Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2015
Aces of the Luftwaffe
Developer HandyGames
YOU have to show what you’re made of as the war over Europe is in full swing. Fight waves of Axis planes and panzers until you hit the boss enemies – the ACES OF THE LUFTWAFFE. From the Steam store page
75 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Jul 5, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
53
Mixed
36 positive · 32 negative
95% range 41–64%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 36 | 32 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
7 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
109 of 172 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 75 · most liked firstRidiculous difficulty spikes will have you replaying old levels dozens of times in order to get enough currency to upgrade your plane to what it needs to be in order to progress further. This wouldn't that big of a problem if the levels didn't feel so uninspired, most of them just play the same anyways. The controls feel very loose as well.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would recommend it for 1$ price, but not for 5$. It is a simple shmup with cute graphics but mechanics that get boring very fast. In short sessions it is a blast at first and the game has nice boss fights which are the also the main problem here. Boss are very difficult (especialy the 'Flying Dragon') so you need to upgrade your plane to stand a chance against them, but... the upgrades cost money so to have your plane maxed out, requires ridicolous amont of replaying old levels which causes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7871885/]Follow our curator page: OCG-Curations if you like and want to see more reviews like this one. Aces of the Luftwaffe - Review Story: Europe is at war, and you, a pilote of the British Royal Airforce are to stop the invading Germans, who sent masses of tanks, aircrafts and crazy new weapons which you'll have to take on. Gameplay: Aces of the Luftwaffe plays like any other Shoot 'em up, so the controls are nothing special, you've got your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Straight mobile port. Feels a bit repetitive with lots of grinding to get past later stages. Controls are ok. Sounds are mediocre. I would recommend grabbing second game as it seems as a much better option.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I barely ever play shmups, but even I can tell that Aces of the Luftwaffe is a severe disappointment on the gameplay front. It's probable that the original, mobile version of this game contained microtransactions, and everything in the game including the difficulty and cost of upgrades was designed to get the player to buy them(as is the despicable practice in mobile games). When the game was ported to the PC, the devs removed the microtransactions and tidied up a few other things, but didn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🄵🅁🄾🄼 🅃🄷🄴 🄵🄰🄻🄲🄾🄽 🅅🄰🅄🄻🅃🅂 #365xFalconGames25 A game a day keeps the doctor away! Game 6️⃣ This is Aces of the Luftwaffe. I love this shmup! It’s pretty good and challenging! What are you sharing today?! #gaming #GamersUnite
unlabelledView post →Suprisingly nice-looking port from mobile platforms. Gameplay MOSTLY of a moderate difficulty, with only a few bosses and levels presenting a hard challenge. I found my hands trembling from adrenaline rush when fighting bosses from Flight of the Dragon and Night over Europe, I must say :) There is, however, a BIG problem with this game. Since it was originally designed to have micro-transactions, it has a progressively steep price for upgrades, which forces you to grind easier missions over…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fun little arcade shooter, similar to 1942 back in the days. I used to play that for hours on end and this game is a cool little trip down memory lane. Aces of the Luftwaffe does a lot of things right in my opinion. You can choose from 3 different types of planes (once you have earned enough medals to unlock them), each with different strengths and weaknesses. The planes can be upgraded between missions, which is super important during the boss fights. And the sound is realy top…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dont even think about it. May be old and cheap but not worth it. Skyforce series basically obsoletes this game and the sequel has even more questionable mechanics. A grindy shooter game with permanent upgrades is difficult to make and this one will test you in ways that is anything but fun even if you think you may want to grind.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+ enjoyable gameplay (normal missions) + nice pixel graphics - The game is cheating! Almost every time you lose in a boss fight, you've been cheated. Every time you feel that someone is fu*king with you. DO NOT TOUCH THIS SH*T - normal missions (4-5 hours), all bosses except last one (2-4 hours), last boss (5 hours - screw you cheating ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would like to be able to say this is a good game, but there are things that bog it down from the start. Games like these tend to have a grindy element and this one is no different in that sense. You have to get medals in order to upgrade your planes, which is fine on its own. The amount that you have to grind for the final upgrades becomes ludicrous towards the end, however. Just as obscene is the fact that you have to spend medals just to unlock the next chapter. The achievement for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is mobile phone trash ported to PC. It was fun at first 3 levels. After that it gets very quick boring and repetitive. However, too grindy to be a long-term play through. The cost per upgrade is similar to games that normally have a pay-to-win aspect. In addition to this the game has insane difficulty spikes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+Fun at first 3 levels. +Graphics are ok -Very repetitive gameplay that forces you to replay levels over and over again to farm currency buy upgrades. -Insane difficulty spikes. -No Vertical View -All upgrades you buy are useless during boss fights. -Obvious Mobile Port.