If you’ve checked your Steam Badges page recently, you might have noticed a weird new addition at the top: the “Mysterious” badge.
Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy, they appeared earlier this month for everyone. So what is it for? How do you get the cards? What does it want? And why is it so mysterious (is it hiding something)?
How do you get Mysterious cards?
Collecting the 10 card set requires you to craft a badge from any other game. Doing so will reward you with a random Mystery card, in addition to the usual rewards. There are 10 cards in all (as well as 10 foil variants).
Can I craft them into a badge?
Not yet! For reasons I will explain below.
What is the Mysterious card set for?
Luckily, it turns out this mystery isn’t so mysterious after all. A Mysterious card set also briefly appeared on Steam last year, before being converted to the Steam Summer Adventure 2014 set when the sale went live. The current Mysterious set is almost certainly functioning in the same way, which is why you cannot craft it into a badge just yet.
When is the Steam Summer Sale this year?
There’s no confirmed date, but a possible leak previously referenced a June 11 start date.
Should I get a head start on collecting the cards now?
Probably not. If this Summer Sale is anything like the previous ones, you’ll also be able to earn cards by making purchases in the store. That means you may or may not need to craft any badges in the first place.
On the other hand though, the card prices may spike for a very brief window when the sale first begins, so it’s possible you might be able to turn a few bucks if you earn them now. That’s not a sure-fire thing though, so don’t quote me on that.
Edit: The original article incorrectly stated that the leaked start date was June 20. This is actually the purported end date for the sale, and this post has been updated accordingly.
