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Game
Game2016
Wheels of Aurelia
Developer Santa Ragione
Wheels of Aurelia is a 2016 visual novel and adventure video game by Italian studio Santa Ragione. It was released worldwide in September 2016 for Linux, OS X, and Windows; in October 2016 for the PlayStation 4; in November 2016 for the Xbox One; October 2017 for Android and iOS; and November 2017 for the Nintendo Switch. Its story is set in 1978 Italy and tells the story of Lella who drives along the Italian… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
147 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Sep 12, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
46
Mixed
58 positive · 68 negative
95% range 38–55%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 58 | 68 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
59 of 129 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
46% recommend · 59 yes, 68 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 127 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (99 of 203 positive).
Players praise the game's narrative depth and replayability, with multiple endings. [1][2][3] Some find the dialogue and story unengaging, with shallow writing. [4][5][6] The game is seen as more of an art project than a traditional driving game. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
Wheels of Aurelia is a neat little game with great replay value. However, it is best appreciated in small doses. As said by other reviewers, it is much more a narrative-driven experiment than a racing game, but there are some endings and achievements that ask for the player to have good reflexes and race other cars. The dialogue is surprisingly rich and becomes more interesting after having finished three or four …
- [2]
Wheels of Aurelia is something quite special - I've played it for a little over an hour, having completed it four times with four different endings (apparently there are sixteen) and I still feel driven to play it again, to discover more possibilities, as well as enrich my understanding of the lead character, the driver Lella, and her hitchhiker Olga (there are many passengers whom I can pick up along the way, who …
- [4]
I wanted to like this game - the music in the trailer is amazing, the setting is a rarely seen one, and the characters seemed unique. Unfortunately, the in-game music is less remarkable, the dialogue is railroaded so tightly that the characters feel one-dimensional instead of complex, and the branching story paths feel completely arbitrary - it seems at least half of them require you to unceremoniously ditch your …
- [6]
I've got two endings and I don't feel any motivation to go back. The characters feel one dimensional - as a lot of people have said here, there are interesting topics to be discussed and the setting is very original, however it's mostly the same old surface level feminist statements thrown out time and again. 'Why can't a woman be an F1 driver?' 'Why do we need men?' 'I'll have kids when men are not needed'. You …
- [18]
This game is all style and no substance. While it deserves to be applauded for trying something new and experimental, its gameplay and systems are so minimal that it matches more of what may be seen in an old Atari game or experienced via a film, with the very passive gameplay consisting of for the most part veering left and right on a highway as your indestructible car typically will always only need to drive …
Summarised from 34 of the 149 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Wheels of Aurelia talk about rich narrative with multiple endings and replay value; those who didn't talk about dialogue feels shallow and one-dimensional. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, the Windows version of Wheels of Aurelia received "mixed or average reviews", while the Switch version received "generally unfavorable reviews". Italy's Eurogamer's Manuel Stanislao reviewed the PlayStation version, was interested by the premise and the "captivating" soundtrack but stated it was only suitable for a niche audience. Rosa Piermarco writing for IGN Italy reviewed the PlayStation version, and was very positive about how unique an experience it was. Critics praised Wheels of Aurelia's presentation and graphical interface. Gita Jackson for Kotaku was very positive about the graphics, noting it to capture the themes of Italian…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 147 · most liked firstI wanted to like this game - the music in the trailer is amazing, the setting is a rarely seen one, and the characters seemed unique. Unfortunately, the in-game music is less remarkable, the dialogue is railroaded so tightly that the characters feel one-dimensional instead of complex, and the branching story paths feel completely arbitrary - it seems at least half of them require you to unceremoniously ditch your passenger. Also, even if you've seen a cutscene before, you can't skip it, or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked Wheels of Aurelia, play In Their Shoes, the new game by the same writers. It’s a truly unique narrative game in which you pair characters with their "shoes" to experience brief, interactive slice-of-life vignettes.
