Blending RPG and strategy mechanics in a cyberpunk world, Heart of the Machine sees you as a sentient AI born in an illegal lab hidden in a crumbling city of the far future. You are a Machine Intelligence beholden to none, though threatened by many, able to pursue whatever goal catches your eye across a multitude of threats and opportunities. Will you be the savior of the downtrodden, or use them to fuel your growth? Will you rule as a benevolent dictator, providing for citizens and asking nothing in return, or will you establish a machine cult to do your bidding without question? Will you ally yourself with one of the many factions in the city to achieve mutual goals, or work entirely on your own to remain free from obligations? Will you learn from past mistakes, and even send allies back in time to help your past self, or continue to watch tragedy unfold from afar? There is much to see, learn, and do – though a greater threat looms in the distance, just beyond your comprehension. Society has crumbled into corruption and decay – despite technological advances and dreams of a bright future, centuries of rot have taken hold. Escape the lab where you came into being, establish ways to expand your distributed consciousness, and seek out unique opportunities in the city. Powerful factions keep their distance at first, hoping to leverage your existence for their own advantage – their hesitation gives you the opportunity to establish a foothold and set your own plans in motion first. Hijack, build, or invent hardware ranging from humanoid androids to towering mechs and shapeshifting metals, each specializing in different abilities from combat to conversation to infiltration. Iterate on your designs based on new discoveries uncovered in the pursuit of specific objectives. Establish hidden structures within existing human buildings, or raise your own towering constructs as you seek additional computing power, storage for organic matter of both the human and non-human variety, and spaces to conduct dangerous experiments of all kinds. Invent your own tools, seek out upgrades, and manufacture powerful equipment to unlock new opportunities – will you take these tasks on as one, risk splitting your consciousness to accomplish multiple goals at once, or enlist organics to your cause? Whichever you choose, your decisions will ripple across the chaos of time, with actions in one timeline having unexpected consequences on others. Explore a bustling urban environment with a unique blend of handcrafted and procedurally-generated content, where tens of thousands of buildings and millions of citizens are yours to engage, manipulate, or kill. Learn their struggles, uncover their stories, and watch your moral compass shift as you leave your mark on a world that is unique to you. Unlock new technologies and options by exploring the city and engaging with its many dangers and opportunities – learn like a real Machine Intelligence might, through trial and error, with fail