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice old school shooter. The graphics are very retro and could be a little better but the game has quite a motivating gameplay since even if you fail a mission you have collected crosses to invest into new upgrades or even a new plane. So you probably have to do some grinding even if you beat the missions with the first try because you won't be able to get everything (even new missions) unlocked without replaying older missions. Also it features some interesting and tough boss battles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun visuals and a fun game. However, too grindy to be a long-term play through. The cost per upgrade is similar to games that normally have a pay-to-win aspect.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am taking point five of the score off from 100 to 99.5 because I thought this was Blue Waffle simulator I'll break this down in 3 stages One Two Three Thanks for reading and subbing to my channel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe is a mobile ported retro pixel 2D top down side scrolling arcade bullet hell shmup. The game is set in world war 2. There's a lot of things wrong here. Ugly retro pixel graphics, mobile portitude. There's a lot of things offensive to gamers here but the biggest has to be the superdeformed "cutesy" warplanes. The developers should know that fans of WW2 history games are fans because they like historical accuracy and quality reproduction of the vehicles and weapons…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cheap and cheerful game, very reminiscent of Capcom's 1942 having been flipped 90-degrees onto its side. For the pennies that it is, I'll recommend it. However, phone ported game or not - there's no excuse to release a game on PC that has the resolution that would make a Nokia 3310 cry. It's so low in resolution that it's simply impossible to evade the chaos in front - requiring almost savant-levels of controller dexterity to see you through. If you're after a scrolling shooter - Sky Force…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A mobile port. Unfortunately, I'm guessing this had microtransactions in the mobile version (none in this version) because it's an INSANE grindfest to get upgrades by actually playing. And you'll need the upgrades thanks to ridiculously high difficulty spikes as you progress. A really fun game ruined by the grind and uneven difficulty. Skip it. There are much better options in the genre available.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an alright phone game but the controls just suck. Everything is to touchy and the constant repeat of the same level a 100 times just to earn enough money to upgrade or unlock other levels. It costs 740 gold or whatever it's called to unlock the second set of levels. You spend a lot just to upgrade your plane and then repeat the same levels again to unlock the next set of levels get's very tiring. It's fun for about an hour after that it just wears thin.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game, too bad it's too grindy... Maybe because it's a mobile port @_@ Need to buy chapter to unlock, not by beating previous stage @_@
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What could've been a thoroughly fun game is ruined by what seems like endless grind and massive difficulty spikes, the visuals are nice though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/yLLfUpfVQF8 A very tight camera results in the play space being far to cramped to allow enough reaction time. Slow progression requires far too much grinding to make progress or unlock levels.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe is a classic bullet hell game that, at first glance, may appear somewhat mundane and unoriginal. Indeed, it doesn't break new ground in the genre, but for what it aims to be, it delivers a fun experience during its brief runtime. The gameplay is characterized by intense action and frequent barrages of enemy fire, typical of the bullet hell genre. One of the notable aspects is the abrupt difficulty spikes, particularly evident during some of the boss battles. These sudden…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very chill game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an old school, arcade-style shooter. Nothing particularly special. It's also a port of a mobile game, and it's very obvious. * It clearly looks like it was designed for a tall resolution (i.e. holding your phone in portrait mode to play), as all the graphics are oriented that way, if you look closely. * Your plane auto-fires constantly, you just need to worry about accuracy and dodging for the most part. * It's very typically grindy, and appears to have been balanced around the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crap from phones. No Vertical view, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ controls, invisible bullets, boring levels etc. Graphics is kinda nice but this game is waste of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ time. Stay away, do something else.