Software:Defend Ukraine

Defend Ukraine
Developer(s)	GBKSOFT
Publisher(s)	GBKSOFT
Designer(s)	Gorovyi Volodymyr
Platform(s)	Android, iOS
Release	WW: October 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
Genre(s)	Arcade
Mode(s)	Single-player

Defend Ukraine is an arcade mobile game developed and published by Ukraine programmer Gorovyi Volodymyr, under his game development company GBKSOFT for iOS and Android devices. The original idea of the game is credited to Ulrich Hammerschmidt.

The game was released on App Store and Google Play. The app, which is available in Ukrainian and English languages, can be purchased in App Store. All donation and money from sales were sent to Wings Phoenix, a volunteer organization that supports the Ukrainian Army.

Gameplay

Overview

The game is dedicated to the war conflict that broke out in the east of Ukraine. It was created after the crises started in order to drive public attention to the Crimea annexation by Russia and its military intervention in Ukraine.

Objective

The main objective of the game is to defend Ukrainian regions and keep the integrity of the country. It is achieved by tapping on the enemy faces that span randomly over the map. If the player fails to tap on the invader icon on time the enemy flag will appear over the region. There are several types of units in the game. Enemy units and allies - Cossacks and soldiers. The player must not touch allies if they appear above the region that belongs to Ukraine. In another case, one can tap on them in order to win back a captured region. The developer also plans to add other units like stronger reinforcements that may allow the player to return several captured regions at once.

Play Modes

Defend Ukraine by now has only one Survival mode. Game speed is gradually increasing. If the players are fast enough, they can prevent the emergence of separatist Novorossiya and keep Ukraine united. One round lasts 200 invading events. The game ends if the player lost all regions or 200 events occurred. The player wins only if manages to maintain control over all regions of Ukraine. The developer is currently working on a Campaign Mode, that will be released with the next major game update later this year.

Development

The original idea, as well as partly funding, was made by Ulrich Hammerschmidt. Defend Ukraine was developed by GBKSOFT, an outsourcing web and mobile development team based in Ukraine. It consists of two offices in Kiev and Zaporizhia, both of which took part in the development of the game.

The game's development was started in October 2014 as a part-time non-commercial project. Shortly after the development GBKSOFT also agreed with a volunteer organization Wings Phoenix that will receive all the money raised by the game from both Android and iOS versions.

Game Engine

Defend Ukraine is built on a free game engine (LibGDX framework). It was used in conjunction with Google AdMob aggregator and Google Play Services. The engine was chosen because of its flexibility, which grants a greater audience coverage. Thanks to LibGDX, the game can be easily ported to other OS.

The game supports two languages: English and Ukrainian. The language changes automatically depending on user’s device settings.

Release

Defend Ukraine was first released on App Store on November 21, 2014. The game was released on Google Play in May 2015.

Update

The GBKSOFT development team is currently working on the massive update. The upcoming update on Google Play will include two gaming modes: Arcade and Campaign, 5 new characters, and 21 new levels for Campaign mode.

Along with all these features, the developer plans to improve the overall performance of the game engine, so it became more fluent and forgiving to older devices.

Reception

In the first week after its release, the game made it to no. 1 of the Ukrainian iTunes game charts. After its success and a broad coverage in Ukrainian media, it was decided to develop a free version for Android devices, which also includes a donation option.