biggest shake ups in the CCG industry that made Android: Netrunner take the world by storm.