After some testing and prototyping, we've decided to switch from Mirror networking to Photon. We're also making a switch from peer-to-peer host/client architecture to a small server hosted by Photon. While this limits us to 20 CCU for the time being, this is more than enough for development purposes and can be easily scaled after release.

The reason we switched from Mirror was primarily to avoid the need for port-forwarding. Port-forwarding would be necessary for almost any peer-to-peer connection and limits the game's accessibility to only those who are comfortable manipulating their router. While we looked into NAT punching, we ultimately decided otherwise because it would require a third-party facilitator hosted either on a cloud server (expensive) or a personal one (insecure). Photon gives us exactly what we're looking for: a free, small-scale cloud server that hosts the game directly,  keeping our personal network safe and reducing the load on our local machines. Additionally, just in the past day, we've already seen significant promise in Photon's matchmaking and client-based room system.