Artifact

Artifact is a real time strategy game that takes place in a persistent world where you must form alliances with other players... or go to war against them.

One of the things that makes Artifact a unique online strategy game is that its world is absolutely persistent. That means that the world you build continues evolving on its own, even when you log off: your population keeps growing, your workers keep working, and, of course, your enemies can still attack you.

That's why it's so important to make alliances with other players. Then, if you're not around to defend your empire, at least an ally can watch your back for you - and vice versa.

Now, the main object of the game, and the reason that you want to build your empire and manage your army, is to find the artifacts of power. These provide you with great improvements in terms of combat against your enemies, which is why they are so valuable.

Artifact is a multiplayer real time strategy game that, despite having out-dated graphics (the game first came out in 1999), offers up a really fun playing experience. And it has a large database full of loyal players.