neutral · AI labelView post →Wheels of Aurelia is a neat little game with great replay value. However, it is best appreciated in small doses. As said by other reviewers, it is much more a narrative-driven experiment than a racing game, but there are some endings and achievements that ask for the player to have good reflexes and race other cars. The dialogue is surprisingly rich and becomes more interesting after having finished three or four playthroughs (which last between 15 and 20 minutes each), as the player begins to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I found this quite disappointing. It has a somewhat nostalgic atmosphere and the music is good, as is the concept. A driving background - and it is very much in the background as a vehicle ;) for a conversation game set on the coast of Italy is just, well, cool. But the conversations aren't in and of themselves interesting. It's frustrating because the conversation themes are rich with potential, but aren't explored. this game doesn't really know what it is, and because it can't commit, it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This isn't so much a game, more of an art project - it's an interesting study of late 70s Italy, including the politics and pop culture of that particular time and era. If you're not into narrative games and you want your gameplay to have a lot of substance, it's not for you. However, if you're intrigued in an interesting, interactive story split up into quick, bite size playthroughs, give it a try.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Apple is delisting Wheels of Aurelia, with its devs claiming there's no clear justification. The studio has made the game 100% free on the App Store before its delisting, and highlighted the unsustainability of requiring unnecessary frequent updates. (Read more: Game Developer)
neutral · AI labelView post →Update: Without directly referencing Wheels of Aurelia, an Apple spokesperson told Game Developer that apps that have not been updated over the past three years and fail to meet a minimal download threshold could possibly be removed from the App Store. www.gamedeveloper.com/business/san...
neutral · AI labelView post →I like this game. It's very much interactive fiction done pretty, the backdrop of 70s Italy is interesting and the stories vary nicely depending on the choices made. Whilst a run through can be completed in 15-30 mins, there are a number of different stories and endings to find. By no means is it a driving game though, avoid it if that's what you're looking for, the driving is a means to explain the story/stories and little more. The art style is nice and the soundtrack is great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got this game in a bundle and I'm not sure what to think of it. It's quite unique and It's a nice idéa behind it. It looks and sounds good, but the dialouges are all over the place and it feels like some nuance was lost when translated from the original language (I assume it's Italian, it's ether dodgy translation or the game would have needed proofreeding by a native english spreaker). It's stiff and doesn't really flow well most of the time. The conversations jump from topic to topic out of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some people complain that there's no innovation in the AAA games anymore, just TPP loot crafting shooters with stealth elements. Well, on the other side we have Wheels of Aurelia that is trying super hard to look like nothing else, combining a racing game with visual novel. Too bad it fails at pretty much everything it tried to do. We're a rebelious women that doesn't need no man, a feminist (or the one that only looks like one) that picks up another chick at the disco. Both then decide to have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a boring and quite basic mess. even if you're really interested in Italian 70's, imo, you don't deserve this boredom: grab a book or watch a video, instead. bought for a buck. still, refunding.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia is a very original game. The way the developers merged a narrative based game with a racing game formula is quite unique. Great writing mixed with a beautiful art direction. As an Italian, it is a joy to revisit tragic details of our recent history in a videogame. I guess you need to be familiar with the Moro Affair in order to fully grasp the context of the game, but the personal story of Lella and the clever dialogs with the hitchhikers make the experience enjoyable…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is ridicously short , finished in 19 minutes flat... asked for refund. The 19 minutes was on the first play through. The game allows 16 possible variations, but I didnt found any motivation to play past the first one .
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Matajuegos might not have existed without studios like Santa Ragione and games like Wheels of Aurelia showing us that there was room within the medium for hyper-regional stories with strong artistic voices. Apple removing the game from their store is a disservice not only to the devs but to players!
positive · AI labelView post →Not much of a game. You can start the game and not touch another control for 25 minutes and the game will actually play itself from start to finish (though there are several different endings should you feel the need to play through it several times). Ths would be okay if the game told a compelling story; which in my opinion it does not.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rent-seeking corporations have proven repeatedly that they cannot be trusted to maintain access to works of art, regardless of how well those works might still work for people who purchased them, etc. Get Wheels of Aurelia for iOS now! It's a great and influential game.
positive · AI labelView post →The moment I was getting into the characters I'd chosen for my journey and their banter, the game ended. Ten minutes long with a wall of text at the end explaining how the story unfolded. I wanted to like it and did until it ejected me from the game world and just let me know that there are 16 possible endings, so i guess I could go back in and keep each hitchhiker. There's also zero penalty for crashing your car. I was supposed to tail someone's car that I completely lost track of, smashed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had an urge to go back and platinum a few games I never got around too. Started with some of the junkier one, so Wheels of Aurelia. There's a trophy called 'Not a game' for beating the game without touching the controller and that says it all. also been touching your mum
negative · AI labelView post →Apple is removing the 2016 indie visual novel Wheels of Aurelia from the App Store on July 25 due to infrequent updates – despite developer @santaragione.com’s protests that the game remains fully functional. – Kotaku’s @ethangach.bsky.social #gamedev #indiegame #gamingnews #indiedev #apple
neutral · AI labelView post →Nice idea, awesome visual style, great music. The problem is that the story is not engaging at all, dialogues are sloppy, driving mechanics are questionable at best.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is serious piece of art beyond my highest expectations. It's not driving game, could be called road game instead (great!). Italia'78 with all the political turnmoil, society changing rusty paradigm and search for new ways. Issues of freedom of all kind, women liberation, religion and strong far-left faction on the scene, we have all of this mixed up here. If all mentioned above didn't intrigue you, or you never heard of Nanni Moretti, Pasolini or Aldo Moro, then this game probably…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia is something quite special - I've played it for a little over an hour, having completed it four times with four different endings (apparently there are sixteen) and I still feel driven to play it again, to discover more possibilities, as well as enrich my understanding of the lead character, the driver Lella, and her hitchhiker Olga (there are many passengers whom I can pick up along the way, who are also fascinating, but as the game always starts with Olga accompanying me, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia developer Santa Ragione says Apple is delisting its game without "clear justification" www.gamesindustry.biz/developer-sa...
