A WWII Airfield Sim With Ambition and Room to Grow
Ground of Aces, developed by Blindflug Studios, is a WWII-themed city-builder-meets-simulation title set in a remote Royal Air Force base during the Battle of Britain. As of July 2025, the game, available in Early Access, sells for $25 and promises players the chance to command, build, and manage an airbase in the midst of war. What it delivers right now is a decent, if underbaked, experience that nails the aesthetic but needs more depth to fully take flight.
Building a Base—One Brick at a Time
The gameplay loop is a familiar one: start with basic supplies, provide shelter, food, and relaxation for your troops, and gradually expand into a fully functioning base. If you’ve played RimWorld, Going Medieval, or even Banished, you’ll know the rhythm. What sets Ground of Aces apart is its historical context and unique twist on the formula—you’re not building a village, you’re assembling a functional air base capable of launching reconnaissance and combat sorties.
The building is constructed manually, with each wall, window, and door placed with precision. Resources must be harvested, converted, and stored correctly. Mismanaging logistics can tank morale fast. Every item placed matters, especially since supply drops from HQ are tied to your performance. Complete missions to earn more tools. Fail, and you might not have enough canvas or bricks to expand your barracks.
The Comic Book Vibe
Visually, Ground of Aces absolutely shines. The game’s art style borrows elements from Franco-Belgian comics, featuring clean lines and warm palettes. It feels like a historical Tintin game wrapped in aviation nerdiness. The interface, while pretty, is less polished—menus can feel clunky, and information is sometimes buried or missing altogether. Error icons appear without explanation, tooltips overlap, and navigating the build menu requires too many steps.
Sound Design: Hit or Miss
Musically, the game leans into retro themes that fit the 1940s vibe. The tracks themselves are catchy in a cheeky way, but they overpower everything else. Sound effects, when present, are decent, but they cut in and out at random. There’s no voice acting or ambient crew chatter, which is a missed opportunity. The base feels oddly sterile—a strange vibe for a war setting that was historically chaotic and tense.
Managing Morale and Missions
Crew members have needs: shelter, rest, entertainment, and food. Fail to meet them, and they get cranky. Cranky crew means failed missions, and failed missions mean no victory points. You’ll be juggling dozens of personalities, assigning roles, prepping meals, and building facilities to keep morale high. A working kitchen can make or break your operation.
Missions are where the WWII flavor comes in. You’ll send out pilots on sorties—everything from recon to escort duty to dogfights. Success depends on the condition of the plane, the skill and mood of the pilot, and a bit of luck. The missions, however, are disappointingly hands-off. You click a few buttons, they leave, and that’s it. No visuals, no tension. The suggestion that a tiny cutscene or progress window could help is spot-on. Right now, it feels like a background task in a game about those tasks.
Too Much to Manage, Too Little Feedback
There are over 30 different resources, each with its refined variants. It’s excessive. You’ll be managing tarps, bricks, food rations, wood planks, and various processed materials. The problem is, the UI doesn’t explain them well. You’ll often find yourself guessing at icons and searching for missing materials while your base grinds to a halt. There’s a decent economy system here, but the learning curve is steep and the guidance is too vague.
The tutorial? Barebones at best. It’s mostly walls of text. No step-by-step missions. No visual aids. If you’re not already familiar with this genre, you’ll be lost.
Air Raids and Atmosphere
Occasional German raids add some variety. Strafing runs can disrupt construction, injure the crew, and damage structures. But these events feel too muted. The base doesn’t visibly react. There’s no sense of urgency or drama. A more dynamic system—sirens blaring, crew scrambling, minor destruction—would go a long way toward selling the wartime experience.
Also, the tone doesn’t quite match the setting. World War II was a desperate, emotionally charged time. The bright visuals and cheerful music don’t quite reflect the fear, fatigue, and intensity one might expect. Even something as simple as adding weather, night cycles, or crew journals could help convey that atmosphere.
A Strong Foundation, But Early Days
Despite the critiques, Ground of Aces isn’t a bad game. It’s stable, mostly bug-free, and has a very clear vision. The framework is solid: build a base, send out missions, and maintain high morale. What it lacks is depth, drama, and friction—the things that make war management games memorable.
The devs have plans: more aircraft, historical missions, military hospitals, and multi-story buildings. If they stay engaged with the community and focus on refining the gameplay loop while expanding the storytelling side, Ground of Aces could evolve into something truly special.
Should You Play It? If you’re into city builders and aviation history, maybe. Just know what you’re getting.
Should You Buy It? Unless you’re comfortable with the potential funding. It’s Early Access, not a finished product.
It has heart. It has style. Now it just needs lift.
Ground of Aces: Ground of Aces is not yet the definitive airbase sim it could be. It plays like RimWorld in uniform but without the same emotional weight or emergent storytelling. If you love historical base builders and have the patience for Early Access games, it’s worth a look. But for most players, it's best to keep it on your radar and check back in a few updates. – Obsidian