Yet another digital card game is in the works, and this time it’s from Valve. During last night’s livestream of The International 2017 championship tournament for Dota 2, the company released a teaser clip for a new title called Artifact.
The footage didn’t show off any features, but commentator Sean “Day [9]” Plott provided a few more details about its gameplay during yesterday’s livestream. Just like Dota 2, Artifact players will have to deal with three boards, which represent the three lanes in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). You can deploy your five heroes to one of the three boards, and your creeps, or minions, will also make their way to each lane.
As far as combat is concerned, killing an opponent’s hero will grant you gold, which you can use to purchase items to further strengthen specific characters. You can also deploy “improvement cards,” which are spells that have lasting effects on a lane, but it seems like you will need to pay an upkeep cost every turn if you want them to stay on the battlefield.
Valve is a latecomer to the card game party where companies such as Blizzard, CD Projekt Red, and Bethesda are already making waves with Hearthstone, Gwent, and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, respectively. With Artifact, Valve wants to get in on the action while also attracting players to Dota 2 who might otherwise find the MOBA intimidating.
Aside from additional gameplay details, a major question remains on platform availability. Hearthstone and The Elder Scrolls: Legends are available across desktop and mobile devices, while Gwent is playable on desktop and consoles. We’ll see how Valve’s new game shakes out when it arrives sometime in 2018.
| Name | Artifact |
|---|---|
| Type | Collectible cards |
| Developer | Valve |
| Publisher | Valve |
| Platforms | N/A |
| Where To Buy | N/A |
| Release Date | 2018 |
