Early game is the first of three stages that are used unofficially to describe the natural flow of a game of Netrunner.
“Generally, most games of Android: Netrunner can be broken down into three stages: the early game, the mid-game, and the late game. Historically, the early game belongs to the Runner, who looks to score as many agenda points as possible before the Corp can rez its defenses." - Lukas Litzsinger[1]
Early game is often characterized by the following:
- The runner has an advantage over the corp.
- The corp does not have enough ice to keep the runner out of their servers effectively.
- The corp does not have enough credits to rez all their ice, score agendas, and perform other desired actions.
- The runner can generally gain access to servers without having their rig installed.
The game shifts into mid game when the runner begins having difficulty accessing servers.