Whoa, this was unexpected. Just about five years ago now, back in June of 2015, developer KillHouse Games released their turn-based tactical strategy game Door Kickers on the iPad after its well-received launch on desktop the year before. Door Kickers has you commanding a SWAT team as you try to rescue hostages from a variety of different dangerous situations while also minimizing any loss of life. It’s an interesting game because it simultaneously demands that you assess situations and plan accordingly, but also that you can quickly make decisions on the fly and react to various situations when they get out of control. Pretty much the types of things a real SWAT team would need to worry about. Door Kickers was already critically acclaimed on desktop, but its brand of top-down gameplay really felt great on the large touchscreen of the iPad. As with many games that release on the iPad only, all the iPhone owners out there were stuck wondering if they’d be getting some Door Kickers action on their devices anytime soon. A lot of times though certain games just fare better on the much larger iPad screen, and while some miracles have been performed before, Door Kickers seemed like one that just wouldn’t be a great experience on a small iPhone screen.

Except… that’s not the case at all! Completely out of nowhere, for the first time since 2015, Door Kickers on iOS has been updated with “too many other fixes and improvements to list [in the update notes]" but the marquee feature is brand new Universal iPhone support. The game and its more than 80 campaign levels and infinite levels via its mission generator seem to play just fine on the smaller iPhone screen. If you dig highly tactical strategy games but never owned an iPad and always stared at Door Kickers longingly, now is your chance to give it a go. And if you already owned the iPad version of the game, this is a free Universal update so now you own the iPhone version too. If you like the idea of SWAT tactics but prefer a 2D side-view version with pixel art and a heavy ’80s movie vibe, then also be sure to check out KillHouse’s awesome spin-off Door Kickers Action Squad which we liked a whole bunch when it arrived on iOS about a month ago.