Wheels of Aurelia

Lore & Background

Wheels of Aurelia was designed and coded by Pietro Righi Riva and Nicolò Tedeschi of Santa Ragione, with dialogue design by Double Fine Productions' Anna Kipnis. The game was created using the Unity engine, with pre-production starting in January 2014. Production was delayed until June 2015 while the studio worked on Fotonica. A beta version was released via Humble Bundle as the Fantastic Arcade Beta Edition, cut from planned features to meet the bundle deadline. The game later passed through Steam Greenlight and was released for Linux, OS X, and Windows in September 2016, followed by PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch versions through 2017.

The artwork was produced by multiple artists: Italian artist Flaminia Grimaldi created over 200 environment assets, New Yorker Patrick Leger designed the characters, and Italian game design couple We Are Müesli contributed dialogue and voice recordings. Graphic design came from freelancer Luca Francesco Rossi. The developers described the game as a 'natural evolution' of the driving game mentality from Out Run, and credited the 1962 film Il Sorpasso as inspiration, along with driving games World Rally Championship (1993) and Great 1000 Miles Rally (1994) for visual aspects.

Reader's Guide

Wheels of Aurelia received mixed reviews from critics. Its atmosphere and aesthetics were praised, with Kotaku's Gita Jackson noting the graphics captured themes of Italian neorealist film, and IGN Italy's Rosa Piermarco praising the 'nice low poly graphics and two-dimensional portraits' inspired by 1970s comics. However, reviewers thought the gameplay was poorly fitted into the narrative. Edge called it a 'shame the journey itself can't match the poignancy of the final destination.' Switch Player's Liam Langan found it too short, especially as an early visual novel on the platform, questioning its value for money. Nintendo Life's Liam Doolan called the visual novel aspects 'lacklustre' and the gameplay 'even worse.' Game Informer's Suriel Vazquez praised the 'aesthetically flawless' graphics and 'accurate historical reconstruction' but was less appreciative of the driving mechanics and lack of real interaction with the story. The Windows version received 'mixed or average reviews' on Metacritic, while the Switch version received 'generally unfavorable reviews.'

Did You Know?

• The game was inspired by the 1986 arcade game Out Run and the 1962 Italian film Il Sorpasso.
• It offers 16 different endings based on player choices, with a playthrough lasting approximately 10–15 minutes.
• A specially designed arcade cabinet was created to display the game at Fantastic Fest.
• The game's environment art was created by Italian artist Flaminia Grimaldi, who contributed over 200 assets.