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Why A Tiny Turn-Based Tactics Prototype Is The Perfect Unity Side Project

Turn-based tactics games look intimidating from a distance.

You have:

  • Grids, tiles, and coordinates
  • Turn order and action points
  • Line of sight, ranges, and cover
  • Enemy AI that needs to feel smart but fair

The good news is that you do not have to build Fire Emblem or XCOM on your first try.
You can get 80% of the learning value from a small prototype:

  • One squad vs a handful of enemies
  • A single 2D or 3D arena
  • Simple actions like move, attack, and wait

This guide walks you through building exactly that in Unity — a beginner-friendly, self-contained tactics prototype you can finish in a weekend or two.

We will focus on:

  • A clean grid + tile representation
  • A simple but flexible turn system
  • A small, readable action system for units
  • Basic enemy AI that chooses reasonable moves

You can then extend it into your own tactics game, or use it as a reference for future projects.

Step 1 - Choose Your Unity Setup And Project Scope

Unity version and project type

For 2026, a sensible baseline is:

  • Unity 2022 LTS or newer
  • 2D URP or simple 3D URP project

Both work; 2D is easier to visualise at first. If you are more comfortable with 3D, you can use flat tiles and basic meshes instead.

Keep the prototype small

Define up front:

  • One level (a small arena with 5–8 columns and rows)
  • Two unit types on your side (e.g. melee and ranged)
  • One enemy archetype to start with
  • Three actions per unit:
    • Move
    • Basic Attack
    • Wait / End Turn

Write this down as a short one-page design. The tighter the scope, the more likely you ship.

Step 2 - Representing The Grid And Tiles

You need two layers:

  1. A logical grid in code
  2. A visual representation in the scene

Logical grid

Use a simple class to represent tiles:

  • Grid coordinates (x, y)
  • Whether the tile is walkable
  • Which unit (if any) occupies it

Keep the data structure explicit instead of relying only on Transform positions. It makes pathfinding, highlighting, and AI much easier to extend later.

Visual tiles

For 2D:

  • Use a simple Tilemap or instantiate a prefab for each tile
  • Add a child object or overlay for highlight states (selected, in range, path, etc.)

For 3D:

  • Use a flat quad or cube for each tile
  • Add simple materials for:
    • Default
    • Move range
    • Attack range

Hook your visual tiles to the logical grid so a tile knows its grid coordinates.
Later, when a player clicks a tile, you can ask the grid what is at ((x, y)) without guessing from world positions.

Step 3 - Building A Simple Turn System

The turn system is the backbone of your tactics prototype.

You can start with a round-based flow:

  1. All player units act one by one
  2. All enemy units act one by one
  3. Repeat until win/lose

Turn controller responsibilities

Create a TurnController MonoBehaviour that:

  • Stores two lists:
    • playerUnits
    • enemyUnits
  • Tracks:
    • Who’s turn it is (player or enemy)
    • Which unit index is currently active
  • Exposes events or callbacks for:
    • OnTurnStarted
    • OnUnitSelected
    • OnTurnEnded

Start as simple as:

  • When a unit finishes its action, signal the TurnController
  • The controller moves to the next unit
  • After the last unit in the list, it flips side (player ↔ enemy)

You can always upgrade this to action points or initiative later.

Step 4 - Implementing Unit Actions (Move, Attack, Wait)

A small action interface

Give each unit:

  • A script that knows:
    • Current tile
    • Movement range
    • Attack range and damage
  • A tiny API for actions such as:
    • CanMoveTo(tile)
    • CanAttack(targetUnit)
    • MoveTo(tile)
    • Attack(targetUnit)

This keeps logic:

  • Centralised (easier to debug)
  • Reusable for both player and enemy units

Player flow per turn

For the active player unit:

  1. Highlight reachable tiles based on movement range and obstacles
  2. Highlight attackable targets if in range
  3. Let the player:
    • Click a tile to move, or
    • Click an enemy in attack range to attack, or
    • Click a “Wait” button to end turn

Once an action is taken, mark the unit as done and tell the TurnController to advance.

Step 5 - Simple Enemy AI That Feels Smart Enough

You do not need machine learning here — a greedy heuristic is perfect for a prototype.

For each enemy unit on its turn:

  1. Check if any player unit is in attack range
    • If yes, attack the highest-priority target (e.g. lowest health, closest, or nearest to objective)
  2. If no attack is possible:
    • Find the closest player unit in grid distance
    • Move toward that unit by picking a reachable tile that:
      • Minimises distance to the target
      • Avoids stepping into blocked tiles

Use simple utilities like:

  • Manhattan distance on the grid for path decisions
  • A basic breadth-first search or A* later if you want more sophisticated paths

Your goal is not perfect play; it is readable intent:

  • “These enemies chase my ranged unit.”
  • “These enemies guard the central objective.”

That clarity helps players learn the system faster.

Step 6 - UX And Feedback That Make The Prototype Feel Like A Game

Even small tactics prototypes benefit massively from:

  • Clear tile highlights:
    • Current selection
    • Move options
    • Attack range
  • Simple animations:
    • Move tweens
    • Hit flashes or small impact effects
  • Text feedback:
    • Damage numbers
    • “Miss” or “Blocked” when appropriate

Add:

  • A turn indicator (“Player Turn”, “Enemy Turn”)
  • A minimal HUD with:
    • Unit name
    • Health
    • Remaining actions / state

These touches do more for perceived quality than adding three more systems.

Step 7 - Suggested Extensions Once The Core Loop Works

After you have:

  • Clickable tiles
  • A working turn loop
  • Move/attack/wait actions
  • Simple enemy AI

You can experiment with:

  • Cover and line of sight:
    • Tag tiles as cover
    • Give ranged attacks hit chance modifiers based on cover and angle
  • Status effects:
    • Poison, stun, shields, etc. as simple boolean/stack fields on units
  • Objectives beyond “defeat all enemies”:
    • Hold a zone for X turns
    • Escort a unit to a tile
    • Survive a fixed number of rounds

As you add complexity, keep returning to your original design sheet.
If a new mechanic does not support that small core vision, park it for the next prototype.

How To Use This Prototype In Your Portfolio Or Next Game

Once your tactics prototype is stable:

  • Record a short 90–120 second gameplay clip showing:
    • Turn order
    • Movement
    • Attacks
    • A full round of play
  • Add a short README or in-game tutorial panel explaining:
    • Controls
    • Objective
    • Any interesting design decisions

This makes the project:

  • A great portfolio piece if you are aiming at strategy / tactics studios
  • A reusable framework for your own future tactics or RPG projects
  • A code reference for grids, turns, and AI that you can copy into other prototypes

If you want to go deeper on tactics-adjacent systems, pair this prototype with posts from your backlog like game-physics-programming-basic-collision-advanced-systems and building-game-ai-pathfinding-decision-trees-and-behavior-systems to level up your combat and AI design.