Update – July 2020 – Forgotten Artifacts is now known as Lost Relics.
Lost Relics (LR) is a dungeon exploration and combat game from Cliff Cawley.
It is currently listed as a “pre-alpha” release, but is a fully playable game even in its current form. Lost Relics features dungeon loot backed by Enjin Coin.
Any blockchain items farmed from FA dungeons can be collected over time or traded with other players.
We have tried the game out a few times over the past few months, and we’re here to report on what we discovered.
Is Lost Relics a fun game? Is it worth spending the time to play in Explore Mode or even paying for Adventure Mode? Read on to get our review.
In the process, we’ll also explain how to purchase, download, and install the game for those interested in playing it.
Check Out this 24 Hour Play Live Stream!
Lost Relics sign up process
Lost Relics features a free-to-play Explore Mode that does not require an Enjin wallet. However, this mode does not allow the player to earn any Enjin-backed loot.
If you want to earn collectibles in the game, you’ll need to connect an Enjin wallet to it. You’ll also need some Adventurer Stones to enter dungeons in Adventurer Mode.
Adventurer Stones can be purchased for as little as $5 from the developer’s store or found within the game.
Here is how to register an account, purchase or find adventurer stones, and install Lost Relics.
Lost Relics registration
To register with the game, first navigate to the official Lost Relics website. Then click account in the upper-right corner of the screen.
From there, click create an account.
Enter your email address. Then click create account again.
Once you push this button, you’ll receive an email. Push the button within the email to complete the registration process.
Connecting an Enjin wallet
In order to receive blockchain-backed dungeon loot, you’ll need to have an Enjin Coin (ENJ) wallet connected to your account.
If you don’t already know how to install and set up Enjin wallet, read our Enjin coin guide for a complete tutorial on how to do this.
To connect your Enjin wallet to Lost Relics, first make sure that you are logged into the website. Then click account –> link Enjin wallet now. A QR code will appear. Use your Enjin wallet app on your mobile device to capture this QR code.
Your wallet will now be linked to the game.
Buying or finding adventurer stones
Because Lost Relics allows players to receive ENJ-backed collectibles as rewards, the game needs a way to recoup the cost of minting these collectibles.
To do this, it charges players a currency called Adventurer Stones. This currency can be purchased in packs of 10 for $5 at the developer’s store – or for even cheaper if the player buys in bulk.
Adventurer stones can also be found in chests within the game. And this includes dungeons played through in Explore Mode.
It’s possible to find adventurer stones in Explore Mode, use them to play in Adventurer Mode, and get blockchain-backed loot without ever paying an entry fee to the game.
However, this process would be very inefficient. So most serious players will want to buy at least a few adventurer stones to reduce the grind.
Each time a player dies, quits the game without escaping the dungeon, or escapes with blockchain loot, an adventurer stone is consumed.
If the player decides to leave the dungeon through an in-game exit, but without having earned any blockchain loot, the adventurer stone will not be consumed.
Adventurer stones are centralized game-assets. They are not cryptocurrencies held in a wallet, nor can they be traded between players.
Installing Lost Relics
To install Lost Relics, click play now while logged into the website.
Next, click Download Windows Installer or Download OSX Installer. Once you open the file, it will begin to install.
When the game opens, you’ll have to click through a few warnings that tell you this is a pre-alpha build that is likely to be different from future versions.
After a few clicks, you’ll end up at the character select screen.
Starting a Lost Relics game
Here is how to begin a Lost Relics dungeon-crawling adventure.
Selecting a character
In the current build, players have four characters to choose from: Ascelin the Slayer (common human knight), Evelyn (common human archer), Hurricane (common human warrior), and Locasta (common human sorcerer).
Currently, the differences between these characters are only cosmetic. But the use of terms like “common,” “human,” and “sorcerer” give us clues as to what kind of features will be available in the future.
Presumably, a future build of Lost Relics will include collectible characters as well as items. Some of these characters will be common while others will be rare.
There should also be character classes such as “warrior,” and “sorcerer” in future builds, as well as new races. Perhaps we will see elves and gnomes in Lost Relics‘ future?
For now, players should select whatever character they think looks the coolest – since the way these characters look is the only thing that currently sets them apart.
Choosing pets
Pets are a new feature with Lost Relics. Players can buy Enjin-backed pets from the developer or from other players. Once they are purchased, they will show up in the character select screen.
Pets are currently cosmetic. They follow the player around in the dungeon, but they do not attack enemies or perform any other function. This may change in a future build.
Selecting a loadout
Once a character and pet is selected, the player is sent to the loadout screen.
From this screen, the player can choose a weapon to be wielded by the character, as well as select other items to be held in inventory.
In a previous build, blockchain-backed weapons could be selected from this screen. For example, we used a Legendary weapon called Misfortune’s Guardian in several FA dungeons a few months ago.
Unfortunately, this weapon and others like it can no longer be selected from within the game. But this is probably just a temporary issue with the current build.
In the future, this inventory loadout screen should allow players to carry health potions they’ve acquired in previous games, which should add to the feeling of progression in the game.
Selecting a game mode
The final step to beginning a game of Lost Relics is to select a game mode.
If a player just wants to practice without fear of losing adventurer stones, he can select Explore Mode. If a player wants to play the standard version of the game with blockchain loot, he can select Adventure Mode.
Players that desire a more challenging version of the game with greater rewards can choose Expert Mode. This will open up the entire loot table of the game at Level 1, but will also populate the dungeon with significantly more powerful monsters.
