Posted August 28, 2026 by Mad Jay
Why I’m Building Zero Days
I’ve been chasing this feeling for years: the specific tension of a solo run against a system that’s actively pushing back. Just you, a stack of tech, and a clock. There’s also all that unexplored territory of card decks. What if you had a crd that let you tear an opponents card up? or insert cards in their deck or hand? Or remove cards from the game? What if that could happen to your deck?
Android: Netrunner is my inspiration. Cards as the interface for intrusion. But Netrunner’s a two-player game, and the runner’s half of that experience — the actual hack — always felt like it deserved to stand on its own. Strip away the Corp player, keep the tension of running the Corp deck…that’s what I want.
The other piece of it is Gibson. Case in Neuromancer, Count Zero, Papa Legba’s ridden horses jacking into systems that clap back — that’s the tone I want. Not clean sci-fi hacking, something closer to alchemy. Not system debugging, but breaking into a haunted house that knows you’re there.
So: Zero Days. A single-player hacking deckbuilder rpg where every card is a move against the clock. You’ve ain’t got alotta time before the system notices you — jack in, thread ICE-laden nodes, and run the ICE before the whole thing locks down and comes for you.
I’m a solo dev building this alongside a day job as a software engineer, porting the prototype from Lua to C++ right now, aiming for a Steam Next Fest slot down the line. I’ll be posting devlogs here as the build comes together — mechanics breakdowns, ugly debug screenshots before the pretty ones, the occasional flashback post.
If any of this sounds like your kind of tension, follow along. It’s early, but it’s real.
Run the ICE.