Wife and I have just tried some 2-runners games. It was really fun and she loved it much, much more than 4-runners games. I know there are many people that think that the game is not balanced for less than 4 runners, but I think it is.
We come up with some reasons why we prefer 2 runners game :
- More money : The Nuyen is split between 2 runners instead of 4. So we can finally have a chance to buy those mighty 9 Nuyen cards (for example). In a 4-runners game, we find it difficult to gather enough money to get the more costly cards. Also, runners having more than 1 role get 1 more nuyen at the beginning of the game, which is also helpful.
- Time : At 2 runners, a game can easily last only 30-40 minutes. At 4 players, more planning and discussions are needed and the games (in our groupe at leasts) last slitghly more than 1 hour.
- Less Crossfire cards : At 2 runners in the Crossfire mission, we do not draw crossfire event for the first 2 rounds (but maybe I read wrongly the rules, correct me if I am doing a mistake). This gives an advantage and makes the following scenes much more manageable.
However, some tactics should be used when playing with less than 4 players :
- Choosing a role : Decker and Street Samurai are natural choices to me when playing 2-runners game. The samurai can be a good heavy hitter (particulary with the Katana) and the decker's BM cards are at their fullest potential when there is a lot of hacking cards in one's deck. Mage is nice, even if his BM cards are more like a gamble, but this is manageable. The Face's BM options does not get better when coupled with a lot of skills cards, so I would prefer another role usually.
- Buying wisely : Since there are 2 main roles in play only, purchases made on the BM should include "colors" that the reduced team is lacking. If my team is composed of a Decker and Samurai, I would buy some magic and skills cards or more "wild" cards (Icon Grab, the sniper, Lightning bolt, Programming pair, etc.). This is important : sticking to cards according to our main roles would quickly decimate our small team.
- Choosing upgrades : In a 4-runners game, I like the upgrade Shopping Agent to cycle quickly through the BM. At 2-runners, with the extra money and the reduced starting firepower, I prefer to concentrate on HP upgrades (for the Elf or Human) or on additionnal cards in starting hand (like "In Training"). Often, that +1 card in your starting hand will be the skill card you need to put down an obstacle in the first round : since you will often end up with only 2 skills cards (or magic, or whatever roles you didn't take) among all the startings decks, "In Training" improve the odds of getting those rarer cards.
There, I just wanted to tell that this is a game that can be really fun with only 2 runners.
