Game: Aether & Iron
Genre: Adventure, Casual, Indie, RPG, Strategy.
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Seismic Squirrel
Controller Support: Yes
Steam Deck: Playable
Price: US $24.99 | UK £20.99 | EU € 24,99
Release Date: March 31st, 2026
Review code provided with many thanks to Plan of Attack.
Aether & Iron – an RPG Hovering Above the Rest
Aether & Iron is an RPG that I safely say feels unique and different in all the best ways. It blends a strong narrative focus, dice-based dialogue choices, and a very unusual combat system centred around vehicle battles rather than traditional character fights.
The game takes place in an alternate version of 1930s New York, where mysterious anti-gravity aether technology has lifted parts of the city into the sky. Classic cars glide through floating streets, towering Art Deco buildings reach into the clouds, and the whole setting mixes classic noir detective vibes with imaginative science fiction. It’s a striking combination, and one that immediately gives the game its own look, hovering way above the crowd on Steam.
A Smuggler Caught In A Bigger Story
You play as Gia, a smuggler trying to survive in this strange floating city. As well as fine dress sense, she’s used to taking risky jobs and navigating the underworld that sits beneath the city’s glamorous surface. Before long, she’s tasked with transporting a scientist named Nelly across the city. Naturally, things quickly become more complicated than expected.
Nelly has been involved in research connected to the mysterious aether technology that powers the city, and she believes it could lead to catastrophic consequences. As the story unfolds, Gia finds herself dragged into a much bigger mystery involving powerful factions, dangerous secrets, and technology that could threaten the entire city. This is no simple fetch quest. The plot does a good job of slowly pulling you along, revealing bits of the mystery as you progress.
Strong Characters And Noir Atmosphere
One of the highlights for me was the characters. The game leans heavily into that noir storytelling style where you hear Gia’s thoughts as she processes what’s happening around the world. I’ve always liked that kind of internal narration in detective-style stories, and it works great here.
Gia herself is a great lead, and the conversations between characters have a nice back-and-forth energy to them. There’s a good mix of serious moments, dry humour, and a bit of sarcasm that keeps the dialogue entertaining.
The setting also deserves praise. The mix of 1930s fashion, Art Deco architecture, and futuristic aether technology gives the world a really unique look. It’s stylish, moody, and full of personality.
Dialogue Choices And Dice Rolls
A big part of the game revolves around conversations and player choice. Exploration is handled through a point-and-click style system where you select locations and interact with characters or objects within those areas. Much of the gameplay involves talking to NPCs and deciding how to handle different situations.
What makes it interesting is the dice-based dialogue system. Many conversations include skill checks where the game rolls dice to determine whether you succeed or fail certain actions. You might try to charm someone, intimidate them, lie your way through a situation, or rely on intelligence and reasoning. But even with strong stats, there’s always a bit of randomness involved thanks to the dice roll.
There are often multiple ways to handle objectives as well. You can talk your way through problems, negotiate with characters, exchange items or evidence or sometimes simply choose to fight instead. The game doesn’t punish you for the path you choose; make a choice and live with the consequences. This kinda gives a strong incentive to return for another playthrough to see how things could play out differently. You can even play Gia as a more aggressive or morally questionable character if you want. The choice really is yours.
Turn-Based Car Battles
The most unusual part of Aether & Iron is its combat system. Instead of traditional RPG battles between characters, fights take place between vehicles in turn-based encounters. It sounds a little strange at first, but it ends up being quite refreshing.
During battles, you control your car across different lanes on the road, spending movement points and activating abilities to attack or outmanoeuvre enemies. You might ram opposing vehicles, fire weapons, or reposition yourself to avoid incoming threats.
The system becomes more interesting once environmental hazards are introduced. Sections of road may collapse, debris might fall into certain lanes, or destroyed vehicles can crash into others behind them and cause extra damage. It does a pretty good job of creating the high-octane thrills of a car chase in turn-based form.
Customising Your Ride
Outside of battles, you can upgrade and customise your car (or multiple cars) in the garage. There’s a simple system where you equip different parts to change how your vehicle performs in combat. You can attach new parts, tweak its performance, and even give it a fresh paint job if you feel like driving around the city in style.
It’s a straightforward setup but adds a nice sense of progression as you collect better equipment and improve your vehicle. All handled with a pretty straightforward drag-and-drop system in the menus.
A Slight Learning Curve
If there’s one area where the game can feel a bit rough, it’s the way some systems are explained. The car combat mechanics, in particular, can feel slightly unclear at first, and I found myself learning parts of it through trial and error rather than tutorials. It eventually makes sense, but the early hours can feel a little confusing. The game does offer reminder tutorials in the menus, but I personally found it easier to learn by doing.
Another small quirk is that dialogue skills, character abilities, and combat upgrades are tied into the same skill tree. It works, but sometimes it feels like you’re juggling too many priorities when deciding how to spend your points.
Conclusion: Final Monologue
Despite a few slightly complicated systems, Aether & Iron left a really positive impression on me.
The world-building is excellent, the characters are engaging, and the combination of noir storytelling with sci-fi elements makes the setting stand out. The dice-based dialogue adds unpredictability to conversations, while the turn-based car combat offers something genuinely different from most RPGs.
It’s definitely a dialogue-heavy experience, so players looking for constant action might not connect with it. But if you enjoy story-driven RPGs and like the idea of something a bit unusual, there’s a lot here to appreciate.
With its distinctive setting, strong writing, and creative mechanics, Aether & Iron feels like an RPG that isn’t afraid to try its own ideas, and for the most part, it succeeds as well as makes me want to shop for a fine waistcoat and hat.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
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