Warbits is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Risky Lab. It was released on April 13, 2016, for iOS. The game revolves around a virtual war between rival nations. While such wars have become commonplace to settle political disputes without actual violence, a glitch in the simulation soon becomes threatening to all factions. A remaster, Warbits+, was announced in 2021 for iOS, Windows and Android, with its release on mobile platforms slated for May 7, 2024. The developers were inspired to create a mobile strategy game similar to Advance Wars, and began creating the game in 2012. However, the development period was protracted from six months to over four years as they realized the difficulty in designing the game. Upon release, many journalists noted the game's marked similarity to Advance Wars. While divided on whether this was beneficial or detrimental, they agreed it would appeal to fans of this style of game. Ultimately, the game received positive reception from critics for its gameplay, graphics and humor.
Gameplay and plot
Warbits takes influence from the gameplay of the turn-based strategy video game series Advance Wars. While Wars has a modern military setting, Warbits pits two or more armies against each other in a stylized simulation of futuristic warfare. Each player controls a large army of soldiers and vehicles, with the objective usually being to wipe out the enemy's units or capture their headquarters. Neutral cities can be captured by soldiers to generate money, which can be spent on manufacturing new units at factories. The most basic units are Infantry, with Light Infantry being fast and inexpensive, and Heavy Infantry being slower and more costly. The former is more useful for capturing buildings, while the latter is more effective against ground vehicles. Similarly, there are two types of armored vehicles, the lower-cost Light Mech and the more durable Heavy Mech. The Ranger unit, a sniper squad most effective on mountains, must wait a turn before attacking. Scout probes, the most inexpensive form of vehicle, are able to hover and cross shallow water, as well as illuminate large areas of the map. In addition to vehicles like the APC, Artillery, and flak cannon, the game also includes aircraft such as the Gunship, Fighter and Bomber. Each type of unit has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, anti-aircraft guns are powerful against bombers. The game map includes different terrain such as towns and forests, which can effect a unit's defense, or conceal a unit in the fog of war. The game has a single-player campaign as well as local and online multiplayer. The campaign of Warbits takes place in a previously war-torn world that agreed to replace deadly combat with a simulation game, allowing political disputes to be settled without costing "billions of lives". The player controls the Red Bear Republic, which responds to mysterious provocations from other nations. Strange structures also start appearing within the simulation that act as obstacles, as well as a new, unknown hostile faction, Purple Plasma. In the final act, it is revealed that the artificial intelligence controlling the simulation has rebelled, having become tired of their "bickering". The factions, desiring to continue using the simulation, band together to destroy the digital core of the AI, eventually emerging victorious.
Development Warbits was developed by the two-man independent team of programmer Joseph Borghetti and artist Reilly Stroope, who worked remotely and never met in person. They characterized the project as a "dumb idea" due to the risk of launching a "niche strategy game" on a single platform, but believed it might target an under-served market. After being introduced to each other on a small community forum, they commenced development in 2012, seeking to make a mobile game. The inspiration behind the game was that Advance Wars was not on a mobile platform. The developers assumed it would be finished in six months, but realized the large amount of depth and complexity in the Wars games would be more difficult to emulate than they believed. Keeping their day jobs, they developed the game as a hobby, spending the first two years learning how to develop a game from scratch, and the next two years completing the game. Much of the development time was spent simply learning how to program as opposed to creating the game itself. The game was ultimately developed in the Cocos2d engine using Objective-C. They described the process as being a "grueling journey" of trial and error, and noted its difficulty as they had to design key elements of the game, such as mechanics. The developers spent about USD $11,000 hiring freelancers to provide assets such as sound effects, music and a trailer. About half the money was spent on a complex backend system and map editor that ultimately went unused. Additional money was spent purchasing an Apple developer license and Dropbox Pro. After finishing the game in four years, they regretted not starting with smaller games, noting that such a large game could have easily failed and never recouped the time or investment.
Reception
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