Entering Expert Mode automatically consumes 2 adventurer stones. So only very experienced players will want to take the risk associated with this mode.
Expert Mode is not available to players who have yet to complete 6 levels in a dungeon.
Once the player selects a mode, the game begins.
How to play Lost Relics
Lost Relics is a dungeon-crawl game similar to Darkest Dungeon, Diablo, or Rogue. The player character is an adventurer in search of treasure and fame.
Here is how to play Lost Relics.
You will start off on the top level or “Level 1” of the dungeon.
As you venture through the lower levels of the dungeon, you’ll encounter several different kinds of monsters.
Some of these monsters will attack with melee abilities, while others will use long-range spells.
To move the character, click on the place you want the character to move to. The directional arrow keys are not used.
To use a sword, click on the monster while standing near it to attack.
To use a bow, click directly on the monster from anywhere within your character’s line of sight. This will cause your character to stand still and make a ranged attack.
As you defeat monsters and move through the dungeon, you will come across glowing treasure chests.
Clicking on a chest will open it. Some of these chests will contain common items; axes, swords, bows, etc.
Others will contain health potions. Still others may contain rare, epic, legendary, mythical, or transcendent blockchain items.
If you want to keep an item, right-click to add it to an inventory slot at the top of the screen.
There are only four inventory slots available. So you have to choose which items you want to keep based on limited carrying capacity.
If you want to use a particular item instead of collecting it, left-click on it.
Left-clicking on a weapon will cause you to drop your current weapon and replace it with the one on the ground. Left-clicking on a potion will cause you to immediately consume the potion.
You can also left-click items from within your inventory to use or equip them.
Dungeon levels: should I stay or should I go now?
Once you have cleared out an entire level, you will have the option to return to the surface with your loot or delve deeper into the dungeon. If you return to the surface, all of the blockchain loot you have collected will be delivered to your wallet.
In Adventurer Mode, this will consume one adventurer stone.
In Adventure Mode, if you delve deeper into the dungeon, the monsters will become more powerful and the items will become more rare.
In Expert Mode, the monsters will already be at max difficulty at level 1 and you will already have a a chance at the rarest loot. But going to the next level will allow you to find more chests.
If your character dies before reaching the end of the level, he will lose all of the loot he has collected and an adventurer stone will be consumed. In this case, your wallet will not receive the blockchain items he has looted.
This includes not only the items looted in this level, but for all previous levels of this particular game. However, items you escaped the dungeon with in previous games of Lost Relics will be safe.
If you disconnect from the game, you will also lose an adventurer stone and all of the loot you failed to escape with.
To leave the dungeon and lock in your rewards, take the white stairway up. To go deeper, take the red stairway that leads down.
Lost Relics stream
That’s it for our description of Lost Relics gameplay. If you want to see the actual gameplay, check out this Twitch stream by a user named hYpeZzh.
Lost Relics plans for development
According to the developer, there are major updates to Lost Relics coming soon. Here is a list of features currently in development.
Outfits
The current build includes clothing items that can be found in chests. The developer intends to make these items wearable soon. This will allow players to outfit their characters in unique styles.
Quests
Players will soon be able to discover quests within dungeons. finishing these quests will unlock unique items and artifacts.
Enchanting
The developer is currently working on an enchanting system. Players will be able to learn an enchanting skill that allows them to increase the stats on items.
Players will be able to buy blockchain items from other players, enchant them, and then resell them to the highest bidder.
Town of Talmuth
The developer plans to add an above-ground town named Talmuth for players to quest in. The town will change as players unlock more of the game’s story.
Lost Relics review
So is Lost Relics fun to play? Is it worth $5 for a pack of adventurer stones?
We have watched this game take shape over time, and we are impressed with the progress it is making. We have had fun exploring the dungeons and opening chests in the hope of getting valuable collectibles.
In the past, we’ve compared Lost Relics gameplay to a “booster draft tournament” in a collectible trading card game. In this type of tournament, players pay an entry fee and are allowed to draft cards from packs that they and other players open.
They then use these cards to build decks and compete with each other.
This experience is exciting to most CCG players. The player never knows what card he will get when he opens a pack.
When we played Lost Relics, we felt a similar feeling of excitement.
The crucial difference between FA and a booster draft tournament is that in FA, it is the player’s skill at the game that determines how many “packs” (chests) he can open. But otherwise, these two types of games are similar.
The only gripe we had with Lost Relics in the past is that it didn’t live up to the expectations of the dungeon-crawl genre. There were no character classes, experience levels, or new abilities that could be gained.
But of course, this is a pre-alpha build. We expect that these types of features will be added before the public release of the game.
And the current pre-alpha demo has moved in that direction. Where there was only one character previously, there are now four. In addition, the inclusion of a “sorcerer” character implies that there will soon be magic in the game – which is definitely something players in this niche expect.
Overall, we think Lost Relics is a great blockchain game.
It’s still in an early build, so players that are looking for a more polished product will want to stay away. But for players that like dungeon-crawl games and want to see one grow over time, Lost Relics is probably worth checking out.
We hope this information has helped you to decide whether to get involved further with Lost Relics. If you would like to find more fun blockchain games to play, check out some of our reviews of other games.
What do you think of a dungeon-crawling game that awards ENJ-backed collectible loot?
Should games in the future focus more on charging an entry fee and awarding items in-game? Or should developers stick with the previous idea of selling collectibles directly?
Let us know your opinion in the comments below!
