Spec Wars: Phone Empire

In 2007 the phone in your pocket had buttons. By 2025 it had a folding screen and three cameras. Spec Wars puts you in the room where those decisions got made.

You run a handset manufacturer for 76 quarters, from a garage outfit to a global empire. No timers, no idle income, no tapping. Nothing moves until you decide what to do with the quarter.

A CAMPAIGN WITH A SHAPE

Five eras, each with its own rules and its own trap.

The First Call, 2007 to 2010. Three components, one buyer segment, no competitors. A blue ocean and room to make mistakes cheaply.

The App Store Era, 2010 to 2013. Cameras unlock and double your design space. Your first rival ships a phone. Mainstream buyers arrive, and they care about price in a way early adopters never did.

The Spec Wars, 2013 to 2017. Budget buyers flood in on razor margins while two rivals attack from opposite ends of the market. The longest era, and the one that decides most runs.

The Innovation Race, 2017 to 2021. Foldables, face unlock, 5G. Premium buyers pay for what nobody else has yet, and being first to market is worth more than being best.

Tech Empire, 2021 to 2025. Brand loyalty compounds. Rivals copy your innovations an era late. Supply chains break at the worst possible time.

EVERY PHONE IS FOUR DECISIONS

Pick a processor, a camera, a battery, and a design, then set a price. Design carries the most weight, which is not what most players expect on their first run. Four buyer segments each have a price band they will accept and a quality floor they will not go below. The phone that wins Premium is a bad Budget phone, and knowing which one you are building is most of the game.

Products age. Sales follow an eight-quarter curve, peak early, and decay. Ship a successor too late and the gap shows up in the quarter report before it shows up in your cash.

RESEARCH ON A 24-NODE TREE

Display, Processing, Camera, and Connectivity, six tiers each. The chains are linear but your budget is not. Going deep on one branch beats spreading thin, and the branch you skip is the one your rival ships first.

RIVALS THAT ACTUALLY COMPETE

AI manufacturers design their own handsets, price them at segments where they think you are weak, and take the share you were counting on. They rubber-band when you run away with the market, and they copy what works.

WHAT IT COSTS

Era 1 is free to play, start to finish. The rest of the campaign unlocks with one purchase. No ads, no subscription, no energy meter, no second currency.

MORE FROM INDIECRAFT

Spec Wars is made by IndieCraft, a small independent studio. If you like it, check out our other games: tap IndieCraft LLC on this page, or open Settings > More Games inside Spec Wars.