After Germany defeated France in 1940, Hitler turned his attention towards Great Britain. Operation Sea Lion, the German plan for the invasion of the British Isles, required the elimination of the Royal Air Force (RAF) so the German Luftwaffe’s bombers could destroy the Royal Navy and clear the path for a cross-channel attack. In order to preserve their planes, the RAF scattered their squadrons around the country, building airfields out in open terrain, preferably away from cities to avoid damage to major population centers. Now you can be an airfield commander, ordered to construct an airfield, expand it, and command the aircraft and personnel there.
Ground of Aces is a PC video game developed and published by Blindflug Studios AG. It is currently available on Steam in Early Access for $29.99. The game had a successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2023. It released in early access in June of 2025 and since that time has had several upgrades and improvements. When you start the game, you are given a plot of land along with a barracks, a few personnel, supplies, and orders to build an airfield. You will start off clearing an area for your first runway and gathering resources to build the runway as well as a spot for your first airplane. As you select trees to cut down, rocks to break, water to collect, and structures to build, your personnel will automatically move to complete the task. As the day comes to an end, your personnel will need some down time. You need to make sure they have chairs to sit in and other recreations. Then each person needs a cot where they can sleep. While you start off with some rations, you will need to find food sources in the area around you and harvest them. Build a kitchen to prepare better meals for your workers.
As you progress through the game, you will need to construct buildings to store your supplies and workshops to turn logs into lumber and create other resources from raw materials. Once you have your first airplane, a biplane fighter, you will receive missions on which to sent it. As you expand your base and build longer runways, you will unlock access to more powerful fighters and eventually bombers. As you have more planes, you can receive more difficult missions which provide not only higher risks, but greater rewards. As your airfield becomes a larger threat, the enemy will take notice and attack. Therefore you will need to build anti-aircraft defenses and then put your people to work repairing the base after these attacks.
Since I am a military history major who specialized in WWII and a current high school history teacher, I was very interested in playing this game, especially since I have studied the Battle of Britain quite a bit. Since there was so much to do in the game, I worried it might be tough to learn to play. However, the campaign is written to teach you the game as you go. The objectives really guide you through the process. For example, your first objectives are to build an airstrip and parking spot, order an airplane, and build some beds for your personnel. Then after you complete those, you will need to harvest 5 trees, build a saw station, craft 5 sets of planks, and build a radio station. By only giving a few objectives at a time, it helps new players really learn all there is in the game.
Blindflug has a roadmap of almost 60 features they want to add to the game. Currently they have implemented about half of them. I have really enjoyed playing Ground of Aces. While the main focus is on building an airbase, it also allows you to build up your squadron of planes, train your pilots and crews, and then send them off on missions. Though you do not actively control the planes, your decisions help influence the results of the missions. So far the game has a lot to offer and I am excited for all the other features they continue to work on. Even though it is still in early access, the main part of the game is in place and you can play through it, learning the game in the campaign. Then you can take on new airfields and build them up. If you enjoy base building simulations and interested in WWII, then I recommend you give Ground of Aces a try.
Here is the launch trailer:
