This game was made in the early 1990's by the same company (Maxis) that came out with the big hit 'SimCity'. This time the simulation is of an ant colony. You control a black ant (the one you are controlling is yellow to differentiate) and can direct other black ants (apparently using pheromones). Your ant colony must battle against the red ant colony and the main objective is to overtake as much area of the backyard of the home that you live outside of.
You can spread through the yard into the garden, into the house and finally drive out the homeowners – the final goal of the game. Maxis’ other Sim games really had no definitive ending; you simply kept conquering more areas or growing, or gaining money, etc. I really enjoy this game even though it isn’t as popular.
You must carefully build your colony with a careful balance of workers, soldiers, queen and drones. Worker ants gather food, take care of eggs and larvae and dig holes for the colony. Soldier ants are basically the same as worker ants but stronger. They are better built for fighting opposing ants and digging, but need more food and cannot take care of the eggs or
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larvae. I especially like the fact that the ants must interact and survive with other creatures in the wild. You can also take control of the spider and use it in order to destroy other ant colonies.
The game layout is clear but I really wish the graphics were a bit better. In some of the views the pixilation is terrible and blocky. The music was good for the games of the time, but I find it kind of annoying and repetitive. Sometimes I have trouble clicking on my yellow ant in hectic battle or chase situations, but other than that the controls and directives are fairly intuitive.
There are numerous modes, including training, quick mode, experimental mode, and full mode. Training teaches you the ins and outs of building your colony and all of the ropes of ant life. Quick mode is a fast game where you build your colony and then attack and battle another colony. Experimental is similar but you have tools at your disposal to dig, create food, place pheromones, control the other ants, etc. And finally the full mode is the building and caring of your colony; strategies of attack; the caste of your ants; and more.
For it’s time this game was impressively innovative in my opinion. To think games like Spore has Sim Ant to thank for idea creation.
Overall, this game is a great play, even compared with newer games; for it’s time it is even better. Give it a try and enjoy the power of having hundreds on thousands under your control.
