Artifact

Name: Artifact review
Item: Artifact
Rating: 7
Author: DFace

★ 7/10 Free 📅 2018-11-28

Strategy

Players draft a 40-card deck from the full Artifact card pool, then take turns positioning heroes on three separate lanes, casting spells, and managing resources to outmaneuver an opponent across two games per match. Each lane functions like a miniature battlefield where positioning, attack order, and timing determine which heroes survive and how much tower damage is dealt. Between rounds, players purchase additional cards or sell unwanted ones on an in-game market that reflects real-time supply and demand.

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Review

The core loop alternates between careful lane assignment and reactive spell use; placing a hero with a cleave effect in the center lane can clear multiple enemy creeps at once, while holding a removal spell for the opponent’s strongest threat keeps momentum in your favor. The board uses muted parchment textures and restrained particle effects so every glowing rune or summoned creep remains readable even when three lanes fill with units. The experience suits experienced card-game players who already enjoy tracking multiple simultaneous fronts and adjusting to shifting card prices rather than those looking for quick matches or simple deck-building tutorials.

Gameplay

Screenshots

Tags (5)

Single-player Multi-player PvP Online PvP Steam Cloud

Community

#artifact

2 w

Tried it after someone kept pushing. Ended up rushing a village that was half in ruins from those flying mobs, and my axes kept clashing with a horde that wouldn’t break. One moment I slammed a charged hammer into a creeper captain right as it dove and the blast knocked three skeletons off a ledge at once.

The biggest gripe is the cooldown on artifact swaps, feels too long when three creepers are already in your face. Even with decent gear, the fight drags out instead of staying sharp.

Minecraft Dungeons II rewards sticking to one weapon you know instead of mixing everything on the fly, and deaths only sting when you can tell you misplayed the timing.

more of what I meant
https://dfaceme.com/game/minecraft-dungeons-ii
#minecraft-dungeons-ii

Comment

3 w

Drafted a 40-card deck, spread the heroes across three lanes, and spent most of the match deciding when to push and when to hold back. In the second game the middle lane collapsed fast because my left hero blocked an early spell, and for about three minutes that single mistake let the opponent chip the tower while I scrambled to buy something usable from the market.

Artifact felt fine once the decks were locked in, but the constant waiting between small decisions made twenty minutes feel longer than it needed to. I liked how positioning actually mattered lane-to-lane; I just didn’t enjoy the long stretches where nothing moved and the clock kept ticking.

wrote the rest of it here
https://dfaceme.com/game/artifact
#artifact