IRON NEST lets you manually operate a 5,000-ton artillery turret in alternate-history 1920s Spain

A pair of indie developers is working on a new immersive sim title that draws clear inspiration from the not-yet-released PVKK. IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator is a first-person dieselpunk heavy artillery simulator where the player controls a colossal war machine – manually operating every lever, dial, and targeting mechanism.

Gameplay revolves around complete manual control of a massive turret. Players tune teleprinters to intercept radio traffic – one channel carries directives from High Command, the other relays direct calls from the frontline.

Intelligence reports need to be turned into a battle plan: take measurements off the map using received coordinates, then feed the numbers into a ballistic calculator to work out the firing solution.

Weapon control is entirely in the player's hands. Drive the propellant charge higher to blast shells across the horizon, or dial it back to arc them into enemy emplacements. Every shell type serves a specific purpose – armour-piercing rounds for bunkers, smoke for covering friendly withdrawals. The arsenal includes 30 unlockable ammo types and 20 abilities.

The machine's physics come through in every action. Swinging thousands of tons of steel takes time, and skilled operators use that window for other tasks – like grabbing a coffee from the machine on the desk. After firing, the turret shudders from the recoil as the frontline crumbles under the weight of steel. The developers warn, though: the machine may fail. The operator cannot.

The story campaign takes place in alternate-history Spain in the late 1920s, on the eve of civil war. In this timeline, the monarchy still holds power while a republican uprising spreads across the country.

Beyond the campaign, there are 8 challenge modes with leaderboards, 15 regions, and a card-based requisition system for adapting strategy.

IRON NEST is a two-person project built on over 20 years of combined experience and, by the developers' own admission, a lifelong obsession with artillery, interwar machinery, and dieselpunk. Nick Talmers (development) and Dominik Latos (propaganda – their word for marketing, keeping in line with the game's aesthetic) have been sitting on the idea for more than a decade.

Developers Nick Nieuwoudt and Dominik Latos say the community response has exceeded all expectations, and that Heavy Turret Simulator is just the first step in the IRON NEST universe.

Release is planned for 2026, and in the meantime you can add it to your Steam wishlist.