Empire of the Ants: How to Play, Beginner’s Tips, and Everything You Need to Know

Master the basics of Empire of the Ants by learning how to manage your colony, gather resources, and navigate environmental challenges from the start.

Empire of the Ants is an RTS game that puts you in control of an ant colony, tasked with ensuring its survival and growth. The game offers a unique third-person perspective, giving you control over each decision while interacting with a realistic environment powered by Unreal Engine 5. If you’re new to this world, you’ll need to understand resource management, colony expansion, and combat strategies to succeed. Here’s a deep dive into how to get started, along with essential tips for beginners.

Reader’s Digest:

1. Start with resource collection: Build up your reserves early to fuel expansion.
2. Understand unit roles: Each ant type has a specific function; deploy them wisely.
3. Manage the colony’s growth: Focus on strategic building and defense.
4. Navigate seasonal changes: Adapt your strategy as seasons affect resources and enemies.
5. Explore strategically: Know when to send scouts to discover new resources and threats.

How to Play Empire of the Ants?

The game revolves around managing your colony’s growth and survival. You’ll need to gather resources, build essential structures, defend your colony from predators and rival ants, and explore your surroundings for opportunities.

Game Basics and Release Details for Empire of the Ants

Empire of the Ants is set to release in November 2024 and promises a highly immersive experience in the world of ants, brought to life with stunning, photo-realistic environments using Unreal Engine 5. You’ll step into the shoes—or antennae—of a colony commander, guiding your ants through challenges in a detailed, strategic RTS adventure.

• Platforms: Available on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S.
• Genre: Real-Time Strategy (RTS) with third-person exploration elements.
• Gameplay Modes: Primarily single-player, with deep strategic gameplay focused on colony management and survival​.
• Developer: Tower Five Studios, known for their attention to detail and complex mechanics, are behind this game, with Microids as the publisher.

Set in a detailed French forest, Empire of the Ants takes players through a world where every decision affects the survival of your colony. From gathering resources to battling enemies and adapting to the changing seasons, the game offers dynamic weather systems, strategic depth, and a focus on building alliances with wildlife to ensure your colony thrives​

Gathering Resources and Managing Supply

Your first priority is to secure resources. Send worker ants to gather food, water, and building materials. Early on, resource management is everything—without the right supplies, your colony can’t grow or survive. You’ll need storage units to ensure nothing goes to waste.

• Materials: Used for building new structures and upgrading existing ones.
• Food: Keeps the colony alive and fuels the production of new ants.
• Water: Essential for survival, especially in harsh conditions.

Tip: Build storage units close to the resource gathering points to reduce travel time. This keeps your supply lines efficient​.

Building and Expanding Your Colony

Building is central to Empire of the Ants. Start by constructing essential structures such as:

• Nurseries: Where new ants are bred to expand your workforce.
• Barracks: Home to your soldier ants, who will defend the colony.
• Storage units: For holding collected food, water, and materials.

Your goal is to strike a balance between expansion and defense. You’ll need enough structures to grow, but you can’t neglect defenses, as predators and rival colonies will attack. Make sure to fortify your base, especially the Queen’s chamber, which is the heart of your colony. Losing your Queen will result in a defeat.

Tip: Keep defensive structures near key points, like entrances to your colony and resource storage areas. This helps prevent surprise attacks from predators or enemy colonies​

Exploring the Environment

Exploration is vital. Use scout ants to map out the surrounding environment and identify new resource locations. Be aware that not all areas are safe—hostile wildlife and rival colonies may be lurking nearby.

Tip: Keep your scouts safe by avoiding combat. You want them to gather intel and return with information, not get into fights​.

Managing Combat and Unit Roles

In Empire of the Ants, understanding your units is key. Each ant has a specific role to play:

• Worker ants: Gather resources and construct buildings.
• Soldier ants: Defend the colony from threats and engage in combat.
• Scout ants: Explore new areas and gather information.

Combat requires strategy. Soldier ants will engage enemies, but it’s essential to time your attacks wisely and ensure you have enough resources to sustain your defenses.

Tip: Don’t just rush into combat. Use scouts to assess enemy strength before deploying soldier ants. Prioritize defending the Queen and your main colony​.

Navigating Seasonal Changes

The game follows the rhythm of the seasons, which impacts resources and wildlife behavior. For example, food and water may be abundant in summer but scarce in winter. Wildlife behavior also shifts with the seasons—some predators may become more aggressive, while others hibernate.

• Summer: High resource availability, but more predators.
• Winter: Scarcity of food and water, but fewer active enemies.

Tip: Stockpile resources during the summer to survive winter’s challenges. This ensures your colony can keep growing even when resources are harder to come by​.

FAQs

1. What is the goal in Empire of the Ants?
Your main objective is to grow your colony by gathering resources, building structures, and defending against threats. Success means expanding your colony while ensuring its survival through seasons and environmental challenges.

2. How do I protect my colony?
Build defensive structures and place soldier ants in strategic positions. Protect your Queen and your main resource storage areas, as losing these could lead to defeat.

3. How do seasons impact the gameplay?
Seasons affect the availability of resources and the behavior of predators. Plan ahead by stockpiling in times of plenty and adapting your strategy during tougher seasons like winter.

4. What’s the best way to use different ant types?
Use worker ants to gather resources and build structures, soldier ants to defend the colony, and scout ants to explore new areas and report on potential threats.

In Empire of the Ants, you’ll manage an ant colony from the ground up, facing real-time strategy challenges in a detailed, photo-realistic environment. Your objective is to build, expand, and protect your colony while adapting to environmental changes and fending off threats. With these tips, you’ll be well-prepared to lead your colony to victory in this intricate and immersive RTS world.