Why do my rigidbody2d objects appear to be not affected by gravity?

Questions & Answers
1

I’m using Unity3d version 2022.1.0f1 on MacOS on a project I began a couple of years ago on a Linux machine.

I am working in 2D and have things with rigidbody2d components. When I play the scene, nothing falls downwards.

I created a brand new minimal project. Gravity doesn’t work here either. I created a brand new project. I specified that it should be a 2D project. I added a GameObject>2D Object>Sprites>Circle. I coloured it white. I added components Circle Collider 2D and Rigidbody 2D. All using defaults which include Body Type=Dynamic. I clicked on “Game”. Nothing happens. The circle does not move.

Screenshot of simple scene with one object.

2

Check Debug.Log(Time.timeScale); Debug.Log(Physics2D.gravity);

3

Ah, well, oh dear, this turned out to be a little too obvious for me. For some reason I thought that just clicking the Game window started the game.
I didn’t even see those tiny Play, Pause and Step icons hidden away under the title bar.
All seems to be fine now and I’ve learnt how to add a debug print to a script and add it to an object.