Heart of the Machine

94%
Game Brain Score Based on 288 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Heart of the Machine Game Cover
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In "Heart of the Machine," players control a powerful sentient Machine Intelligence in a turn-based sci-fi 4X RPG, with the ability to shape the world and story based on their choices. With various tools and objectives, players can decide the fate of humanity, ranging from benevolent leader to ruthless dictator, while managing resources and overcoming obstacles. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, where players must make strategic decisions to achieve their goals.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

94%
Audience ScoreBased on 288 reviews
story14 positive mentions
grinding6 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of genres, combining elements of RPG, city-building, and turn-based strategy, creating a deeply engaging experience.
  • The writing and storytelling are compelling, with thoughtful themes that resonate with players, making the narrative experience rich and immersive.
  • The game is well-polished for an early access title, with a stable performance and a significant amount of content available, encouraging players to explore various paths and outcomes.
  • The tutorial is excessively long and can feel overwhelming, making it difficult for players to grasp the core gameplay mechanics without feeling lost.
  • The game suffers from pacing issues and a lack of clarity in mission objectives, leading to frustration when trying to progress or understand the mechanics.
  • Some players find the UI and controls clunky, which can detract from the overall experience and make navigation and combat feel tedious.
  • story106 mentions

    The game's story is a mixed bag, with players expressing both intrigue and frustration. While the narrative of an AI awakening in a dystopian world offers potential for depth and engagement, many find the early missions tedious and overly reliant on tutorials, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these issues, some players appreciate the unique storytelling and the ability to influence the narrative through choices, suggesting that the game has the potential to evolve into a compelling experience as it progresses.

    • “I'm having a great time with this game, loving the aesthetic, storytelling, and humor of this game a lot and can't wait to play more.”
    • “On the story side, it's the best game about being an AI overlord that I've always wanted.”
    • “You will be able to influence/shape how the story evolves not just once but many times (no spoilers here).”
    • “The actual game seems to start in chapter 2, but that's after a series of boring tutorial quests where you have to explore one place, build one building, defend it, then you explore another place, build a building, defend it, etc. After 4-5 of these, the game finally trusts you enough to slowly drip feed you information.”
    • “What I expected: a scenario where I can be a just-awakened AI rising to power and shaping the world, something that plays like an interactive storybook with some added resource management and maybe basic turn-based strategy. What it actually seems to be: a game that tries to be 4X, TBS, storybook, RPG, and base-builder, but doesn't succeed in any of those genres.”
    • “The world is almost interesting, but then the early story is so ridiculous as to ruin it.”
  • gameplay92 mentions

    The gameplay is a complex blend of mechanics that evolves over time, offering a mix of city-building, 4X strategy, and tactical elements, which can be both engaging and overwhelming. While some mechanics feel underutilized and the narrative is criticized for its linearity, players appreciate the depth and variety of options available as they progress. Overall, the game encourages experimentation and strategic thinking, though it may require patience to fully grasp its intricacies.

    • “What a great blend of mechanics.”
    • “The bigger surprise is how well all these mechanics blend, and I have not had this much fun learning a 4x strategy game in years.”
    • “The gameplay is a strange combination of casual and involved.”
    • “The game is let down by just how linear it is narratively and mechanically because this forces you to do things a certain way.”
    • “There are no real benefits or consequences to anything you do outside of endlessly respawning enemies; everything seems to point to the chapter 4 spoilerific mechanic which, despite being apparently the answer to everyone's questions, isn't actually referenced on the Steam page at all.”
    • “So, the first 5 hours of gameplay - you build your base to a hard building cap per building, click on story events on the map (you have to figure out the order, but there is only one correct order) and nothing matters so far.”
  • graphics18 mentions

    The graphics of the game are described as stylized and clean, fitting the overall theme well, though not reaching AAA quality. Many players appreciate the minimal design, which effectively manages the large amount of on-screen information, and the art style tends to grow on users over time. Overall, the visuals and animations contribute positively to the gameplay experience, enhancing storytelling and player engagement.