neutral · AI labelView post →I've got two endings and I don't feel any motivation to go back. The characters feel one dimensional - as a lot of people have said here, there are interesting topics to be discussed and the setting is very original, however it's mostly the same old surface level feminist statements thrown out time and again. 'Why can't a woman be an F1 driver?' 'Why do we need men?' 'I'll have kids when men are not needed'. You just skip from one statement to another without really delving into anything or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not really a game but an art project. As an art project, it's pretty cool. As a game, it's not very interesting or fun. How much is an art project worth to you? Decide that before you buy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Till now completed the game 7 times with 7 different endings. The end screen says there are 16 possible endings. The game is as seen in the trailer with some car races, police chase and interesting conversation with hitchhikers.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring and tedious. The idea is promising but the game is bogged down by uninteresting writing and annoying gameplay. An easy pass at any price point.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is all style and no substance. While it deserves to be applauded for trying something new and experimental, its gameplay and systems are so minimal that it matches more of what may be seen in an old Atari game or experienced via a film, with the very passive gameplay consisting of for the most part veering left and right on a highway as your indestructible car typically will always only need to drive straight ahead, at one of two speeds. At certain moments you can choose to pick up…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →road-trip conversations about feminism, atheism, communism and anti-fascism; what isn't there to love about this game?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid writing, gameplay is surprisingly engaging for short bursts if incredibly simple, great soundtrack. I have a few minor quibbles with it here and there, but it succeeded in making me feel like I was a rebellious youth on the streets of late 70s Italy, so I can forgive them.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty but there is barely any gameplay. I just held spacebar for 20 minutes while following the road with left and right button and then the game was over. There was zero challenge.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia was really disappointing, to me. My excitement was fairly low at the start (mostly being confused about the game's structure), then it rose once I understood how the game worked (in terms of the branching narrative), and then it slowly sank to its lowest point (where it stayed) due to the monotony of the game's first half. I'll state the conclusion right away: the game has a great concept, but it seems that they've left it at that. While the idea is really cool, it seems like…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Many times it talks about Pasolini. You must buy this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a game about someone feeling like they always win arguments.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh my god! I was really on the fence for buying this game before the steam sale, but when I saw the price drop I bought it immediately. I was right to! I've gotten only 5 of the 16 endings so far, but geez, this game is great. It might seem like a very small game, but, as I mentioned before, it's got 16 ending, and each playthrough is about 15 minutes. The only games I've found myself to replay this often (notably Thirty Flights of Loving) are those with a great story, and this game has that in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I debated whether or not to review this yet, as I've only played through it twice, but both times it happened - I was making my way through the story when all of a sudden the characters started talking about stuff that hadn't come up before. I had no idea who Gecko was or what his relation to Lella was, and I got an extremely abrupt ending. Any game where that can happen needs work, sorry.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →what a mess of a game...hard to keep up with everything on the screen, just so very lazily made and very uninteresting. Unbelievably boring and I can't believe this is up for 15 euros, thank ♥♥♥♥ I got it from a bundle
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Neither good visual novel nor good racing game. Some interesting stuff about history - but you will find more info in wikipedia than here. Soundtrack was nice though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Luckily this game is short. Besides having nice visuals and a nice soundtrack, it kind of lacks everything else. The story always seem that will get somewhere interesting, but don't really. The characters are rather boring and the car mechanics frustrating. This all would be a little less important if you didn't had to play it over and over again to see different paths and endings. A kind of creative and interesting game that falls short its potential, becoming boring rather fast. 5/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've only played a bit so far, but I'm quite enjoying this. Evocative art and funky music provide the backdrop to an intriguing narrative game. And this is definitely a *narrative* game first and foremost; the driving mechanics are secondary and unintrusive (you're navigating a conversation tree while steering your car, and it doesn't feel overly complicated). The dialogue is a bit on-the-nose in parts, but the structure does require characters to be introduced, developed, and resolved rather…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arranger is a great place to start. A Short Hike is a wonderful little game if you like short exploratory meditations. Wheels of Aurelia is one of the more unique driving games I’ve played. And Cook, Serve, Delicious is one of my fav restaurant games.