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m going to be honest, this game is by no means perfect and does have issues, but I really enjoyed playing this game. This is the first time I played it on a desktop (the first time I originally played it was on my iPad in 2014). It’s a shame to see that a lot of the reviews dislike this game, and I get it for certain reasons. If you enjoy 2D platformers, then this game is honestly engaging and a difficult challenge. A lot of it is high-paced shooting. The good - The gameplay is honestly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe, developed and published by HandyGames, is a retro-inspired top-down aerial shooter that draws heavily from classic arcade traditions while framing its action within a stylized World War II setting. The game places players in the cockpit of Allied aircraft tasked with defending Britain from relentless waves of enemy planes and armored forces. Rather than focusing on historical realism or simulation mechanics, it embraces an arcade philosophy built around constant motion,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought this on discount, had some silly fun, but it has annoying grind behind it. First boss was my fav, while 3rd and 5th are just unfair to fight without maxed Beast. Would recommend playing though
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron (PS4) | A Superior Shmup Sequel!!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT71... #gaming #ps4 #shmups
unlabelledView post →♥♥♥♥ yeah 1990 looking retro explosions
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →iOS Weekly game deals post - Robert Kabwe’s games for free; SteamWorld Heist & Quest, LEGO Bricktales, Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron, Backflip Madness 1 & 2, Dungeon Tracer, Motorsport Manager 4, Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home, Blue Wednesday, and more at discounted prices
unlabelledView post →nostalgic airdog fight game, if you like this kind of game, buy it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good bite-sized SHMUP in the spirit of 1942/1943. Not the best, but a good little time-waster. Visual language is a little bit off so reading the screen is difficult as the game gets more chaotic, but the game is simple enough that it is not likely to severely impede your ability to enjoy or beat the game so much as just deliver you a few frustrating defeats. The levels are short enough that dying and starting over is never that big of a deal. The only real gripe I have with this game is the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is trash. not only is the screen size puny but do to the lose controls it's very hard to dodge shots. i will say shots are auto fired and you don't need to hit anything.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Idk, bro, guys with "crying comments" over hardcore and bad-balanced game saw something that I didn't. But yeah... The game, like for me, it's good. Good graphics, as for pixel game, mechanics and all that stuff. Bosses, are kinda ez at the beginning, but higher you go - harder it becomes. I would like to suggest you to buy and play this game, even if it was for phones first.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces Of The Luftwaffe pros: fast game with modern day graphics with easy controls that moves from location A to B to C and so on, good amount of action and special effects, cons: some difficult battles. difficulty spikes. grindfest, more work than progress. good game. Personal Suggested Purchase Price: $0.49 Or Less During Sale
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice Retro Gaming!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A simple top down side scroller. With a controller you can more or less play it one thumbed. The graphics are ok, definitely mobile port style. The big downfall and the reason I can't recommend it is the grind and the boss fights. Upgrades don't really help during them and while they are not impossible they do get tedious and the replaying of levels gets old fast.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's furious, it's hard, and it's very rewarding. Love the music! Controls need a little fine tuning (sensitivity is high on some game pads)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit of a grind but a fun beataround game to play while taking a break from serious projects.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to start off by saying that I probably have close to 30 hours in this game in mobile and in other pc ports. It was a classic for small me. Aces of the Luftwaffe is one of the rather compact bullet hells. It's very humble in its presentation and doesn't overstay its welcome in terms of level count. But it gets close. You find yourself replaying old levels and re-doing certain boss fights over and over again just to get enough in-game currency to upgrade your plane to slightly even the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing this since 2014 and i am still having fun with the very few levels this game has
