Single-player games like Heart of the Machine
Below are 24 single-player Steam games similar to Heart of the Machine, ranked by player overlap. Every pick carries Steam's Single-player category, so multiplayer-only titles or always-online games don't sneak in. imho.run pulls the category data from Steam directly — Single-player here matches what the store labels.
Want the full alternatives list (paid + free + Steam Deck + cheaper picks)? See the parent games like Heart of the Machine page.
Ranked picks
- 1
Terra Invicta
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
An alien invasion has fractured humanity into seven ideological factions each with a unique vision for the future. Lead your chosen faction to take control of Earth’s nations, expand across the Solar System, and battle enemy fleets in tactical combat.
- 2
Old World
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Old World is a revolutionary new historical strategy game where you lead your dynasty over generations of rule against rival kings and queens. Wage massive wars, manage your court, and build a dynasty — or watch your empire crumble to dust. What legacy will you leave behind?
- 3
ENDLESS™ Legend 2
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Lead your people to victory on an ever-evolving world in this strategy game featuring asymmetric factions led by powerful heroes. Build your empire, wield political influence, and raise grand armies to wage war in a race to uncover dark secrets buried within the planet.
- 4
Xenonauts 2
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Wage a global war of resistance against an alien invasion. Command turn-based tactical battles, build a network of covert bases, directly control your fighter wings, and achieve strategic victory in a simulation of asymmetric warfare against a technologically superior foe.
- 5
Sid Meier's Civilization VII
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier's Civilization® VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known!
- 6
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Build a soviet republic from an impoverished country into a rich industrial superpower in a city builder with intricate production chains and a fully simulated global economy. Manage the lives of your citizens from education to work and party loyalty to criminal activity.
- 7
Cataclismo
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Design and build fortresses brick by brick to stand against endless hordes of Horrors in this real-time strategy game with resource management, siege defense, and exploration. Lead from the ramparts, push back the darkness, and hold fast against the creatures of the Mist.
- 8
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
Expand your empire, advance your culture and go head-to-head against history’s greatest leaders. Will your civilization stand the test of time?
- 9
Alien invasion
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required.
This is a first-person shooter game, which is a battlefield full of aliens.As a special forces soldier, players are free to explore or investigate the surrounding area, or kill aliens.But the player must guarantee his life as much as possible, under the premise of survival.
- 10
XCOM® 2
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
XCOM 2 is the sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the 2012 award-winning strategy game of the year. Earth has changed and is now under alien rule. Facing impossible odds you must rebuild XCOM, and ignite a global resistance to reclaim our world and save humanity.
- 11
Satellite Reign
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
Satellite Reign is a real-time, class-based strategy game, set in an open-world cyberpunk city. You command a group of 4 agents through rain-soaked, neon-lit streets, where the law is the will of mega-corporations.
- 12
Stellaris
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
Explore a galaxy full of wonders in this sci-fi grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studios. Interact with diverse alien races, discover strange new worlds with unexpected events and expand the reach of your empire. Each new adventure holds almost limitless possibilities.
- 13
Skynet Rising : Portal to the Past
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required.
Isaac spent most of his life serving under the vicious mutant rebel leader, Commander Crugo. Upon discovering a digital weapon of mass destruction, Isaac fears for humanity and flees with his wife and brother to keep the intel from falling into Crugo's hands. Seeking revenge for the betrayal, Crugo hunts down Isaac and destroys his life.
- 14
Tiny Civilization
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
This is a historical simulation game that promotes the development of civilization based on the match-3 Game. You'll need to gather resources, use skills, discover new technology, and lead humanbeing through a 10,000-year journey to the cosmos.
- 15
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required.
The year is 1962 and the Cold War has the nation gripped by fear. A top-secret government unit called The Bureau begins investigating a series of mysterious attacks by an enemy more powerful than communism.
- 16
Into The Matrix
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
"Into The Matrix" is a multiplayer horror game where you and your friends must explore, survive, and outsmart dangers . Many entities are after you, but the Overseer is the true threat. Can you escape its grasp?
- 17
AI War 2
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
The most devious and acclaimed artificial intelligence in strategy gaming is better than ever. A grand strategy/RTS hybrid that reverses many conventions of both genres. Take territory without attracting attention, build your empire with care, and adapt to an ever-evolving galactic battleground.
- 18
AI War: Fleet Command
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
"You are outgunned. You are massively outnumbered. You must win." These are your orders. Humanity has already fought its war against the machines -- and lost. AI death squads stand watch over every planet and every wormhole, the few remaining human settlements are held captive in orbiting bubbles, and the AIs have turned their...
- 19
The Last Federation
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
From the creators of AI War: Fleet Command comes an all-new grand strategy title with turn-based tactical combat, set in a deep simulation of an entire solar system and its billions of inhabitants. You are the last of a murdered race, determined to unify or destroy the 8 others.
- 20
Bionic Dues
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and RPG with Heart of the Machine.
Bionic Dues is a tactical, turn-based roguelite with mech customization. Out-think wide-ranging tactical situations featuring robots with bad GPS, terrible aim, insecurity, a lack of focus, a tendency to backstab, and dozens of other maladies to exploit.
- 21
Starward Rogue
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares RPG with Heart of the Machine.
Starward Rogue is a bullet hell twin-stick shooter. Blast your way through the Megalith, a rogue-lite labyrinth lodged in the side of a star. Customize your mech with a huge variety of weapons, perks, and upgrades. Steel yourself for the dangers that lurk in the depths of the dungeon.
- 22
A Valley Without Wind
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required.
You choose how to play, and the world of Environ adapts around you.
- 23
Skyward Collapse
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Heart of the Machine.
How do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down?
- 24
A Valley Without Wind 2
Single-player alternative to Heart of the Machine — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Strategy with Heart of the Machine.
A modern take on the 16-bit era, A Valley Without Wind 2 blends a variety of mechanics across multiple genres, seamlessly bringing together the best qualities of old-school platform-shooters and turn-based strategy games.