Artifact Run is a new kind of shovelware from notorious asset flippers, This is basically just a fake game, it's an ultra simple Unity based top down action/avoidance game. All you do is roam around the primative/MS-Paint 2D map (with lazy wallpaper as a background, you can see the edges and everything). Collect stars and avoid the MS-Paint blobs that move towards you. That's all there is to this.
Academically it's possible the entire game is AI generated... it comes across very similar to other examples of GenAI being used to create primitive games.
This guy is using a number of fake accounts to push these lightweight "asset flip" fake games onto Steam.
Don't believe me? Here's some other asset flips from exactly the same template, all shamelessly dumped on Steam as nasty cash grabs:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3206600]Artifact Run[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3207070]Richest Thief[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by MsGlobal
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3200830]Cave Ghost[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by MsGlobal
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3190870]Knight's Shadow[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3192510]Star Runaway[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3192540]Deep Sea Pursuit[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3206370]Island Treasure Chase[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3390080]City Heist[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3390060]Dino Dash[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3382830]Zombie Escape[/url]", copy + pasted from the same template by Rawi Studio
[/list]
These are all exactly the same game!!!
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
The graphics are phoned in, it looks like half an hour's work with MS-Paint. It's unprofessional to the point of being a deliberate joke, to test and see how much the developer can get away with, by not doing any real work at all (or stealing other people's assets)... can't stress enough, this is not an asset flip. But the quality of the game, and this is what matters for gamers, is indistinguishable from an asset flip. It's terrible.
There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks. There's no way to ensure this is running at the native resolution of your display. There's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision.
The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 2 players. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 110,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.
So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 110,000+ games on Steam?
Artifact Run has the completely insane price of $200 USD, which is incredibly suspicious, higher than AAA pricing for an asset flip shovelware scam game. Why would the "developer" put such a high price tag on an asset flip with no true value as a game? There's no direct proof for this, but it's entirely possible this game is priced this way for money laundering or other criminal purposes. Higher prices allow more money to move with fewer transactions. Valve have previously banned developers for running money laundering scams. While there's no direct evidence in this case, it's highly suspicious and gamers should be wary.
The other alternative is that this pricing is intended to "protect" fake reviews that are attached to the game, but in this case there are none. Perhaps we are too early in the scam building process for the fake reviews to arrive. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend.
[quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b]
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]
