This week, you can explore the coast of 1970’s Italy in the Wheels of Aurelia for free. It takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes to play the whole game once through, but there are 16 endings in total. Strategically replaying and changing up your choices to see all the different outcomes is what keeps players engaged, though it can get a bit repetitive replaying it over and over.
The gameplay is very simple; If you are not interested in getting invested in the story, Wheels of Aurelia is probably not the game for you. It is made up of easy driving mechanics and choosing dialogue options. Your driving skills don’t impact the game very much. If you hit a car they will honk at you and nothing more. If you drive off the road you might spin around, but you’ll end up right back. Essentially, this isn’t your quintessential GTA driving experience.
Your choices regarding which hitchhikers you pick up, who you drive with, your dialogue, and what roads you take all add up to determine which ending you get to experience. This game is more like a visual novel with a choose your own adventure twist. If you’re the type of gamer who likes to skip through cut scenes and other storytelling elements, you might want to skip this game entirely.
Wheels Of Aurelia is a great game for history buffs. The backdrop of this game, 1970’s Italy, was a time of great political and social turmoil. Abortion, divorce, socialism, communism, unions, worker strikes, and Commedia sexy all’italiana (Sexy Italian Comedy) movies defined the era and inspire the plots of the game. Although players might learn a little about the era, a preliminary understanding of this period in Italian history could make the game more enjoyable.
The art, created by Luca Francesco Rossi and Flaminia Grimaldi, is absolute stunning. Beautiful pastel colors, cute character sprites, and softly rendered backgrounds are all very aesthetically pleasing.
Throughout all of 2020, Epic Games announced they will be giving away different free games every week. Once downloaded, users get to keep them forever. The other game available for free on Epic Games Store until 10:00 am on April 23rd is Just Cause 4 – read more about it here.
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