The game, in four views
A small target. A big sky.
A fixed field post, passing drones and a short window to react. Track the target, manage heat and keep the position intact.
90-second operations01 / 04I wanted the iPhone to feel like a window into a place. In Drone Backlash, you stay at a field post and watch an open sky. Aircraft cross from the side, pass overhead or remain small in the distance. Turning the phone becomes part of noticing them.
The starting point was that feeling of space and attention: a grounded scene, natural light and mechanical shapes that belong together. The first brief focused on one carefully made position and one convincing weapon. That gave the project a clear center before the menus, equipment and progression grew around it.
The game runs offline on iPhone. It uses Swift, UIKit and SceneKit, with Core Motion for aiming and AVFoundation for sound. The aircraft are original fictional game designs, with their own silhouettes and movement.
One position, a complete game
A round lasts 90 seconds. Choose an operation, follow the aircraft, manage the weapon’s heat and keep the post intact. Escaping targets damage the position. Reaching the end of the timer is only part of winning: each operation also has a takedown objective.
The result leads into the next decision. Retry for a better score, change equipment or move to the next unlocked operation. Six operations form the campaign; performance can earn up to three stars. Earnings, purchases, settings and results stay on the device.
I wanted the whole loop to work together, including the less spectacular moments: returning from a pause, reading a result, buying something useful and starting again. Those transitions are where a collection of mechanics starts to become a game.
Built around the way you hold an iPhone
Move the phone. Follow the sky.
Motion controls the view. The fire button stays at the bottom center, ready for your thumb.
A different grip, the same position.
Choose motion or touch aiming and your preferred fire-button side. Those preferences survive a return to portrait.
Portrait play puts the fire button at the bottom center and uses the phone’s movement to control the view. Landscape keeps the choice of motion or finger aiming, with the fire button on either side. Rotating the phone preserves the view and briefly releases fire. Returning from pause adjusts the reference to the way the phone is now being held.
As the game expanded, I asked to remove controls and labels that were taking attention away from the sky. Recentering became automatic. Target acquisition moved into the reticle, and the optional radar became a compact visual indicator.
That was an important part of the design work: adding capability, then making the screen quieter. The player needs to notice the next aircraft without reading a stream of interface announcements.
Different targets. Different decisions.
The fleet grew to seven aircraft classes. A slow, durable target asks something different from a small aircraft changing direction or a fast jet crossing the sky. Their geometry, movement and damage responses give the encounters variety. The catalog lets the player inspect the models between operations.
The arsenal now has nine weapons. Different gun rhythms sit alongside spread shot, airburst rounds, guided launchers and an allied interceptor. Six passive upgrades and an autonomous sentry add choices around the main weapon.
Each unique takedown earns 200 units of in-game currency. Ammunition is free; there are no real-money purchases or advertisements. Earnings persist even after a failed operation, so another attempt can still contribute to the next loadout. When the equipment and prices expanded, existing purchases were preserved.
Thirty languages, one release
Explore the language set
- Arabic
- Bengali
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Czech
- Dutch
- English
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Malay
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Thai
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
Preparing the game for release reached beyond its menus. The language package covers instructions, settings, the aircraft catalog, accessibility text, Store descriptions, support and privacy information.
Version 1.1.0 includes 30 languages. Long labels needed room to wrap, and Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu needed right-to-left text layout. Text direction also had to stay separate from aiming, compass directions and the chosen fire-button side. Translating the interface should not reverse the way the game responds.
The release work included 90 Store screenshots, with matching localized game screens. Completeness, substitutions and native layouts were checked; independent native-speaker review of every translation remains a separate step.
From the device to App Review
- Build & testNative game and localized screens
- Prepare the listing30 languages · 90 store images
- Submitted to Apple7 September 2026 · Version 1.1.0
On 7 September 2026, version 1.1.0, build 11 was submitted to Apple for App Review. The submission record confirms that stage, with free distribution configured after approval. Public availability is still the next external milestone.
Earlier versions were installed on an iPhone, while this page uses native Simulator captures from build 11. I keep those kinds of evidence separate: a successful build, a readable screen and a comfortable session with sound and motion are different things to verify.
The public game guide and support site are already online. The project now includes the game, its progression, localized materials and a submitted release package — the wider product around that first view of an open sky.