This is at the same time the most fun directive, the most dangerous directive, the most restrictive directive, the most aggressive directive and the least imported directive of all the directives that Adam has.

With it, in the early stage of the game, you can pressure ANY server since you are certain to be able pass most of them for (nearly) free. Of course, paying 2 to break the ice will leave you with a single to setup. And you must run on your first click.

In the Q2 2023 meta, you can alleviate this with Algernon, Jak Sinclair, Basilar Synthgland 2KVJ and Beth Kilrain-Chang, which can give you additionnal clicks.

Also, you can use Poison Vial to be able to fully break any ice with Always Be Running.

When the meta is full of rush decks, this is invaluable! With it, you can pressure early and steal those agendas before the corp has any time to setup.

But against slower corp, which often have a high agenda density, you can get in big trouble. Especially if the corp has put heavy ices everywhere and you cannot break those ices.

While the art is amazing, unfortunately it does not convey the fealing of "Always Be Running". The quote is very nice, but again fail to convey the meaning and effect of the card. Only the name gives (in a straightforward manner) the effect of the card. More effort should have been put into the design of this fantastic card.

This is the more affordable, influence wise, equivalent to Cezve. The nearest comparison to it is Mantle, which can also be used to pay for using program, with the need to run a central, like Cezve. All for the same influence.

Since it "gives" 2, it repay itself back on the second time you used it. But 3 is not cheap and can set the runner back a bit, but running ices for nearly nothing is always worth it.

As of the Q2 2023 meta, it is not widely used. Shapers have Mantle and K2CP Turbine, Criminals have Cezve and Anarchs have Leech and Ice Carver, all of which does reduce the number of credits needed to pass ices. Of course, for program like Misdirection, having Multithreader makes it easy to pay for it. Same goes for the seldom used Tracker.

It pairs well with another seldom used program from the card pool of Adam : Algernon. With it, you can have an additional click "for free" each turn. This would offset the cost of using Always Be Running.

It also pairs well with Hyperbaric, because it let you boost the strenght of it for free each turn, without the need to run a server.

Finally, it also pairs well with Self-modifying Code, making it free to use.

The art is nice, if slightly strange, because it represent a simulation of a bioroid and its capacity to multitask. The quote bring to the foreground a piece of lore about the bioroid design, which is great and thematic. Finally, the name bring everything together in harmony. Excellent work!

One of the best console in the game. As the runner progresses in the game, stealing agendas, the console progresses as well. This is unique! By the end game, you'll have more MU and a bigger hand size than your need! All of this for the very low price of 2, making it the cheapest way to gain that many MU and handsize.

The closest comparable consoles are Obelus, Supercorridor and T400 Memory Diamond. The first need tags, making you build your entire deck around it. The second has a rider that happen, at best, once or twice per game. The third outscale the second and can sort of progress with you, as the game progresses. But none can do it like Brain Chip.

But 3 influences is a lot and in the early game, it does nothing for the runner. But it is still worth it if you plan to use more and more programs as the game progresses. But unlike Adam, you will not be able to tutor it and must hope to get it early enough.

For Adam, it is perfect with Safety First, since you will be able to draw card while having more cards in your hand, as the game progresses. And since Adam can tutor Brain Chip with Emergent Creativity, it is much easier to get it on time for it to have a lot of value.

The art shows us a piece of lore about bioroid : the brain is in the torso. Again, a phrase for a quote would have been easy to fit in I think. Rather plain for such an exceptionnal console.

Probably the least used card in the Adam pool of cards. Could it be used out of faction? Is it good in faction?

The short answer is no. But it can be made usable, sometime.

For Adam: Compulsive Hacker, using this card is either a desperate move or it is because the deck is build around a combo that you want out as soon as possible, or that needs A LOT of cards in hand to use, because trashing directives makes Adam a blank ID.

At one influence, it would be easy to splash out of faction. But why use it? To make it valuable, you have to be able to get 3 cards or more from it, otherwise you are better off using the influence for Deuces Wild and Build Script.

1. It pairs well with Harbinger, since you get one draw out of each for 1.
2. It pairs also nicely with cards that are near useless when almost spent, like Miss Bones, Flame-out, Imp.
3. It pairs well with card that stop being useful later in the game, like Dadiana Chacon, Corporate Defector, Fencer Fueno, Aesop's Pawnshop, Security Testing.
4. It pairs well with Wasteland, since it would give you some credits along with a draw, thus ofsetting the cost of Independent Thinking.

But where it shine the most is for deck that use Apocalypse. Especially for Anarchs. Because after using Apocalypse, the bin breakers (Paperclip, Black Orchestra and MKUltra) would stay facedown on the board. You can then use Independent Thinking to put them back in the trash, drawing a couple of cards in the process.

The art is stellar, if somewhat violent and gruesome. The quote gives us a peek at the lore of a "free bioroid". The name and effect are in sync with the art and quote. Awesome work!

Soon, we'll have to say goodbye to the best mini faction, as Adam: Compulsive Hacker is rotating.

Adam good because it provided so much early in the game, through its directives. You had 4 choices of directives, and you could select 3 of them.

• Always Be Running, the least used, allowed you to start with a breaker and let you pressure the corp early. It was the bane of Sportsmetal: Go Big or Go Home in the early stage of the game, but forced you to have unwanted runs in the late stage of the game. Of note, Carpe Diem allowed you to not run on the first click.
• Neutralize All Threats was always selected and gave you multiaccess, allowing you to seach for those agendas more efficiently. This directive is always taken. The drawback was that early, you might have to trash an expensive asset that would ruin your early economy.
• Find the Truth was the most splashed out of faction among the directives, since it allowed you to see the top of R&D and then to use Mad Dash on an agenda sitting on the top. Spin Doctor is the natural enemy of this, as it can shuffle R&D out of turn for the corp.
• Safety First was sometime splashed out of faction to have clickless draw, but outside of Adam: Compulsive Hacker and Nathaniel "Gnat" Hall: One-of-a-Kind, the drawback was too great to make effective use of it.

Also, Adam has some of the best cards in the game, with Brain Chip becoming the best console at the late stage of the game and Logic Bomb making fun of any ice out of the blue.

In the Q2 2023 meta, there was Matryoshka that could effectively be used with Multithreader. So that it was not mandatory to use your influence for a breaker. Otherwise, the most often used breaker were Engolo and Paperclip, because you could search for them with Emergent Creativity.

Of all the mini faction, Adam was the best and often felt like a Criminal, but better.

The art shows us a bioroid, demonstrating a possible image of what we would see in the novel Golem (a good novel to read). It is my hope that a bioroid will appear in a faction someday. A quote would have been easy to fit on the card, which is a missed opportunity for such a thematic identity for Netrunner. We'll miss you.