Heart of the Machine

Gameplay

In Heart of the Machine we watch events from a bird's eye view. The game takes place in a vast city made up of tens of thousands of buildings and millions of residents. It offers both handcrafted elements and procedurally generated components.

The gameplay is turn-based and all issues related to the functioning and development of the artificial intelligence rest on our shoulders. Although initially we have to try to act in secret, so that the corporations do not target us when we are not yet ready for confrontation, over time this begins to change.

By "infecting" devices and facilities, constructing and taking over buildings such as genetic laboratories, factories, military bases and nuclear silos, expanding the energy network and a communication relays, as well as creating complex production chains for various purposes, we gain new development opportunities and also arguments in the fight against hostile forces.

Of course, we need resources for everything. They come primarily from the buildings we erect and take over, but also from the corporations and the black market. As our computing power increases as we progress, over time we can issue more commands each turn.

We can conduct our activities in a number of ways:

1. The game allows us to decide on a forceful solution and field a powerful army consisting not only of robots and autonomous vehicles, but also of more sophisticated units such as genetically modified dinosaurs and animals.
2. On the other hand, we can choose more subtle methods of operation, producing units specializing in hacking and conducting secret operations behind enemy lines, as well as bribing the heads of various corporations to gain extremely useful allies.
3. There is also a third way in the form of supporting people, especially those most in need, by conducting various types of projects related to agriculture or housing construction. As a result, we can become a deity for the masses living in the metropolis, who will be ready to defend and die for us.
4. We can also combine elements of these solutions, skillfully maneuvering between open actions and conducting selected operations covertly, as well as between caring for the fate of humanity and one's own interests.