Cyberpunk Skirmishes with 'Exploit Zero'

I was fortunate to make Patrick Todoroff's acquaintance when we were both simply avid gamers who haunted some of the same online gaming forums. We found each other quite companionable in terms of the games we both enjoyed and our approaches to making them fun for ourselves and our respective game groups. Within a couple of years, though, all of that changed.

Now Mr. Todoroff is a game designing maverick, churning out three games and multiple supplements for them in the past two to three years. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised given that he was a disciplined, prolific novelist before ever turning his pen to game design. That facility with narrative is likely one of the things that made us so simpatico in the gaming discussions we had online over the years.

I was excited for Patrick when Osprey published his great Stalker-inspired Zona Alfa rules, and it seemed like it was no time at all before he'd published Exploit Zero (renamed from the original Hardwired as a result of some stupid legal threats from another author). I have a print copy of Hardwired that may, I suppose, become a collector's item as Patrick's star continues to rise in the gaming firmament.

But games are meant for playing, not storing away as an investment, and that's just what fellow Scrummer Josh O'Connor and I did about a week ago when he brought over all of the miniatures and terrain we'd need to give the game a whirl. I admit that cyberpunk isn't a genre I've been drawn to--in comics, prose, or games--and so I had to rely on Josh a bit to help get me up to speed on some of the tropes. That didn't take too long, aided by the fact that I didn't have to spend a lot of time mastering the basic core mechanics of Todoroff's game engine. 

The game itself is genuinely easy to pick up and fast to play on the table. More importantly, however, is that it is fun. In no time we were moving our cyberpunk miniatures into action, fighting off foes and abducting a scientist we were paid to retrieve. Like a lot of co-op games (say, for example, Sellswords & Spellslingers), the body count is quite high, as we dispatched the first couple of waves of enemies without much sweat. Things by design did get progressively harder, however, and by the end, though we had accomplished the mission, it didn't happen without suffering some casualties on our side.   

We played the intro mission, and I'm anxious to try some of the subsequent missions to see how the game introduces interesting complications to what is an already solid formula. I'm not sure I'll ever warm enough to the cyberpunk genre to be inspired to buy and paint my own figures, but at the moment Josh seems to have enough to keep us covered going forward.

And to my good fortune, I'm not stuck playing this game only in a cyberpunk universe. Patrick has released an iteration called Nightwatch that takes place in a fantasy setting. The core mechanics seem to be almost identical but reskinned for hunting and fighting monsters in a quasi-medieval milieu. Half the Scrum Club has already expressed an interest in giving Nightwatch a go.

And now for my boilerplate disclaimer that the below photos are not a recreation of the unfolding action in the game but rather a smattering of shots at various points to give one a flavor for the proceedings. All of these photos are by Josh and myself, as my wife Ellen--our usual photographer--was indisposed. (Click any photos to enlarge.)

EXPLOIT ZERO

Josh setting up his terrain and minis for the game at Scrum Hall.

This was the scientist and his bodyguards. We needed to take the bodyguards down, disarm an explosive planted in the scientist's head, and then get him off the play area as more and more foes came streaming into the area each turn.

Decided to plop on top of a building this framed photo by my wife that was handy to dress up the play area a bit more.

Not a criticism of Josh who graciously put this whole game together, but one of my rules of gaming is that if you're going to put something as cool as this vehicle on the board, then it should do something during the game besides look pretty. 

CLOSING THOUGHTS AND PARTING SHOTS

It's always a great relief to be able to honestly say kind things about a friend's work. If I couldn't, I would almost certainly skip doing a post on Exploit Zero at all, and quietly tuck away the game and move on.

I have a soft spot for co-op games. I don't particularly enjoy solo gaming, per se, but it's nice sometimes to have an opportunity to sit around the table with friends and all be pulling together in the same direction rather than against one another. Rangers of Shadow Deep never engaged me or my imagination like it did for many others, and until now Sellswords & Spellslingers was the only co-op game that really pushed my buttons. Now I can add Exploit Zero to the list (and almost undoubtedly Nightwatch, as well). Thanks for that, Patrick!

BONUS CONTENT

I decided to play around for a total of about three minutes with some filters in Photoshop. Below are the results. Was trying to find something to evoke a bit of the cyberpunk theme...

(photo: Joe)

(photo: Josh)

(photo: Joe)

(photo: Josh)