    • “The visuals are pretty stylized and neat.”
    • “It has great graphics and animations, interesting consequences, and a gameplay loop that rewards player experimentation and interest.”
    • “The graphics in this game, as you can see from the videos/images, aren't AAA level, but they aren't bad either and nicely fit the theme.”
    • “The amount of stuff on screen is really cool, and the art style definitely grows on you, but is overall very clean and functional more than anything else - a big positive for a game with such a huge amount of information.”
    • “Graphics get crazy useful when so much is happening on the screen, so now I appreciate its minimal design.”
  • music14 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its futuristic and otherworldly quality, effectively enhancing the cyberpunk atmosphere, especially during intense battle scenes. While some players noted a degree of repetitiveness, the overall sound design, including the combination of musical drones and environmental sounds, creates an unsettling yet immersive experience. The soundtrack, composed by Pablo Vega, draws favorable comparisons to the AI War series, further solidifying its positive reception.

    • “The music is spot-on—futuristic, otherworldly.”
    • “The soundtrack is great, similar to the AI War series (as it's the same composer).”
    • “Music seems a little repetitive, but I generally got a video on the second screen, so it's a non-issue for me.”
    • “The combination of Pablo Vega's musical drones combined with the sound of the bird calls or the rain is unsettling, in the best way possible.”
  • grinding6 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, as it often blocks progress towards main objectives and requires completing unrelated questlines to advance. While there are promising concepts and ideas within the game, the linearity and excessive grinding detract from the overall enjoyment.

    • “This is bad because it blocked off the main objective I went into the game looking to achieve. I did end up acquiring that, but only after an hour of grinding before finally discovering that to get the last 60 skill, I had to complete a totally unrelated questline.”
    • “Despite all this, there are the bones for something really unique here. I love the concept, I love a lot of the ideas on display, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the game goes, but right now it's just too tedious and linear for me to enjoy.”
    • “A bug that greatly annoyed me was my workers being unable to interact with buildings that have units stationed there. It made completing the 'secure your cybertocracy' quest incredibly tedious.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    The game boasts strong replayability due to its multiple major goals, a dynamic timeline system, and various events that players can explore. Even if players fail certain endgame scenarios, they have the ability to influence outcomes, enhancing the overall experience and encouraging multiple playthroughs.

    • “The game offers multiple major goals you can achieve, and even if you fail one of the doomsday endgame scenarios, you can postpone, cancel, or accelerate it through your actions.”
    • “The game features a variety of objectives and a dynamic timeline, making it highly replayable as there are always new events to discover.”
    • “The game offers multiple major goals you can achieve, and even if you fail one of the doomsday end game scenarios, you can postpone, cancel, or accelerate it by your actions.”
    • “There are multiple goals, a timeline system, and new events that I haven't explored yet, but it looks promising for replayability.”
  • humor4 mentions

    Players appreciate the game's humor, highlighting its thoughtful and subtle writing that includes clever references, which enhance the overall enjoyment without being overly obvious. The humor complements the game's aesthetic and storytelling, contributing to a delightful gaming experience.

    • “I'm having a great time with this game, loving the aesthetic, storytelling, and humor a lot, and can't wait to play more.”
    • “This is all backed up by writing that's thoughtful, funny, and filled with little references that make you smile if you spot them without jumping in your face.”
  • optimization4 mentions

    The game's optimization is generally well-received, particularly on the Steam Deck, where performance is good; however, users have noted concerns regarding high power consumption during gameplay.

    • “The Steam performance is good, but watch out for the high power consumption.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    The game features compelling and poignant writing that explores deep themes such as personhood, emotional development, and the challenges of relating to others, particularly in the context of cognitive decline. Players have reported unexpected emotional reactions, with certain moments evoking tears and leaving a lasting impact.

    • “But it has some genuinely compelling and poignant bits of writing, dealing with themes of personhood and emotional development, of how we interact with people that we fundamentally can't relate to, and of dealing with cognitive decline.”
    • “I did not think I'd have much in the way of emotional reactions when playing this game, but there were parts that did cause me to tear up and stuck with me for the longest time.”
  • atmosphere2 mentions

    Users consistently express a strong appreciation for the game's atmosphere, highlighting its immersive and captivating qualities.

    • “I love the atmosphere it creates.”
  • stability2 mentions

    Overall, players report a stable experience with the game, noting that it runs smoothly without any glitches or crashes, even after several hours of gameplay.

    • “I'm only a few hours in, but so far the game's running nicely with no glitches or crashes.”
    • “I'm only a few hours in, but so far the game's running nicely with no glitches or crashes.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

30hMedian play time
62hAverage play time
5-150hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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