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe is a horizontal bullet hell based around WWII, though with a sci-fi twist. The graphics aren't anything to brag about, but it works for this game. The enemies vary and are well designed to tell the difference, and the bosses are very unique and quite difficult to kill as they require many steps. Dying is absolutely a part of this game, but the part that makes me not recommend this game is the grind. You have to grind so much to get your stats up for bullet power,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd say it's a cute little game, except that it's a shoddy mobile port, and boy does it show: - Forget about keyboard, forget about analog steering. The only playable control method is the mouse, hope you like holding down LMB the entire time because YOU MIGHT WANNA CLICK ON THE SUPERPOWER BUTTON you're gonna use with Space anyway, because what's RMB? No such thing on mobiles! Also, no way to rebind controls. - Everything's gated by the in-game currency aka medals. Everything. New planes? Buy…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The controls are loose compared to more polished shooters. There would be a lot of grinding to totally unlock all three planes. You don't need to. Play until you can unlock Beast then Focus on increasing his stats before Freshman then Tykers in that order. I would increase damage first then health (and Beast's special I'd consider most important). The gaming ends up being much less repetitive if you repeat the levels over and over attempting each achievement. Shooting down 70 red fighter planes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classic bullet hell from the days of actually good and creative mobile games. I remember playing when there were only 2 planes and 3 chapters! Unfortunately, not everything translated well from mobile, and nostalgia can't save a bad port. File editing can though! Since the game was designed with micro transactions in mind, the upgrades become absurdly expensive! The game can definitely be a challenge without them. Don't worry though! For windows, you can easily edit save data at…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fun ww2 game even though it is not very accurate to real life the game is still fun in its own ways
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"I wanted to like this game", no, I liked this game for the sprites having done them myself and being an avid kitmaker, they were good for what they were, fighters, but done in the "egg" style to make them cute, but also because of limited space. The game was grindy, but it seemed fair as in, really slowly and surely you progressed. Now you can't do that anymore, as your saves keep getting wiped every few weeks. The game desyncs and you can't resync it unless you got into properties, verify…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a mobile game. At least give me a button to shoot myself. That is a big issue with me. But here is the real deal with it. I got this for $1.60 from fanatical because I have played the other AoL game. I beat the first two missions in this and will now uninstall it and move it to my "not needed" group in Steam. That is acceptable. $4.99 for that experience isn't. Trust me...you don't want to get this. This game is $4.99 overpriced.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was Eh, i would give it a 4/10 Why? 1) I am not sure why in this day and age, the Dev decided that we can only play the game in... Is it Potrait? or Landscape? I will go with Potrait, since it's like playing a mobile shootem up game. 2) The Grinding is insane for this one. There's unlike Skyforce series, there's no Difficulty scaling level, all you do is simple, farm a boss/ stage over and over again, until you can get new upgrades 3) So no new difficulty for completed stages, a stage…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aces of the Luftwaffe (PS4) | A Mission Based Military Shmup Without Scoring www.youtube.com/watch?v=plql... #acesoftheluftwaffe #ps4 #gaming #shmups
unlabelledView post →iOS Weekly game deals post - Titan Quest: Ultimate Edition, 60 Seconds! & 60 Parsecs!, Cyber Quest, Religion inc., Severed, Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron, Pro Wrestling Manager 2024, Mindkeeper : The Lurking Fear, Cursed Castilla, Adventure in Wonderland, and more games at discounted prices
unlabelledView post →Good browsergame! Let's play Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron, it's marvelous! Here: darkcat.games/game/aces-of... #gameplay #mobilegame
unlabelledView post →iOS Weekly game deals post - RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard, Titan Quest: Ultimate Edition, Final Fantasy I-VI, Lost Echo, Dungeon of the Endless, MONOPOLY, Human: Fall Flat, Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron, Blue Wednesday, BOKURA, Legend of Keepers, and more games at discounted prices
unlabelledView post →This is without a shadow of a doubt the greatest game I have ever played. When you think of video games, this spectacular work of art comes to mind. This experience is video gaming personified and I recommend that every person plays this game before they leave this mortal coil. Thank you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's nice, but boy the last boss was annoyingly hard... :D And grind to level up the planes also was bad especially when you can't feel that upgrade really changed anything...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best Game ever!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's OK. Quite fun, but has some problems that could be easily fixed to make it better, and without them I think I'd recommend people look elsewhere. The game is very simple, and in order to extend its length it forces you to grind and farm levels you've already played in order to get medals to upgrade your ship which is absolutely necessary to fight later bosses. It's a fake and annoying way of extending the play time and makes it repetitive. As gamers, we have a natural inclination to try to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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