Original Game Development
End-to-end Android & iOS titles in Unity — design, art, code, and store submission handled in house.
from A$45,0004–9 month builds
Collingwood · Melbourne game studio
We forge mobile games worth focusing on.
FocusVanguardForge is an independent Android & iOS studio on Smith Street. We build handcrafted titles — cozy puzzlers, tactics roguelikes, and cross-play multiplayer — designed for that "one more turn" feeling.
Android & iOS
Native 60fps builds shipped to both stores from a single codebase.
Cross-play ready
Cloud saves and matchmaking that follow players across devices.
Playtest program
Weekly builds sent to our Collingwood community of 4,200 testers.
Our story
A small studio with a long-game mindset.
We started FocusVanguardForge above a coffee roaster on Smith Street in 2016 with three developers and one prototype. Today we are a team of eleven shipping original titles that have been downloaded more than 6 million times across Australia, Japan, and North America.
We do not chase trends. Every game begins as a paper prototype, survives at least four playtest cycles with our local community, and ships only when it feels effortless to pick up and hard to put down.
- 2016
Studio founded
Three founders and a puzzle prototype called "Lantern" in a Collingwood loft.
- 2018
First store feature
"Tidecaller" hit the Apple App Store "Games We Love" shelf across APAC.
- 2021
1 million players
Our tactics roguelike "Ember Circuit" crossed a million lifetime installs.
- 2023
Cross-play launch
Rebuilt our netcode for seamless Android ↔ iOS multiplayer matches.
- 2025
Studio expansion
Opened a dedicated playtest lab on Smith Street and grew to eleven people.
What we do
From first sketch to store feature.
Whether you are a brand, a publisher, or a fellow developer, we offer the same craft we pour into our own titles. All engagements start with a free 45-minute discovery call.
Playtest & UX Studio
Structured playtests with our 4,200-strong tester community, heatmaps, and a prioritised findings report.
A$3,200 / cycle2-week sprints
Live-Ops & Content Cadence
Seasonal events, balance patches, and analytics tuning to keep an existing game healthy after launch.
A$2,400 / monthongoing retainer
Port & Optimisation
Bring a prototype or PC build to mobile with 60fps performance passes and device-matrix QA.
from A$18,0003–6 weeks
Cross-Play Netcode
Rollback-friendly multiplayer, cloud saves, and matchmaking that span Android and iOS.
from A$26,0006–10 weeks
Art & Audio Direction
Character design, animation, and adaptive soundtracks from our in-house art and audio leads.
A$120 / hourflexible
Our games
Titles we have shipped and loved.
Swipe through a selection of games we have built and launched on Android and iOS.
Tactics roguelike
Ember Circuit
A grid-based tactics roguelike with over a million installs and a devoted speedrun community.
Cozy puzzler
Tidecaller
A tide-shifting logic puzzler featured by Apple across the Asia-Pacific region.
Narrative adventure
Lantern & Lark
A hand-painted bedtime adventure with adaptive music and no ads, ever.
Cross-play multiplayer
Vanguard Clash
Real-time 3v3 skirmishes with true Android ↔ iOS matchmaking and cloud saves.
The people
Eleven makers on Smith Street.
A tight-knit crew of designers, engineers, and artists who ship together and playtest together.
Priya Nadeau
Studio Director & Game Designer
Fifteen years designing systems; keeps every build honest with the "is it fun in 30 seconds?" rule.
Marcus Whitlock
Lead Engineer
Owns our cross-play netcode and the 60fps performance budget across the device matrix.
Sena Okafor
Art Director
Hand-paints every key frame and sets the palette for our cozy and competitive titles alike.
Daniel Hsu
Audio & Live-Ops Lead
Composes adaptive soundtracks and runs our seasonal content calendar.
Player love
What players are saying.
Reviews pulled from our Android and iOS store pages and playtest surveys.
“Ember Circuit is the first mobile game I have finished twice. No pushy ads, just tight tactics. My tram commute has never gone faster.”
Aisha R.
Fitzroy, VIC · 14 Mar 2025
“Cross-play in Vanguard Clash actually works — I play on my iPhone, my brother is on a Pixel, and we are always in the same match.”
Tom B.
Brunswick, VIC · 2 Feb 2025
“Tidecaller is the coziest puzzler on my phone. The tide mechanic clicked instantly and the art is gorgeous on an OLED screen.”
Mei L.
Sydney, NSW · 19 Jan 2025
“Joined the Smith Street playtest program and the team genuinely acts on feedback. Watched a bug I reported get fixed the next week.”
Jordan K.
Collingwood, VIC · 28 Dec 2024
Good to know
Frequently asked questions.
Answers about our games, playtests, and studio services. Still stuck? Send us a note below.
Our games
Most of our titles are free to download with an optional one-time purchase to unlock the full game. We never use forced ads or pay-to-win mechanics. Lantern & Lark is a paid app with no in-app purchases at all.
Single-player titles like Ember Circuit and Tidecaller are fully playable offline, with cloud saves syncing when you reconnect. Multiplayer modes in Vanguard Clash require an internet connection for live matches.
We support Android 9.0 and newer and iOS 15 and newer. Every release is tested across a matrix of budget and flagship devices so it runs at a smooth 60fps on most phones from the last five years.
Playtest program
Sign up through the contact form below and choose "Join a playtest". We send weekly TestFlight and Google Play beta builds, and Melbourne locals are welcome at our Smith Street lab sessions on Thursday evenings.
No. Playtesting is free and voluntary. Active testers get early access to unreleased titles and their name in the game credits after five completed sessions.
Studio services
Yes. We take on a small number of original development and porting projects each year. Engagements start with a free 45-minute discovery call, followed by a fixed-scope proposal with milestones and pricing in Australian dollars.
We work from 92 Smith Street, Collingwood VIC 3066, in the heart of Melbourne. Our studio is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm AEST. You can always reach us by email outside those hours.
Say hello
Let us build something worth playing.
Pitch a project, join a playtest, or just tell us which of our games stole your commute. We read every message.
Phone
+61 3 9416 2846Studio
92 Smith Street, Collingwood VIC 3066
Email
[email protected]Studio hours
Mon–Fri, 9:00am–5:30pm AEST