Cyberpunk, a subgenre of stories about futuristic worlds of crime, corporations and computers, changed the world of science fiction forever when it was codified in the William Gibson novel Neuromancer. The new Magic the Gathering release, Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, delves into this premise with gorgeous futuristic art. In a time when our real world has started to blur the lines between the present and the future, it’s the perfect time to look back and see all the art that has explored such territory, and to delve into it ourselves!
One of the most famous and successful examples of cyberpunk is the roleplaying game Shadowrun. It broke through the traditional medieval fantasy genre by placing elves and orcs and ever-present magic in a highly urban and technological setting, with the player characters stealing corporate assets from skyscrapers rather than gold and potions from dungeons. Through many more succeeding editions (which always had to move the setting’s date a little further in time!) Shadowrun has been the RPG to play for gamers who want to blend wizardry and hacking, and the RPG to beat for creators looking to put new twists on D&D.
The other landmark cyberpunk RPG is, of course, Cyberpunk, its current edition being Cyberpunk Red. Once it was known as Cyberpunk 2020; although the year 2020 has come and gone, that retro-futuristic style and high-energy action has not lost any of its appeal. Musicians, journalists, vagabonds and techies pit themselves against the powers that be, always with the goal of making the story feel as intense as possible. Cyberpunk Red is a game for rulebreakers, but also for showing just how cool the rules can let you be.
Headspace is a modern, indie take on the cyberpunk concept, leaning into the fact that our own world has already become rather cyberpunk. As in Shadowrun, players conduct corporate espionage and sabotage, but here they must work together using “Headspace”, technology that links their brains together. This is no magical fix- if you want to share information with each other, it also means sharing your deepest secrets and sharpest pain. It isn’t enough to fight together- to survive a corporate dystopia, you must understand each other as well. A fast and rules-light system is perfect for players who care more about their character choices than keeping track of points.
Cyberpunk began in literature, and contemporary science fiction authors have been happy to keep it up. Nexus, by Ramez Naam, puts the power the internet has to connect us all into the titular drug, which works on nano-levels previously impossible. Brain connections provide plenty of opportunity for the good and the bad of humanity to help or wage war against each other. When a scientist named Cade does some unauthorized work improving the drug, it sets in motion a chain of events that will plunge him into the role of spy and action hero whether he wants it or not. Knowledge may be worth killing for, but is it worth enough to keep you alive?
Noor, by Nnedi Okorafor, brings its focus onto a common trope of futuristic fiction: body augmentation. Anwuli Okwudili (AO, as she likes to be called) is a Nigerian woman who has survived accidents both natural and unnatural with technological aid, leaving her feeling out of place- she even imagines her initials standing for Artificial Organism. Her feelings of being an outcast soon turn deadly literal when she finds herself on the run from the government, fighting an entire society for her right to exist. Noor is a fresh look at how we adapt to our circumstances and work to maintain our sense of self in the face of an often hostile and ever updating world.
The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel also takes a look at bodily cybernetics, but with a very different tone. Kobo, a baseball recruiter, has ancient cybernetics he can’t afford to replace, and is only barely hanging together when his life is upturned by a case of murder. His best friend is slain while playing a baseball game, and Kobo is determined to find the killer no matter how deep he may be in over his head. He’s no revolutionary or super spy, but that title of “body scout” ends up having a sinister double meaning in the deadly cyberpunk future.
Card games, which rely heavily on art to sell their premises, have also cast themselves in cyberpunk worlds. Influentia places its players in Italy of 2077, where corporate feuds have turned as deadly as any old world aristocratic rivalry. Players work for their chosen teams to control the sale and flow of various technologies, looking to better themselves and their families no matter the cost. Get sucked into cutthroat intrigue and ponder how such down and dirty backstabbing is influencing the development and spread of our own technologies!
One of our most popular party games, Coup, also uses lovely cyberpunk artwork to set the scene. Renaissance politics meets a far future setting as you fight in quick bouts to promote your agendas and rule your city-state before someone else seizes control first. A game can be as short as 15 minutes, but the strategy involved will have you playing over and over again to see if you can get it right! If blood and passion made up the political power struggles of old, how much deadlier can things get with technology to facilitate it?
Cyberpunk is many things- a subgenre, a mood, an art style, or even a descriptor of the world around us. Keep your eyes open to appreciate every new miracle- and to watch out for every new danger!