Artifice Alpha 1 playtest sign-ups are open

It’s time to put Artifice into your hands. Sign-ups for the Alpha 1 playtest are now open, and I’m excited to see what happens when you start exploring, testing combat, and pushing the AI Dungeon Master to its limits.

The closed playtest runs from October 27, 2026 at 7 PM UTC to November 2, 2026 at 7 PM UTC.

Join the Artifice Discord server

Your first adventure in Artifice

Artifice brings an AI Dungeon Master together with character creation, maps, and a rules engine for tabletop-inspired adventures. You decide what your character does; the Dungeon Master narrates the unfolding adventure, while the game handles the supported combat rules.

Alpha 1 is an early chance to try that core experience. Here’s what you’ll be able to test:

• Custom character creation, including AI-generated portraits and 3D miniatures to bring your adventurer to life.
• An AI Dungeon Master that dynamically narrates your adventure and responds to your actions.
• Basic martial combat, using a partial implementation of D&D 5e-inspired rules.
• Dynamic NPC spawning during combat encounters.
• Dynamically generated maps as your adventure unfolds.

This is the first step toward the fuller Artifice experience. The aim is to get the foundations into players’ hands and learn how they hold up in real play.

Coming from Sigil? Here’s how Artifice compares to the other Sigil alternatives, including the 3D tabletops built for groups with a human DM.

What isn’t in Alpha 1 yet

This is an early alpha, so several planned features won’t be available during this test:

• Multiplayer.
• The full D&D 5e ruleset, including spells, feats, and other interactions.
• Quests and non-combat NPCs.
• Party member recruitment.
• A full inventory and loot system.
• A custom campaign creator.
• Full mobile web compatibility.

Plan to play in a desktop web browser. You’re welcome to experiment on a mobile browser, but the full mobile experience isn’t ready for this alpha.

Help shape what comes next

The main purpose of Alpha 1 is to test gameplay, find bugs, and improve stability—from account creation through to your adventures. Your feedback will also help guide future improvements.

Play naturally, try an unexpected approach, or see how far you can push an encounter. I’d love to hear where the Dungeon Master draws you into the story, where combat feels clear or confusing, and where something breaks or gets in your way.

If you hit a bug, noting what you were doing and what happened will help me track it down. Feedback on what feels fun, what feels missing, and what you’d most like to see next is just as useful.

I’m incredibly excited to finally share this first version of Artifice with you. Thank you for helping build it by playing, experimenting, and telling me what you think.

Ready to begin your adventure? Join us on Discord.