Empires of the Undergrowth – v1.000016 (Release)

Overview

Descend into the microscopic world of “Empires of the Undergrowth,” where you’ll master the art of ant colony management in this unique take on real-time strategy. Lead your colony from humble beginnings to a thriving empire, commanding specialized ant warriors and industrious workers while ensuring your queen’s survival in a hostile insect world.

Picture massive battles where mandibles clash and chemical warfare rages, while your worker ants race against dusk to gather precious resources. Every decision echoes through your underground realm – will your food stores sustain the next generation of warriors needed to defend your territory?

Watch as your soldiers emerge from the nurseries, their movements guided by an intricate network of pheromone trails. Each ant knows its role in the greater mission: protect the colony at all costs. But beware – victory can be fleeting in this miniature world. Just when triumph seems certain against bizarre hybrid creatures (courtesy of a twisted scientist’s experiments), fate can turn on a dime – or in this case, a giant hand descending from above to scatter your carefully positioned troops.

Beyond the standard AI battles and seasonal challenges, dive into an intriguing narrative that weaves together two parallel stories. Follow the mysterious Formica ereptor “gene-thief” ants in a laboratory setting while also experiencing a nature documentary-style exploration of various ant species in their native habitats. Success in these documentary missions earns you valuable resources to enhance your laboratory colony. As you adapt and evolve your ants’ abilities to match your strategic preferences, you’ll face increasingly demanding tests in the name of scientific discovery – though there may be more to these experiments than meets the eye.

Game Features

• Welcome to the world beneath your feet, where you’ll lead an ant colony from its humble beginnings to potential dominance of the underground realm.
• Your journey begins in a single chamber, where your queen awaits your guidance. From this starting point, you’ll orchestrate the expansion of an intricate network of tunnels, chambers, and passageways through a hexagonal grid of earth and stone. But building your nest is just the beginning.
• The surface world beckons with opportunity – and danger. Your colony can harvest various food sources, each offering unique advantages and challenges. Will you risk harvesting honeydew while fending off aggressive ladybugs? Or perhaps you’ll brave the dangers of nightfall, when different predators emerge but competition is scarcer. Every choice shapes your colony’s future, and poor decisions can spell disaster if you’re not adaptable.
• Your arsenal? The incredible diversity of ant species themselves. Each type brings its own combat style and evolutionary possibilities, perfectly adapted to face specific environmental challenges. You’ll need to master both daylight operations and nocturnal missions, while simultaneously defending your territory from rival colonies who won’t hesitate to strike at your queen. Victory requires managing multiple battlefronts both above and below ground – there’s no single formula for success.
• The heart of your colony management lies in the sophisticated pheromone system. Create distinct groups with their own pheromone markers, set specific behavioral rules, and adapt their roles on the fly. You might designate some groups for food gathering, others for combat, or maintain flexible units that can handle both. When resources grow scarce and egg production halts, you’ll face tough decisions: Should your warriors focus on gathering food despite the risks, or split into escort squads to protect your remaining workers? Meanwhile, don’t forget to maintain your home base – tunneling, construction, and proper egg placement remain crucial for your colony’s survival.
• Combat brings its own layer of strategic depth, especially when you can field multiple ant species in specialized game modes. Each species offers unique tactical options: Trap-jaw ants excel in close combat with their hit-and-run tactics, while leafcutter majors serve as tanks, drawing enemy fire to protect their allies. Wood ants can evolve into natural artillery units, launching formic acid at range. Learning to combine these abilities – and counter them when facing rival colonies – is key to military success.
• The threats you’ll face are as diverse as they are dangerous. Beyond rival ant colonies, you’ll encounter spiders, amphibians, crustaceans, and various insects – many dwarfing your individual ants in size. Each enemy requires specific tactics to overcome: outmaneuver a devil’s coach horse beetle’s stunning attacks through careful positioning, or methodically isolate and overwhelm hermit crabs before they can retreat and recover. In this underground world, superior strategy trumps brute force every time.