From city building to grand strategy, turn-based tactics to RTS, see more strategy games from Hooded Horse.
Forge your empire in the world of ants, building extensive nests and managing an intricate hierarchy in a way that puts the real-time strategy genre under the microscope. Control a variety o...
From city building to grand strategy, turn-based tactics to RTS, see more strategy games from Hooded Horse.
Forge your empire in the world of ants, building extensive nests and managing an intricate hierarchy in a way that puts the real-time strategy genre under the microscope. Control a variety of warrior ant species in intense battles, command your workers to build and supply an ever-expanding base, and protect your queen at all costs while navigating the unique threats and opportunities of the insect world.
Hundreds of warriors clash in a melee of gnashing mandibles as formic acid artillery fires overhead. Nightfall has come and the last of the workers are rushing back underground, dodging beetles to deliver food to the nest. The stockpile is empty, and without more, reinforcements will not hatch for the ongoing war between the duelling Empires of the Undergrowth.
Starting from a central room hosting your queen, order your workers to develop and optimise your nest – a vast network of store rooms, nurseries, and hallways. Dig through a hex-based maze of soil and bedrock, seeking food and fending off other underground dwellers.
Push beyond the confines of your nest to see what the world above has to offer – with seeds, nectar, fungus, other insects, and even amphibians on the menu, there's plenty to choose from, but each food source comes with its own strategic tradeoffs and challenges. Will you venture forth and fight off the ladybugs that eat and deplete your source of renewable honeydew drops, or do the surrounding nocturnal creatures present too much of a risk for your fledgling colony? Each decision you make has a ripple effect that can doom your colony if you aren’t quick to react to evolving circumstances.
Manage a multitude of species with different attack patterns, natural weapons, and evolutionary paths to tackle the particular dangers of your current biome. Nighttime sorties are at times essential as you look to secure food supplies, though unsuspecting ants might fall prey to the dangers that lurk after sundown. Come morning, you’ll find yourself competing with other ant colonies instead, entering enemy nests to attack their queens while defending your own. Prepare to operate and coordinate simultaneous war efforts across multiple underground and overground maps as your threats and opportunities change with each passing moment – there’s no single path to domination.
Workers scurry in from the surface. Few have returned, but they carry valuable sources of food that will help reinforce the front as a new wave of warriors pour forth from the nurseries, eagerly following the scent of pheromones that tell them where to go and what to do en route. They are the last bastion of the colony, born with a singular purpose – hold the line!
Design and organise multiple nurseries and assign them individual pheromone groups, with each pheromone group taking orders through the placement of pheromone markers, adjustable rules of engagement, and context. Learning to navigate the behaviours of your ants, as well as each species’ strengths and weaknesses, is integral to securing success.
Each pheromone group can be specialised on the fly, told to exclusively collect food, partake in combat, or do both – the right decision can turn the tide of battle. In desperate times, when the colony is starving and new eggs have stopped hatching as a result, will your warrior caste focus on gathering food at the risk of being picked off by aggressive enemies en route? Or will the soldiers divide into escort groups for your remaining workers, ensuring survivability at the cost of overall efficiency elsewhere? Don’t forget to keep at least some workers at the nest to dig, build, and maintain the placement of eggs, to ensure the survival of your ant economy.
Each species of ant presents its own set of strengths and weaknesses on the battlefield. In special game modes where multiple species can be raised in the same colony, your decision to raise and upgrade one or the other will completely change the way you do battle. Trap-jaw ants fight in melee, occasionally leaping back to replenish lost hitpoints. Leafcutter majors fulfil their natural role as protectors by drawing enemy aggression onto themselves to give allied ants an opportunity to flank, regroup, or escape. Wood ants can evolve to fire formic acid as long range artillery or in a more rapid, straight line. Find synergies between the multitude of natural strengths and weaknesses of each species, and prepare to defend against them when warring with rival colonies.
Your enemies are equally varied – apart from other ant colonies, you’ll engage in combat against arachnids, amphibians, crustaceans, and a wide variety of insect species. These powerful and often (comparatively) gigantic creatures present a unique threat to an unprepared colony, and only superior tactics can overcome them. An envelopment manoeuvre can circumvent the adult devil’s coach horse beetle's stunning spray, while tactically isolating and overwhelming hermit crabs one by one will bring their demise faster than they can hunker down to heal.
Victory is certain! Reinforcing troops arrive in the nick of time, fearless in the face of the horrifying abomination before them. Today the sadistic scientist has blended hermit crabs with scorpions into a terrifying new threat, but the colony has evolved wisely after experiencing such unnatural foes before. After a protracted battle the fearsome chimaera teeters on the brink of collapse, but a new foe arrives on the battlefield – piercing through the skies above, the hand of some strange being comes down to crush half the reinforcing troops, and from the great beyond the scientist lets forth an evil cackle. The tide has turned once more…
Apart from the classic RTS skirmishes against the AI and unique seasonal challenges, Empires of the Undergrowth also features a narrative-driven campaign mode. Follow the simultaneous progress of a lab experiment centred around the mysterious Formica ereptor gene-thief ants alongside a documentary series that explores the various species of ants in their natural biomes. Earn resources through successful documentary missions to upgrade your persistent lab colony and evolve according to your preferred playstyle as you put your ants through a multitude of brutal tests conducted in the name of ‘science’ – but not all is as it first seems…
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
There is so much good going on for this gem! The smell of Dungeon Keeper and Sim Ant, was an instant sale for me.
