What is the purpose of the Singleton pattern in Unity?

The Singleton pattern is primarily used to restrict a class to a single instance, ensuring that there is only one point of access to that instance throughout the application. This is particularly useful in Unity for managing game states, settings, or resources that should be shared across multiple scenes or components without creating multiple copies. For example, a game manager that handles global game logic, score tracking, or settings might be implemented as a Singleton to maintain its state consistently regardless of which scene or part of the game the player is in.

By ensuring there is only one instance, the Singleton pattern allows for easy access to the instance via a static method or property, which is helpful for convenience and maintaining a clean architecture. This design pattern also aids in preventing unintended behavior, such as having multiple game managers competing for control of game state, which could lead to bugs or inconsistencies in gameplay.