I am well aware that the community of strategy game enthusiasts is massive. I dabble in the Civilization series (ignore my unplayed copy of Civilization VII), but this is definitely the tip of that iceberg. Other titles like Age of Empires II and Stellaris – I am aware of them, but definitely have never taken that dive. When Gamer Social Club asked for someone to take a peek at an upcoming base-building strategy game, I figured...why not? I have time to kill and nothing else on my plate at the moment. Let's take a look. Ground of Aces. I see planes and military bases. Don't tell me that this is comparable to Starcraft. I can confidently say in this first impression review that it is most definitely not Starcraft!

Ground of Aces is a strategic base-builder simulator set in the dark days of World War II. Developed and published by Blindflug Studios AG, Ground of Aces is soooooo much more than just a base-building game. Blindflug, known for such previous titles as First Strike, Stellar Commanders, and Cloud Chasers – Journey of Hope, have jumped once again into the fray of strategy games available via Steam. As I noted earlier, I am someone who only tangentially plays strategy games. Take my feedback with a grain of salt.

Ground of Aces is launching in early access today (July 10th, 2025) and currently has a Steam Demo available to test out. I'll be providing you with some initial impressions. What I liked, what I didn't like, and what I hope to see as the game progresses with its launch!

The Story So Far

As the concept of the game implies, you'll find yourself in the seat of managing an airbase of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The early access release has two starting bases available: RAF Lichfield and RAF Perranporth – both of which were actual RAF stations during World War II. Now, I already ask – are we going to see more stations as the game develops and evolves? Will we see bases like RAF Cardiff or RAF Gosfield in the future? I opted to start in Lichfield – a quiet little airstrip in Staffordshire. The game starts on August 13th, 1940 – during the height of the Battle of Britain. Your base from the get-go: eight crew members, a storage tent, a canvas barracks, a canvas leisure area (complete with radio), and a toilet. That is your base!

The Gameplay

Now...you may ask, "Sean, that is HARDLY a base! Where are the airstrips? What about the hangars? Where are the anti-aircraft artillery stations?" To which I will just gesture broadly to the wide expanse of land you have at your disposal. THAT is where you're getting all those things! Harvest the various resources in the region, such as wood, metal, sand, clay, water, and various forageable foods, and show that stiff upper lip.

The game itself functions on a 24-hour clock, with an hour of in-game play equating to about 38 seconds. Now, that might seem slow. And at certain times of the day, it 100% will be. But never fear, because you can accelerate the time in game to Fast Speed (4x) or Turbo Speed (12x). This is definitely handy, especially early in game where beyond harvesting resources, there's not a whole lot else to do.

By collecting natural resources, you will be able to build workbenches that will allow for the creation of more advanced resources. A Saw Station will turn raw Wood into Planks. A Brickstation will turn Clay and Water into Bricks. A Cement Mixer will turn Sandbags and Water into Cement. The list goes on and as your base advances, you will be able to craft more advanced resources like Simple Medicine, Electronics, and Luxury Goods. The neat part of some of these workstations are that they allow for various productions, depending on what your current needs are. For example, A Boiler Tank will be able to produce either Purified Water or Fuel. You will also end up using those resources to build the various structures around your base, including actual airstrips. We'll get more into that actual plane mechanics later.

Base Personnel

As I mentioned earlier, you start your base with eight crew members. Each of those crew members will have unique roles (Field Mechanic, AAF Labour, Field Engineer) that will dictate what priority certain tasks are for them. An AAF Labour Crew Member is not going to be messing around with Airplane Maintenance – that's for the Field Mechanic. The unique thing too – you can customize what each of your workers focuses on. However, I didn't take much advantage of this.

Along with customizing the roles of your workers are customizing the schedule of your base. There are three options to the base's daily schedule: Sleep, Leisure, and Work (which....heck, that is life, isn't it?). You can fine-tune the base’s schedule to fit the needs of what is on your plate. And trust me – there will be a lot.

Now, I bring up all of these things because guess what? Morale is a massive factor in the base, which makes sense. Life on an RAF base during the times of The Blitz was stressful, to say the least. Your Morale (which is averaged across all base personnel) dips too low and you will hit a Game Over screen. The added caveat – your crew can (read: will) start to experience negative effects due to stress, work, and just the impact of war. These conditions will impact their overall Confidence, Energy, and Morale Levels – all of which will impact your operations. So remember – a happy base is a productive base!

