As the title implies, the game is set in an alternate Victorian Era in which heliograph satellites orbit the planet and steam-powered Aether-flyers cross the space lanes.

Thanks to the discovery (by Thomas Alva Edison) of the properties of aether, the major nations of the Earth have now access to space travel, and are extending their colonial interests on Mars (a barbarian, Edgar Rice Burroughs-style planet)and Venus (a primitive planet teeming with dinosaurs). The later discovery of Liftwood, a plant endowed with anti-gravity powers growing on Mars, pushes technology in a new direction, allowing the deployment of aerial fleets in the skys of the Red Planet (on Venus, more traditional Zeppelins have to do)..

Supplements to the game included scenario collections, geographical sourcebooks and two wargame products (the Soldier Companion, for land-based battles, and the Sky Galleons of Mars, for aerial combat), plus a simple boardgame. Heliograph also published three digest-sized numbers of the "Proceedings of the Royal Martian Geographical Society", which included rules expansions, fiction and scenarios.

The game was always considered weak in its depiction of the alternate Victorian Earth (which was never covered by a supplement), and probably suffered from an excessive focus (at least in its first supplements) on military action.

Game system

The game runs on a very simple, d6-based system, still very close to the classic wargaming engine from which the game evolved. Interestingly enough, the system includes a set of rules for the development of new inventions and for the simulation of scientific research.