Sugar Squadron
A family-friendly candy arcade shooter for iPhone, out now on the App Store. Everything you need to write about the game is on this page: facts, the launch announcement, descriptions, logos, character art, screenshots, gameplay video, and the launch trailer and clips. Use it freely in coverage of the game.
Fact sheet
- Developer
- Nexus Code Studio LLC
- Platform
- iPhone, iOS 17 or later
- Release
- · App Store
- Price
- Free to try (Missions 1 and 2). One-time $1.99 unlocks the full campaign.
- Ads
- None
- Account
- Not required. Plays offline.
- Controls
- One thumb, or a game controller
- Genre
- Top-down arcade shooter
- Website
- sugarsquadron.com
- Press
- support@sugarsquadron.com
About the game
In one line
Blast candy warlords in a juicy top-down arcade shooter.
Short description
Sugar Squadron is a family-friendly arcade shooter for iPhone. Six sticky warlords have stolen the sugar supply, and the Candy Liberation Front needs aces in the sky. Pick a sugar glider, a flying squirrel, or a lemur, drag to fly, and blast through a candy cosmos. Firing is automatic, so there are no combat buttons to learn.
Longer description
Every mission ends with a warlord fight: the Donut King, the Ice Cream Titan, the Cake Colossus, the Peppermint Wizard, the Gumball Goliath, and the Licorice Serpent, followed by a finale against the Supreme Sprinkle. Between missions, players spend Candy Stars at the Candy Shop on drones, shields, and power-ups. Clearing the campaign on Sweet and Sour unlocks Endless mode, a score chase through shifting candy worlds.
The game is built for kids and the parents who play alongside them. The combat is silly cartoon candy, with no gore, no chat, and no user-generated content. There are no ads and no account. Missions 1 and 2 are free, and a single $1.99 purchase unlocks the rest of the campaign. There are no subscriptions, loot boxes, or consumables.
Features
- Zero combat buttons: drag to fly, auto-fire, crystals charge an automatic hero power
- Three aces with distinct powers: Nova, Volt, and Pulse
- Six warlord missions plus a finale, on Sweet, Sour, and Spicy difficulty
- Candy Shop upgrades between missions
- Endless mode for high-score runs
- Game controller support
- No ads, no account, plays offline
Launch announcement
Ready to run as written, or quote from it.
Sugar Squadron, a candy arcade shooter for kids and parents, launches on iPhone
VANCOUVER, Wash., October 28, 2026. Nexus Code Studio LLC today released Sugar Squadron, a family-friendly top-down arcade shooter for iPhone. Players pick one of three animal aces, drag to fly, and take back the sugar supply from six candy warlords. Missions 1 and 2 are free, and a one-time $1.99 purchase unlocks the full campaign. There are no ads, no accounts, and no subscriptions.
Firing is automatic, so there are no combat buttons to learn. Sugar crystals charge each ace's hero power, which fires on its own. Every mission ends in a warlord fight, from the Donut King and the Ice Cream Titan to a finale against the Supreme Sprinkle. Between missions, players rearm at the Candy Shop, and clearing the campaign unlocks Endless mode, a score chase through shifting candy worlds. The game plays on Sweet, Sour, and Spicy difficulty and supports game controllers.
Sugar Squadron was built over four months of full-time work by Seth Paonessa, a retired Navy veteran who runs Nexus Code Studio as a one-person studio. "It started with a YouTube autoplay video about sugar gliders," Paonessa said. "I wanted to make something cute for kids, and a sugar glider pilot was the perfect hero. The next step was obvious: add candy."
The game is made for kids and the parents who play alongside them. The combat is silly cartoon candy, with no gore, no chat, and no user-generated content, and it plays offline.
Sugar Squadron is available now on the App Store for iPhone (iOS 17 or later): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sugarsquadron/id6815447775. Press kit: sugarsquadron.com/presskit. Press contact: support@sugarsquadron.com.
About Nexus Code Studio. Nexus Code Studio LLC is an independent app studio in Vancouver, Washington. It also makes Label Guard, Vspot, and BottleCard.
Gameplay video
Real, uncut gameplay captured on iPhone. Right-click (or long-press) to save.
Launch trailer and clips
Vertical 9:16 clips made for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, with Nova's voice. Clips marked "AI opening shot" begin with an AI-generated shot; everything after it is real gameplay.
Logo and icon
Transparent PNGs. Click any image for the full-size file.
The squadron
Three Liberation Front aces.
NovaSugar glider. Balanced, with a screen-clearing burst.
VoltFlying squirrel. Fastest fire rate, chain lightning.
PulseLemur. Extra hearts and a shockwave power.
The warlords
One per mission, then the finale.
The Donut KingMission 1 · “Nobody glazes over ME!”
The Ice Cream TitanMission 2 · “Stay cool… or melt trying!”
The Cake ColossusMission 3 · “I'm the whole dessert table!”
The Peppermint WizardMission 4 · “Abraca-delicious!”
The Gumball GoliathMission 5 · “Chew on THIS!”
The Licorice SerpentMission 6 · “Ssssweet dreams!”
The Supreme SprinkleFinale · “I am the cherry on top of EVERYTHING!”
Worlds
Backgrounds from the candy cosmos, 720 × 1280.
Screenshots
Clean in-game captures from iPhone, 1260 × 2736.
Mission briefing
Combat, Lollipop Valley
Donut King fight
Candy Shop
Endless mode
HQ drop
Finale
Combo
App Store screenshots
The captioned set from the App Store listing.
About the developer
Sugar Squadron is made by Nexus Code Studio LLC, an independent studio that also makes the Label Guard, Vspot, and BottleCard apps. For interviews, review codes that unlock the full campaign, or anything else, email support@sugarsquadron.com.