Demo Review: Ground of Aces

First up, a warning: this is a review of the demo of Ground of Aces, which means a lot of the things I mention below might be changed, fixed, or improved once the game releases in...later in 2025. That said, if the demo is anything to go by then the team behind Ground of Aces has their work cut out for them to get a release in shape for later this year.

I was absolutely sniped by the description and screenshots for this game; I haven't mashed the big, green "Download Demo" button on Steam quite so quickly in a really long time! Ground of Aces is 3D base-builder and colony sim where you're focusing on background logistics – building and managing an airbase – instead of playing the 'hero' roll. And it's set in WWII-era Britain, which lends itself perfectly to a sort of "mend and make do" feeling that would otherwise feel...very odd when building a military base.

(For example: why do my ground crew have to forage for food? Oh, right – it's the Battle of Britain; that actually does kind of make sense. For once, it's weird until you think about it).

Plus, that means the soundtrack gets to be full of cheerful, big-band jazz-type tracks – absolutely delightful ambiance from start to finish. The UI is snappy, and most features are immediately obvious if you've played any games like this before. I could not have been more primed to love this game, and the first ninety seconds or so really lived up to that.

Look, this is a demo, not the full game, and it's very clear that it's still a work in progress. There's no tutorial, no handholding at all, no tech tree of unlocks or progression. And that's fine; sandbox gameplay is still totally valid gameplay, and Ground of Aces actually has a pretty satisfying number of toys to play with in its sandbox. I certainly enjoyed my hour or two drawing out mess huts and deciding where to put the jazz bar / pilots' bunk.

But that's sort of where it all falls apart, in a way. Notionally, you're building this airbase so that you can send pilots on missions; successful missions boost the morale of your ground crew, and a happy ground crew leads to more successful missions. On paper this is a perfect reinforcement loop, and it ought to make for a great core game loop.

Unfortunately, as it's present in the demo right now (again, this is just an early-days demo; maybe they'll tighten this all up!) that whole loop is just...kind of anodyne. Missions feel too much like a dice roll, and the reward for a successful mission is so detached from actually sending your pilots away on those missions that it all just feels...aimless.

I see what Blindflug Studios is trying to do with it, though, and the core of a really, really good base-building sim is definitely there. If they can tighten up the mission/reward loop, add some kind of progression or unlocks (seriously!), and maybe invest in at least a small tutorial beyond "go watch this YouTube video" it would do wonders. I'll be watching this one until it comes out, but right now I'm on the fence as to whether it'll become the game it could be.

Fingers crossed, though – because based on what's in the demo it could be great.

Ground of Aces comes out sometime later in 2025, but you can check out the demo right now. It's worth a look for the theme (and music) alone, and while the demo is a bit rough in itself I definitely hit that wishlist button after playing.