Each tile expands your capacity of that type of ant by one and as long as workers are assigned (more on that later) to carry eggs to them, they will restock your colony to that number. This can be done by placing worker or soldier tiles on dug ground.

Since you only start with a queen and some workers, it’s important to grow your colony. Level-winning objectives range from wiping out all enemies in the area to simply surviving waves of invading black ants. Without her, your colony is doomed and the invasive march of ereptor across all antdom becomes nothing but a pipe dream. If any enemies get close enough to attack your queen, you’re pretty much done for. Your objectives, or those of your colony, vary from level to level, but it’s generally a given that you try to stay alive. This particular feature may not be available in the demo, but even the one other species you encounter displays unique traits that could be useful if you had them under your control. In terms of gameplay, this opens up the possibility to play as more than one species, as you overpower other colonies and integrate them into your own.

You begin with one queen and a handful of workers, but this is no garden species this is formica ereptor, the gene thief ant. Digging out tunnels can be risky - if you happen to hit an empty pocket, it can open up paths to bigger, meaner insects. And of course you have to return them to their little spot in the garden only to roll over them with a lawnmower a week later. You watch them grow and feed and die.Īnd then, of course, it’s you who gets the blame for the ant infestation in the lounge, despite it being an entirely separate species.

Determined to make things right, you grab your trowel and head out into your ant-infested garden, returning triumphant with your tupperware-bound colony. You wake up one morning and realise that over the course of your life, you’ve never once owned an ant farm, never had the fun of watching little tunnels develop or larvae appear in the chambers. Based in Birmingham, the team of three raised almost double their Kickstarter goal in 2016 and are set to release this summer, but have pushed the window back by a margin to ensure the best quality. Set to be crawling into the Steam store soon, Empires of the Undergrowth is an ant colony strategy game and a real gem in the making.

Ant empire of the undergrowth