As the title says i have only one issue with this game!
Everything is not only out to kill you, but everything is allied in doing so.
Nothing will attack enemy colonies, only yours.
An example: A huntsman spider will cuddle around the enemy ants, but rush to kill yours.
This breaks the immertion completely for me i'm afraid.
Pros:
-Original theme
-Lovely graphics and animations for the size of the game.
-Meet all kinds of insects
-Linux version (and mac too)
-There is an arachnophobe mode for those scared of spiders (lol)
-Realistic Ants that are great to manage.
Cons:
-Only down scrolling works for now with the mouse. It can work if you keep right clic enabled or you can use keyboard direction key (at least on the linux version on which I am playing)
-Not many maps and gamemode yet
-No multiplayer (yet?)
-Music a bit monotonic
Overall the game is not disappointing. If your expectations are not too high, and are interested by the concept of playing ant colonies, you should be pleased with that original game.
Might give a five stars when game is fully released.
Got this game because I was a huge fan of the Dungeon Keeper games and liked the concept of the underground insect world.
Once I started playing I couldn't stop. I had to learn more about the insect world and then conquer it. It has it's challenges but they can be overcome. I haven't dared try playing a level on any higher difficulty than medium yet. You will have an economy to balance. Food is needed to upgrade tiles and therefore units that get hatched on those tiles. And also food to hatch new/replacement units.
The game is still in development. It might need a bit more of a tutorial when you first start, I had no idea what was going on with the formicarium but it all became clear after not to long. I'm sure it will get more insects and more levels and challenges.
I completed all 4 levels and 2 challenges without doing the extra level challenges on medium difficulty in 9 hours. Something to consider if you're worried about value for money right now. But also don't forget this game has a long way to go and I'm sure it will get many updates and upgrades. I've checked out the forums and the lead dev seems very active and keen on progressing the games content. I have high hopes for the end product.
Pros:
Its basically Stronghold but with ants.
Its way to less content right know but whats in the game is thought to an end.
The existing Maps are fun to play and the enemys are quite good balanced.
The Formicarium is a great idea for the main story and i also do like the genthief upgrade System.
Cons:
I hope to see more species of ants in the game in the future, hopefully more exotic ones and im also hoping for an multiplayer mode so i can convince my friends to buy this game too :D
Best RTS i played since Stronghold 2 and i think the ant topic is a great base. The Base game is also quite solid, if the devs are coming up with new content this game is a must buy.
The other reviews says it all but the game needs more attention as this game is great.
It seems the devs takes their time and give us quality. The EA feeling in this one is similar to Slime Rancher, very polished for a game that is in dev.
Playing it on Linux and it works great out of the box.
This game is waiting for a review. Take the first shot!
{{ item.rating }}
{{ item.percentage }}%
Awaiting more reviews
An error occurred. Please try again later.
Other ratings
Awaiting more reviews
Add a review
Edit a review
Your rating:
Stars and all fields are required
Not sure what to say? Start with this:
What kept you playing?
What kind of gamer would enjoy this?
Was the game fair, tough, or just right?
What’s one feature that really stood out?
Did the game run well on your setup?
Inappropriate content. Your reviews contain bad language.
Inappropriate content. Links are not allowed.
Review title is too short.
Review title is too long.
Review description is too short.
Review description is too long.
Not sure what to write?
Show:
5 on page
15 on page
30 on page
60 on page
Order by:
Most helpful
Most positive
Most critical
Most recent
Filters:
No reviews matching your criteria
Written in
English
Deutsch
polski
français
русский
中文(简体)
Others
Written by
Verified ownersOthers
Added
Last 30 daysLast 90 daysLast 6 monthsWheneverAfter releaseDuring Early Access
Your review should focus on your in-game experience only. Let the game stand entirely on its own merits.
Avoid noise
To discuss topics such as news, pricing, or community, use our forums. To request new games and website or GOG GALAXY features, use the community wishlist. To get technical support for your game contact our support team.
Critique responsibly
To keep our review sections clean and helpful, we will remove any reviews that break these guidelines or our terms of use.
Ok, got it
Delete this review?
Are you sure you want to permanently delete your review for Empires of the Undergrowth? This action cannot be undone.
Report this review
If you believe this review contains inappropriate content or violates our community guidelines, please let us know why.
Additional Details (required):
Please provide at least characters.
Please limit your details to characters.
Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later.
Report this review
Report has been submitted successfully. Thank you for helping us maintain a respectful and safe community.
