As many of you may already know, Artifact is an upcoming digital collectible card game that is being developed by Valve Corporation. The game is scheduled for release on 28th Nov 2018. Recently Artifact has announced that they will be distributing Artifact Beta Keys to the attendees of PAC and TI 8. The announcement was made in a tweet that can be read below
Everyone attending #TI8 will receive a copy of Artifact and beta access which will begin in October. The game keys at #PAXWest will also grant beta access.
— Artifact (@PlayArtifact) August 20, 2018
Coming back to the game, Steam describes it as,
Artifact is a digital card game coming from the makers of Dota®2 and Steam®. A collaboration between legendary card game designer Richard Garfield and game and technology maker Valve (Dota 2, Steam), Artifact offers the deepest gameplay and the highest-fidelity experience ever seen in a trading card game. It features more than 280 cards in the shipping set, including 44 heroes. Targeted for release on Steam in late 2018, players will be able to buy and sell cards on the Steam Community Marketplace. Artifact will also be supported as a service through expansions, competitive events, and new features.
The game will be available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is not being released on any console as far as we know but maybe Valve will make the game available on other platforms in the future.
How does the game work?
Artifact Card GameAs a digital collectible card game (DCCG), the gameplay of Artifact is to build a deck of collectable cards, obtained via purchasing or trading with other players on the Steam Marketplace, in order to defeat an opponent in a 1v1 situation.[4] Artifact is heavily based upon and features many elements from the multiplayer online battle arena game Dota 2, which Valve also developed.As such, the game differs from most other traditional collectible card games, as it features three "lanes" guarded by a tower at the end, with each lane existing as its own independent board. The victor is the first person to either destroy a structure called the "Ancient", which appears after a tower has been destroyed, or the first to destroy two towers in total. Each deck contains 40 cards and includes five heroes, with nearly 300 total cards being available at launch. Cards are grouped into three rarity tiers, common, uncommon, and rare, and are further grouped into four color themes, red, green, black, and blue, that each have their own unique effects on the board. Each lane also has its own independent mana pool, which is used for casting hero abilities and regenerates by one point after each round.In addition to hero abilities, item cards can also be freely placed and used in any lane. Each time a card is played, the initiative passes to the opposing player. After all cards have been played in a lane, heroes and "creeps", which are weak, but numerous mobs that can not be directly controlled and respawn every round, begin attacking whatever is opposite them, including the opposing tower if there are no units left.This repeats until all three lanes have been played, after which it goes to the "Shopping Phase", where gold accumulated during battles is spent on buying items and upgrading hero equipment in three different slots for weapons, armor, and accessories.
The sounds very interesting to say the least, are you excited for the game too? Well if you are going to attend PAX or TI 8 then you are in luck and will get to try the game.
Let us know in the comments what you think of the upcoming card game.