In all genres of gaming, you'll find those that are gluttons for punishment. You might initially think of players completing Elden Ring without leveling up, or trying to beat Silksong's single-life Steel Soul mode, but the best strategy games are also home to some serious sadists. This led to an interesting situation for Heart of the Machine developer Arcen Games when it recently delivered a substantial update that made some of its more frustrating endgame elements a bit less brutal, only to receive requests for a way to turn the difficulty back up. The result? 'Misery mode.'
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Heart of the Machine is a new type of 4X game, from the publisher of Manor Lords