Artifacts – ApKRig.com
After five years, there is another game from Valve, but instead of another Half-Life or Portal it will be a card. Artifact comes out on November 28 this year, and now we know the details not only about its game rules but also about monetization policy. And it is important to say that in both cases, the other digital card games may not differ more.
Artifact is thematically based on MOBA hit Dota 2, so expect some heroes and abilities, and even division of the battlefield into three specific lines with towers. But it’s not like Dott developers sit down and try to put together some card parody for their own game-the legendary Richard Garfield, the author of Magic: The Gathering, is the main brain
It is from the Magicians who are currently very successful with the virtual Magic: The Gathering Arena, that Artifact takes quite a bit, for example, the ability to react to the opponent’s actions during his own move. But a big change is three separate lines, which basically means that three games are played in front of you at the table. Win in two of them, and the overall victory is yours – so it’s actually a similar principle to playing for two winners in Magic.
There will not be any games per hour – one round is to be done in three different minibuses for 45 seconds, the whole game is about 12 minutes longer, than a bit longer than in the case of Hearthstone, but also a bit shorter than in the digital Magic. Most importantly, the first reactions, such as the detailed impressions of Ars Technica or Rock, Paper, Shotgun, show that you will enjoy the 12 minutes every time
Perhaps even more surprising than innovative gaming mechanics is the economic model that is NOT free-to-play. It is a remarkable deviation from the tradition of digital cards. To look at the artifact, you have to plan $ 20 on the wood, for which you get two pre-prepared base packages and 10 boosters each containing 12 random cards (and at least one precious one).
You can buy additional boosters after two dollars a piece, but that’s not all. Unlike other digital cards, Artifact will be a full-featured community market. You can buy specific cards from other players or sell them yourself, and given that Valve cuts off its share of all transactions, we may be looking at a future gold mine
Actually, it’s quite strange that nobody has really tried it yet – even in the Magic: The Gathering Arena you can not sell or buy cards directly, even if these activities are the ultimate ground for the original paper version. But maybe the developers lack the infrastructure they need, so they definitely have it in Valve.
If you do not want to pay real money for the basic pair of packages and ten boosters, there is one more way to get them, but for most of ours it probably will not be very viable. Anyone who visits PAX West in Seattle on August 31 and quits the front will be able to try out both Artifact on the one hand and get two free entry codes for free
The Valve game will first be released on PC, but sometimes in the future, vaguely defined as 2019, Artifact should also look at mobile devices, both Android and iOS