One last thing I'll say about base personnel before I move on. Be prepared for loss. A lot of it if you don't plan properly (like I did). It's World War II. I trust that you can do the math of how this happens.

Airplanes & Headquarters

This is a World War II game, and we're managing an airbase? So where's all the chat about planes?!?!? Let's get into it, then! To start bringing airplanes onto your base, you'll obviously need an airstrip. The type of airstrip that you build (length, width, and building materials) will ultimately dictate what kind of planes you'll be able to bring to your base. Along with airstrips, you'll also need parking spots for your air fleet. The sizes of the planes will dictate how large a parking spot is needed, along with how large of a hangar you'll eventually need to build. Why do I need a hangar? Because a plane exposed to the elements will degrade. Same with all of your resources. You leave those piles of wood exposed to the wind, sun, and rain for too long and you'll be saying goodbye to that wood!

So, to purchase a plane, you'll need Victory Points. Victory Points are gained through successful missions. We'll dive into that shortly. Each plane will come with a Pilot, as well as possible crew members (depending on the tier of plane you opt for). Each Plane has various stats to factor into recruitment, which will determine how "useful" they'll be in missions. A bomber, understandably, won't be a great option for a Recon Mission, but will soar high (see what I did there) on a Bombing Mission.

So missions. You'll occasionally get Missions to send pilots on. Each Mission will require specific stats like Bombing, or Recon, that will determine success. Some Missions will allow for multiple fighters. Some, however, will only allow one lone pilot and his plane.  Successes lead to Victory Points, along with boosted Base Morale. Failures result in lowered Base Morale, as well as possible losses of planes and their crew members.

Planes also have three different factors to assess for Missions: Fuel, Integrity, and Health. Some Missions will drain a lot of Fuel, but won't require a huge risk to Health. Others will be the opposite. So plan accordingly to give yourself the best chance for success!

Successful Missions will also boost your Rank with Headquarters (HQ). A higher Rank means a greater allocation of resources from HQ, along with the ability to request essential materials for your base’s success. Namely: Anti-Aircraft Guns, Search Lights, and Radio Towers. These valuable resources will help stave off incoming attacks on your base. Remember how I mentioned expecting loss? Yeah – this is where it can happen.

The Good (So Far)

If my prior ramblings didn't already indicate, this game hooked me. Everything felt very intuitive and really made you question each decision you were making, whether it came to Mission assignments, Resource allocation, and planning of the day's work.

You might notice that the graphics were a little simplistic (and almost reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein). I loved this. It was such a good fit for the vibes of this game!

What I also enjoyed was that there were not constantly pieces of audio being fed to you during the game. Many times, the only audio you will have is the work on the base and the sounds of nature. Then, at times, you'll get relaxing piano tunes. Think Breath of the Wild...but with more planes.

The Bad (So Far)

Ground of Aces is, as I noted earlier, launching in Early Access today. As with an Early Access game, there are going to be hiccups, glitches, and things of that nature. There were routinely pop-ups that appeared with relation to harvesting resources, or the completion of tasks that would just stay...stuck at times. They eventually did vanish, or I just stopped paying attention to them. There's a cute little dog that lives on your base. And why they don't have a name, I loved seeing them just get stuck on...well...everything. Gardening plots (I didn't even cover gardening in my earlier writing), doorways into tents/buildings, just random stuff in the world. Honestly, it gave me more of a giggle than anything else.

The only other qualm that I have speaks more to me as a strategy gamer than anything else. Expanding too quickly can be a death knell of any progress on your base. In my first run, I expanded as fast as possible...only to then get stuck in several in-game weeks of just gathering more resources. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. This isn't a dig at the game – more of a forewarning to those who are newer to this genre.

First Impressions

Overall, here's how I can easily summarize my first impressions. I was playing on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Chatting with some friends in Discord and finding my groove in the minutiae of managing this base. I looked at the clock. Four. Hours. HOW?

Getting lost in the gameplay was honestly a treat that I wasn't expecting with Ground of Aces and will definitely be a game that sits in my rotation of unplug (not literally) and fall-headfirst-into-the-world games.

Ground of Aces is available in Early Access on Steam today for $24.99 (and currently has a 10% discount).

Gamer Social Club was provided an early access code for the purpose of this review and was played on PC.