By Joseph Luster

The Swiss-Polish indie devs behind World War II base-building strategy game Ground of Aces recently gave players even more to play around with in the first major update. Following its Early Access launch in July 2025, the folks at Blindflug Studios AG celebrated with the Scramble!! update, which adds some significant gameplay systems and expands the overall depth of the experience.

Featuring an art style that takes inspiration from Franco-Belgian comics such as Biggles, Buck Danny and Tintin, Ground of Aces aims for a seamless mix of base-building and WWII aviation theming. In the Scramble!! update, players can choose which aircraft to send off at the sound of the alarm. The update also throws aircraft auto management into the mix, forcing players to take ammo logistics and storage into consideration before, after, and during each sortie.

Beyond that, pilots and crew members can now improve six stat skills with each mission, and crews can be trained further outside of combat with the construction of training facilities. Personnel and resources can be further protected during bombing raids thanks to the ability to build durable concrete bunkers. These crew members all have their own personal stories to tell, too, making them more than a set of numbers to keep track of on a strategic spreadsheet.

All of the new additions were created to further deepen the overall strategy involved in any given game of Ground of Aces, which found its initial gameplay inspiration in everything from historical strategy classics like Hearts of Iron IV to base-building staples like RimWorld and Going Medieval.

Since its launch in July, Ground of Aces has received a “Very Positive” distinction across all of its reviews at the time of this writing. Being in Early Access comes with its own share of caveats, of course, so just know before diving in that you’re essentially paying for a work in progress. That work has a ton of promise in it, though, and player feedback should do well to shape it further on the sometimes lengthy road to a full 1.0 launch.

Publisher: Blindflug Studios Ag
Genre: Strategy
System: C
Available: Now

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