App Army Assemble: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator - "Does all the whacky chaos of TABS translate to mobile?"

Dating all the way back to 2016, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator became something of a miniature phenomenon when it fully released in 2019, particularly among YouTubers and Twitch streamers. Now, it's wobbled its way over to mobile, and we were wondering if all that chaotic and goofy fun would translate to a smaller platform. We handed the game over to our App Army to find out. 

Here's what they said:

TABS Pocket Edition can best be described as a physics-based battle simulator. There are two sides, red and blue, of ancient fighters (aptly named “wobblers”) to strategically command on the battlefield. Being that it’s physics-based, there’s a lot of humorous, goofy movement at times, which creates a very light-hearted feel to the overall gameplay.

Along with a great deal of trial and error, you’ll definitely want to take the time to go through a really thorough introductory tutorial that does a great job of detailing a game that’s much more nuanced than it may first appear. With a full-on campaign, sandbox, and multiplayer modes, in addition to custom mod support, TABS is loaded with content. Porting over a top PC game to mobile is always welcome in my book, as it only helps to solidify mobile gaming as a legit platform of choice for gamers wanting console quality on the go. Highly recommended!

I had never played this game before, so I didn't know what to expect. My mistake was rushing into the game and skipping the tutorial, which led to fumbling around for a while until I restarted.

I've only played the single-player mode. the premise so far you have to defeat the other team, you get a set number of points to place troops or weapons, then let battle comence, you can go to third person mode and guide a person around to make the battles more imersive, you win onto the next round with either new things to try out or a new era of history to wage battle.

I like the silly humour of the game, and it has a really good just one more go, but for me, I am finding the camera controls fiddly. This might be down to me having sausage fingers, or the controls are just fiddly. Still, this is a fun game.

TABS is a quick game with skirmishes between two opposing armies. Forget Accurate Battle Simulator, as this is more of a fun game about getting a good mix of soldiers combined with good placement.

The units available start off by being quite realistic with spearthrowers, infantry and heavy troops. Soon, the game introduces more and more weird battle-altering units, making it all a bit less easy to predict. Don´t expect this to be a strategic game where you place phalanxes of soldiers in a Roman strategy, as the enemy might have mages or other units that totally devastate your nice setup.

The wacky aspect of TABS is really fun, but also makes it a game of trial and error when trying to counter the enemy. The presentation is quite basic in my opinion, but the game comes with many game modes, giving it legs.

TABS is a strategy battle simulator with a comical/quirky user-friendly introduction into battle sims. It doesn’t hold your hand, though. You win battles in the campaign mode by trying out different variations of troops until you find the winning combination. It is really enjoyable, and I never got frustrated. It was quite fun trying different variations.

Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

I liked that it gives you scenarios from different eras/locations throughout history. There’s a lot to explore in the campaign mode alone. The sandbox mode is like a big toy box where you can try out different battles, and there is also an online multiplayer. Overall, I loved the graphics, gameplay and find this game well worth it.

I had played this game on PC and watched my son play quite a bit in the past. I was surprised by how well it performed overall on my phone. For the uninitiated, the premise is simple. The game has a campaign mode with missions and a sandbox mode for free-form play as well as multiplayer. The goal is to win battles with tons of different battlefield and unit types. If you've ever played with little green army men or action figures and had big battles in your room as a kid, then you'll have a ball.

You populate the battlefield with club-wielding guys, spearmen, defensive units, various beasts and animals and auto-battle against several or a horde of other beasts and guys. The game basically attempts to answer questions like, "Who would win in a battle of 20 gorillas VS 50 swordsmen?". The sounds are decent and appropriate for battles, the music is battle-worthy, and my phone didn't get too hot while playing. TABS is great in short bursts, but long play times may get boring for some. Highly recommended if you enjoy sandbox games!

I knew about TABS. existing on PC and consoles, but never got around to playing it. When the game was released on mobile, I finally got to try it. There are 3 game modes to choose from: campaign, sandbox and multiplayer. Unfortunately, the few times I tried to join a multiplayer match, the lobby was quite empty. The campaign mode alone, though, is enough to keep you entertained for hours.

The basic premise is that the game places the enemy army and gives you a certain number of points to create yours and face the enemy. Different units have different costs and abilities. Then the fun begins. You can let the two armies clash and watch the weird physics-based fight, or you can take direct control of a unit and be a great warrior (or stumble around on the battlefield). Either way, the game is pure fun, and win or lose, you'll laugh. Recommended.

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this game, and my mistake, I kind of skipped past the opening screens that explained mostly what was going on. But once I figured things out, I really enjoyed myself. Pick and choose your troops- you have so many points to work with to try to beat the enemy, and in campaign mode, your battlefields and types of troops evolve.

That’s mostly what I played, so I can’t speak too much about the other game modes (including multiplayer), but with sometimes kind of wacky fighting and a bit of learning along the way, I found myself coming back for one more… several times. And oddly enough, it reminded me of the skirmish-type battles in many variations of “Total War”. Choose and place your troops as you see fit, and either let them run free or direct units yourself. Either way, with its comically awkward figures and sometimes surprising battlefield events, it’s definitely a good time. Happily recommend.

The App Army is Pocket Gamer's lovely community of mobile game experts. As often as possible, we ask them for their thoughts on the latest games and share them with you.

To join, simply head over to either our Discord Channel or Facebook Group and request access by answering the three questions. We'll then get you in right away.

Download now!

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator