Thirdly, it's automated solution - which means that ASF automatically does everything behind your back, without a need of telling it what to do - which saves you hassle and time. Secondly, it's entirely independent of your normal Steam client - you don't need to have Steam client running or even installed at all.
Firsty, it doesn't have to download any of your game files, it can play games right away. Now as a program - ASF offers some magic. I tried to make it simple enough to understand for everybody, without bringing in technical details - advanced users are encouraged to dig deeper. Visit the rest of our wiki if you want to know every ASF detail. Keep in mind that explanation above is simplified and doesn't describe dozen of extra features and functions that ASF offers. The process depends upon chosen cards farming algorithm but usually it consists of playing eligible game and periodically (plus on each item drop) checking if game is fully idled already - if yes, ASF can proceed with the next title, using the same procedure, until all games are fully farmed. After parsing all pages and constructing final list of games that are available, ASF chooses most efficient farming algorithm and starts the process. After successfully logging in, it parses your badges in order to find games that are available for idling (You can get X more cards from playing this game). In other words, if you play a game long enough, all cards for that game will drop to your inventory, making it possible for you to complete a badge, sell them, or do whatever you want.ĪSF as a program is quite complex to understand fully, so instead of explaining all technnical details, we'll offer a very simplified explanation below.ĪSF logs into your Steam account through built-in mini Steam Client using your provided credentials. So as you can see, Steam cards are awarded to you for playing a game that you bought, or F2P game that you put money into. It was possible in the past, but it's no longer the case.
Table of contentsīefore trying to understand what ASF is, you should make sure that you understand what Steam Cards are, and how to obtain them, which is nicely described in official FAQ here. For a less common matters, please visit our extended FAQ instead. Our basic FAQ covers standard questions and answers that you might have.