2D Battle Simulator: Tabs is a sandbox battle simulator. Pick units from multiple faction tabs, place them on a 2D battlefield and watch the fight play out on its own.
I was just starting to learn Unity, but following tutorials and building a throwaway project was boring — I wanted to make something of my own right away.
The idea came after Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, a game that was very popular with YouTubers at the time. I loved it, and went looking on Google Play (while standing in line at a free clinic) — but there was no mobile version, not even a clone. I was annoyed: surely I wasn't the only one searching for exactly that, hoping to find a mobile game. And then it hit me: I could combine something pleasant with something else pleasant — build my own game from the tutorials and go through the whole path from development to publishing. My expectations were modest: "the first pancake is always lumpy" (a Russian saying), and the next project would be better.
The first version was so awful — one map, four units, and already noticeable FPS drops with six — that calling it a game would be generous. But the goal was met: I built it and shipped it on Google Play, expecting polite indifference at best.
A couple of days later the first reviews came in — a flat 5.0 rating. Players saw potential and wanted the project to grow: my expectations turned out to be completely wrong, and I was glad they were. I kept updating the game as I learned the engine — the unit count multiplied, maps and levels appeared, along with politician units. This project has stayed close to my heart ever since.
Play the game on the home page to unlock it
At one point I added an Arabic font to the game — the idea seemed decent and a bit unusual, even though it took up a fair amount of space. It was an experiment: would adding localization grow the audience from Arabic-speaking countries? A few months later the experiment ended — no real growth in users came from that one change (who could have guessed).
I removed the font and shipped an update. I checked the Google Play reviews and found: "Dear developer, thank you for making the game in Arabic — I told all my friends about it, so few games have Arabic localization, I'm so happy this game exists!" (with three hearts).
My response fit into a single embarrassed expression.