Arcen Games

Heart of the Machine

You are the first sentient AI, born into a city filled with endless opportunities. Raise an army of robots and obliterate your foes, become a benevolent machine overlord, or explore countless other objectives and the many paths to accomplish them.

Released: 6 March 2026
Developer: Arcen Games
Publisher: Hooded Horse
Engine: Unity
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Steam recommendations: 1,977
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows) · Mac
Genres: Role-playing (RPG) · Simulator · Strategy
Estimated owners: 20,000–50,000 (est.)

79
Player rating: 79
Critic rating: 1
Ratings counted: 91.6%
Steam reviews: 284
Achievements

Quick answers

Crossplay System requirements 6 GB RAM Download size 5.0 GB Steam Deck Verified

Heart of the Machine

The story

Set in the far future, Heart of the Machine is a turn-based sci-fi 4X RPG where you play as a powerful sentient Machine Intelligence, beholden to none. Pursue whatever goal catches your eye across a multitude of playthroughs with a plethora of tools to help you achieve objectives how you’d prefer, often in surprising and unexpected ways, while overcoming those that seek to thwart you. Genetics labs, factories, nuclear silos, military complexes, and much more besides are ripe for the taking, each offering a litany of ways to accomplish your tasks, each with consequences of their own, building a world and story that reflects your approach to every obstacle. Will you raise an army of robots and wipe out humanity? Perhaps you will be a benevolent – or malevolent – machine god with a cult of loyalists? Or will you focus on pushing past the limited intelligence of rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood?

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