EDIT for Build Your Legend Update on Dec 20, 2018:

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY.

While the new update does address some original issues I had like "lack of progress" by adding Weekly bonuses and Ratings which you can earn "free" tickets and cards, Valve also changed the number of packs and card new players get upon purchase!

If a new player was to purchase the game now, they receive 5 Card Packs, 2 Event Tickets, and 2 preconstruct starter decks. Players like me who had purchase prior the the update got 10 cards packs and 5 Event tickets. New players are getting screwed in a card game that needs more new players.

The game still needs a lot of work. Games can still take long periods of time, and while RNG is inherent to every card game, the RNG in Artifact feels less fun.


Artifact is a Pay-to-Play digital card game in a space where established Free-to-Play card games like Hearthstone and MTG Arena exists.

To the people who want to argue that Valve made a card game where your cards are "worth" something. They are not worth anything. From a economic standpoint, it's a digital card game so there is no cost in production when creating card opened in pack (unlike in physical tabletop MTG cards). As people open more packs (either given for free or purchased), more cards will exist in the Marketplace and card value will inevitably trend downward.

As anyone who has played Hearthstone, MTG, or any card game, Valve will release new expansions and create new cards that will be more powerful or offer new mechanics that trump the old base cards. Initially Valve has maintained that to get cards you need to spend money to buy packs or buy the cards from the Marketplace. With the new update that allows players to get "free" packs as you rank up, it hard to figure out how Valve is going to proceed. Will players be able to get free packs from the inevitable new expansion or is it going to be a Pay-to-Win model?

My original criticisms of the game still stands. Games take too long and still not fun to play.
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Original Review

It's like playing DOTA 2 without any of the satisfaction of playing a game. I LOVE DOTA 2 despite the fact that games can take too long, the people I play with and against may be terrible human beings, and the game has a steep learning curve for a beginner. Why?

Because playing and learning to play DOTA 2 is FUN!

Artifact games take way too long (compared to other cards games), have too many random elements that are not fun to play with or against, and there is no progression system that incentivizes me to continue playing.

Winning or losing a game of Artifact is not fun.It's not necessarily a bad game, in fact, Artifact is a well produced game with high production values. But it is not fun.

These are fixable issues but the current iteration of Artifact makes the game very unenjoyable to play.

[b]EDIT for Build Your Legend Update on Dec 20, 2018:[/b] [b]ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY.[/b] While the new update does address some original issues I had like "lack of progress" by adding Weekly bonuses and Ratings which you can earn "free" tickets and cards, Valve also changed the number of packs and card new players get upon purchase! If a new player was to purchase the game now, they receive [b]5 Card Packs, 2 Event Tickets, and 2 preconstruct starter decks. [/b] Players like me who had purchase prior the the update got 10 cards packs and 5 Event tickets. New players are getting screwed in a card game that needs more new players. The game still needs a lot of work. Games can still take long periods of time, and while RNG is inherent to every card game, the RNG in Artifact feels less fun. [b]Artifact is a Pay-to-Play digital card game in a space where established Free-to-Play card games like Hearthstone and MTG Arena exists.[/b] To the people who want to argue that Valve made a card game where your cards are "worth" something. They are not worth anything. From a economic standpoint, it's a digital card game so there is no cost in production when creating card opened in pack (unlike in physical tabletop MTG cards). As people open more packs (either given for free or purchased), more cards will exist in the Marketplace and card value will inevitably trend downward. As anyone who has played Hearthstone, MTG, or any card game, Valve will release new expansions and create new cards that will be more powerful or offer new mechanics that trump the old base cards. Initially Valve has maintained that to get cards you need to spend money to buy packs or buy the cards from the Marketplace. With the new update that allows players to get "free" packs as you rank up, it hard to figure out how Valve is going to proceed. Will players be able to get free packs from the inevitable new expansion or is it going to be a Pay-to-Win model? [b]My original criticisms of the game still stands. Games take too long and still not fun to play. [/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Original Review[/b] It's like playing DOTA 2 without any of the satisfaction of playing a game. I LOVE DOTA 2 despite the fact that games can take too long, the people I play with and against may be terrible human beings, and the game has a steep learning curve for a beginner. Why? Because playing and learning to play DOTA 2 is FUN! Artifact games take way too long (compared to other cards games), have too many random elements that are not fun to play with or against, and there is no progression system that incentivizes me to continue playing. Winning or losing a game of Artifact is not fun.It's not necessarily a bad game, in fact, Artifact is a well produced game with high production values. But it is not fun. These are fixable issues but the current iteration of Artifact makes the game very unenjoyable to play.