Aether & Iron puts you behind the wheel of a smuggler's life in a version of 1930s New York where anti-gravitational aether technology has lifted roads and entire city blocks into the sky. You run contraband, dodge the authorities, recruit a crew, and fight your way through turn-based vehicular combat across a city reshaped vertically but just as rotten at its foundations. Developed by Seismic Squirrel, a studio mixing industry veterans with credits on Far Cry, Mass Effect, and Sovereign Syndicate alongside newer talent, this is a narrative RPG built around the tension between survival and principle in a city owned by authoritarian barons.
The combat revolves around your vehicles rather than your feet. You assemble aether-powered cars and customize them to match how you want to fight, whether that means building for speed and evasion or bolting on steel plates and a grenade launcher. Hidden compartments, smoke dispensers, and flamethrowers round out the smuggler's toolkit, each modification feeding back into the turn-based tactical encounters that punctuate the story. Your crew matters here too. Companions bring their own talents to bear in tight situations, and recruiting the right people for the right job can shift the odds when things go sideways. Character progression runs through three ability tracks: Hustle, Smarts, and Brass, improving your chances in both combat and social encounters. But the game keeps a dice roll between you and any outcome, so no amount of investment guarantees a clean result. The uncertainty is baked into the design rather than bolted on, keeping the smuggler fantasy honest. Your decisions ripple outward as well, shaping the political landscape of the city and the fates of its citizens. The game frames this as a genuine fork: you might emerge as something like a savior, retreat into self-preservation, or become a symbol of resilience against the powers running the show.
That choice carries weight because of what the game is actually about. This is a city where technological progress has deepened social divides rather than closing them. Aether technology reshaped the skyline but concentrated power in the hands of the few, and the people living in the margins, the smugglers and the desperate, are left navigating the consequences.
New York itself is the stage for all of it, thoroughly researched and modeled after real 1930s counterparts but twisted by the presence of aether. The city has layers, literally and figuratively, with secret paths and seedy underbellies sitting beneath the stunning architecture above. The visual style draws from 1930s Detective Comics and Art Deco, rendered in hand-drawn art that gives the whole thing a distinct identity. Over 200 voiced characters populate the streets, and the writing team leans into the period's tone with stories described as sometimes funny, sometimes philosophical, and usually tragic. Full English voice acting carries the narrative, letting you hear the city rather than just read it.
You play as a smuggler caught between the city's power structures, navigating an underground life of hidden contraband and dangerous alliances. Whether you join the rebellion or carve your own path through the corruption is yours to decide.
A free demo is available on PC and Mac for anyone who wants to test the roads before committing to the full run.