positive · AI labelView post →The story/writing is not that great, even though it feels like it should be the core of the game. Maybe it is a passover from translating the game. Even though there are X amount of ending it feels very static, especially when encoutering the same limited dialouge options in each playthough. The music is good, but it can feel very repetitive to listen to the same soundbite of music every time you encounter a cutsene-ish screen. This is also true for the ending credit, of which you cannot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia feels like a love letter to leftist 1970‘s Italy, and I write that as a compliment. The game oozes atmosphere. Just don‘t expect a game in the narrow sense of the word – it‘s more of an interactive, dialogue-heavy time travel into 1970‘s Italy. Wheels of Aurela is about driving through the night, talking to random people who share your co-driver‘s seat to stay awake. I liked it a lot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well I want to give this game a mixed review but, I can't so it's not recommended for now. So here it goes: Beautiful Artstyle. Great Sountrack. Pretty good historical accuracy on Italian politics and it kinda makes you wanna know more about it.(game sets in the 70's) Decent driving. -This game is about having a conversation with random strangers in the road by picking them up or just meeting them. But the main issue for me are the dialogs and how they've been written , especially at the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wheels of Aurelia is a game in which you drive a car and talk to people in the car. You can choose to pick up hitchhikers and take them to their destination. Hold a button to drive faster, and move left and right a bit on the road to avoid traffic. This is all that you do, driving is slow and boring. None of the characters I talked to were remotely interesting and neither was what they had to say. The music was mostly just annoying. Even knowing this is a very short game I cannot be bothered…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very calm game (for rest), which is accompanied by difficult driving on the roads of Italy and sarcastic and, at the same time, mental dialogue between the main character and her fellow travelers.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a load of old nonsense. There is only one reason to play this game - if you like learning about the politics and history of 70s Italy. This is barely a game at all - I've added the tag "visual novel". The driving is ridiculous. You can literally turn the car so it's facing the wrong way and you'll still get pushed along rails. There are seemingly no penalties or consequences for smashing the car into other cars or the guard rails. The art style is quite nice, but it wears thin quickly.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short* but otherwise very well written game that blooms with the surprisingly simple yet engaging gameplay. * short yet rich: each run takes about 15 min but there are 16 different endings. Sountrack is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This Week in Mobile Gaming: Santa Ragione's amazing Wheels of Aurelia being delisted by Apple, A Game About Digging A Hole launches on July 31 for mobile, new HandyGames deals, and more: www.patreon.com/posts/this-w...
neutral · AI labelView post →Wheels of Aurelia is a great adventure game where you control the car and choose to go where you want. The 70's ambiant is very good and the graphics are beautiful and original. I recommend it!!! 💗💗💗
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like unusual games, I like story driven games. Hell, I just like games. Not this game though, this is just dull.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not very well written, and not a smooth experience of narrative game. The topic was interesting but the execution is not great...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Final Verdict: Pass on this or buy on deep sale Very tough game to review. There are some things to like. It just has some pretty big negatives and there's not much here to like even if you dld like it. One playthrough will take you about 20 minutes. The question is, will you want to do multiple playthroughs to get all the content here? For me the answer was no. It was okay, but I have no desire to play more to see what else might have happened. Because what happened on my playthrough was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Formula 1, lesbian feminists, Italian rock'n'roll, this game's got everything, but real punks are from London!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game, a little bit repetitive, but the concept is really interesting, and the plot aswell apart from some points. It's a shame that to be appreciated at its finest you must be Italian, since it's full of references of political events occourred during the 70's that marked and defined what Italy is nowadays, giving more depth to an already valuable game. 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is just a presentation for pushing politics agenda. Bored me to death.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was so disappointing. The driving mechanics were so shoddy and basic. The dialogue was a mess and occasionally the response options made no sense based off the running conversation. I felt like so much more (history, the scenery, political context, deeper backstory, etc.) could've been explored with the dialogue, but wasn't. The only good thing was the music, and even that was mediocre.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great promise, but a puzzling execution: the driving isn't great, and the writing makes not much sense (the "choices" are quite enigmatic, relationships between characters make no sense...). I wanted to love this game, but it's unfortunately way too hard to like.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Haven't even completed a single playthrough. Maybe something got lost in translation, because the story is really badly told. So bad, I just couldn't keep playing. I think my 5-year old son could write more realistic dialogue.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →just..boring to play. story stuff isn't bad, but it's just not very fun to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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