After spending the first two weeks getting a playable prototype running, I dedicated Sprint 2 to polishing the local game experience. And wow – it made a huge difference.

Smarter Lighting, Smoother Perspective

I initially used a rotating 3D board with a single light source and cast shadows. It looked cool, but the shadows ended up being distracting. So I switched to a setup with multiple light sources from all directions and stopped rotating the board – now the camera rotates around it instead. It’s so much smoother and easier to play now. I also fine-tuned how much the board can rotate and zoom, so it always feels controllable.

Upgraded Models and Textures

I decided to remodel all 3D assets in Blender, which gave me much more control and freedom. The shapes are now cleaner and more consistent, and with new textures applied in Unity, the whole look feels much closer to something you’d expect from a finished game. Maybe not full production quality yet – but honestly, not far off.

iOS Support – The Big Investment 💸

Until now, I had only been building for Android. I tried Unity’s cloud build system for iOS and it worked okay – but it wasn’t sustainable for real development.

So… I invested in a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 15.

Pricey, yes. But it’ll save me time (and frustration) in the long run. I now have full control over testing and iOS builds.

Visual Clarity and Feedback

I improved how the latest move and winning moves are displayed. This made a surprisingly big difference when reviewing the outcome of a game – especially when you’re playing against yourself. 😄

Avatar Creator – Just for Fun

One of the most fun things I added wasn’t even on the roadmap: a simple avatar creator! You can pick a background, an animal and an expression to use as your player image.

This was originally a “nice-to-have” feature for post-launch, but I had time – and adding it made development and testing way more enjoyable. It’s also a safer and more inclusive alternative to using real photos.

Page Navigation System

Another major update was building a page navigation framework for the game. I’ve set up the core structure and added placeholder pages for most of the essential screens:

• Splash Screen
• Game Lobby
• Help Screen
• Account Creation
• Login Screen
• Avatar Creator
• Player Statistics
• Games Settings
• Start New Game
• Player Search
• Friends List
• Play Screen
• Chat Screen

Not all of these are functional yet, but having the structure in place means much less rework later.

General Improvements

• Better layout and responsiveness across screens.
• Faster load times and transitions.
• Support for both portrait and landscape mode (though it still needs some polish).

Up Next: Multiplayer

The game is now genuinely fun to play – but it’s still a local-only experience. That means handing your phone back and forth.

Sprint 3 (and probably sprint 4) will focus on implementing multiplayer. That’s the big challenge – but I feel ready. I think…

See you in two weeks!

– Elena