[Empires of the Undergrowth]A new SLG that creates an empire of ants

“Empires of the Undergrowth” is a PC game developed by Slug Disco and published by Hooded Horse, which has been officially distributed on Steam since June 8, 2024. It is a new real-time strategy simulation game for PC where you can enjoy your own strategy, planning, and tactical elements while leading a group of fighting ants.

A must-see game system that allows you to experience RTS elements in a world featuring various ants, a play experience where players use strategy to lead an ant colony and confront terrifying threats in the insect world, a growth system that evolves in preparation for encounters with danger, and a title that features realistic graphics.

Recommended for those who are interested in the world of insects, especially those who like to learn about the ecology of ants, those who want to play a real-time strategy game that allows them to experience realistic graphics, those who are looking for a PC game that they can enjoy playing alone, and those who are looking for a highly complete indie game that has been in development for a long time and has finally been officially released.

A new SLG that develops the ant kingdom

“Empires of the Undergrowth'', which is currently being officially distributed on the PC game portal site “Steam'' store, is a recommended new game that allows players to experience play with real-time strategy elements while leading the “Ant Kingdom''. This is a simulation game that allows you to play while fully demonstrating your tactics and strategy.

This work first appeared on the Steam store in December 2017. It is a must-see indie game that began distribution as an “early access” title, and after 6 years and 6 months of development, the official version has finally been released. Only three members were at the core of its development, and you can clearly see how carefully this game was developed.

This work has gained overwhelming support from Steam users since its early access stage, and has received 10,482 reviews to date, with the overall rating being “very positive.” Furthermore, the most recent 593 reviews have shown that the overall rating is “overwhelmingly positive,'' indicating that the product is off to a great start. This can be said to be proof that the game system has steadily evolved.

By the way, Slug Disco, the developer of this game, is an indie game developer based in the UK, and operates their own social media and official website. On the official website, you can also read a blog article that describes the production process of this work, so if you became a fan of Slug Disco through this work, please check out Slug Disco's official website.

Generally, “early access” games are played in an unfinished state by a wide range of players around the world, and adjustments are made based on user feedback and reports of defects. In the case of this game, we have received positive feedback from fans who play the game avidly, and it seems that the system has matured steadily with each update.

In the case of new games created by major publishers and development studios, there are often deadlines set for the release of the official version due to the company's circumstances, and there are many cases where the development team is not satisfied with the game and the game is marked as “complete'' and work is halted, but in the case of this game, there is evidence that the game has been refined without any compromise. It's just “labor”.

Originally, we would like all games to go through this process and be released in “perfect condition,” but each developer has their own “circumstances” and this is not always the case. It's rare to come across a game that has been painstakingly developed and created by the developers with all their heart and soul, and in that sense, the value of this work's existence can be said to be extremely valuable.

Game features

In the world of micro-sized ants in a real-time strategy game, the player's mission is to build their own empire by constructing vast nests and managing complex swarms. Have fun playing in the world of insects, fighting unique enemies and finding opportunities for your ants to thrive. This is a new game where you can fully experience the real thrill of RTS.

Furthermore, since this is a game that reproduces the world of insects with extremely realistic graphics, it is not suitable for people who feel “grotesque'' when looking at close-up images of insects. You will be seeing insects in their “as-is'' state, which is completely different from cutely deformed insects in an anime style, so if you don't like them, please close this page immediately.

build an ant nest

In this game, you can experience the play of having a wide variety of “soldier ant'' characters go into intense battle scenes, giving accurate instructions to the “worker ants'' who are the backbone, and constructing and managing an ant base that can be continuously expanded.In this game, you can also enjoy the elements of building a micro colony centered on the “queen ant'' that you must protect at all costs.

By assigning teams of ants born in adjacent nursery rooms to “pheromone groups,'' each pheromone group moves toward the location of the pheromone marker that is divided into groups, and makes judgments about situations such as battles according to the instructions set on each marker. General knowledge and education regarding ants is also required.

Starting in the central “queen room,” players must instruct the workers to develop the ant nest into an optimal form with a vast network of pantries, nurseries, and passageways. Dig your way through a labyrinth of earth and rock based on hex-shaped tiles, searching for food and protecting yourself from other creatures living underground.

If a player makes a mistake in the game and ends up starving the colony, and the ants are no longer born from new eggs, the player must decide whether to focus the ants on gathering food, even at the risk of being targeted by enemies along the way, or whether to sacrifice overall efficiency to ensure safety.

When you find yourself in a critical situation, you must make decisions such as excavating the nest, creating a room, and leaving a minimum number of worker ants to place and care for the eggs, so you can enjoy the game while fully enjoying the play elements typical of real-time strategy games. Let's aim for the prosperity of the ant empire while developing the ability to respond accurately to situations.

battle in the outside world

Ants' food menu includes plant seeds, nectar, fungi, and other insects. There are a wide variety of food options that can be obtained by leaving the ant nest and going to the outside world, but you cannot obtain them unless you use a strategy to overcome the risks and challenges inherent in each food. This is a new game that requires mental play elements.

It's up to the player to decide whether to fend off the ladybugs and protect the aphids, which provide repeatable food, or risk the young colony being besieged by nocturnal creatures. If a “chain reaction” occurs due to the decisions made by the player, the colony may be destroyed if the situation changes in real time and must be quickly dealt with.

Night is a precious time when they can search for and secure food, but there is also the concern that defenseless ants may fall prey to threats that roam the ground after sunset. And when morning comes, the colony will have to fight other ant colonies instead of the night's threats. The game world, where you are exposed to danger day and night, is also a major attraction of the work.

Creatures much larger than ants pose a tremendous threat to unprepared colonies. It is extremely difficult to defeat them without good tactics, and unless different creatures come up with their own strategies, you will be pushed into a corner in no time. This is a highly recommended simulation game title, with battle scenes that are extremely difficult.

various types of ants

“Empires of the Undergrowth” features ants with completely different characteristics. Leafcutter ants excel in close combat, but Leafcutter Major is a natural protector. They accomplish their role by drawing the attention of their enemies to themselves while allowing their fellow ants to ambush, merge, or escape.

Regarding the mountain ants, it is possible to evolve them into either a type that specializes in long-distance shooting of powerful formic acid, or a type that specializes in shooting straight-line, high-speed formic acid. The player's mission is to find synergies by combining the “natural strengths'' and “weaknesses'' of each species, and strengthen their defense in preparation for war with competing colonies.

As you can see from what we've seen so far, the ants that appear in this work have a clear division of roles, which is similar to the classification of “occupations (classes)'' in games such as online RPGs. This title is suitable for those who are good at maximizing the efficiency of tactics while demonstrating the abilities of the class, and you should be able to enjoy the fun of continuing through trial and error.

A major appeal of the work is the play element of managing multiple ants with different attack patterns, innate weapon abilities, and different growth paths, while dealing with the “unique dangers” that exist in the current environment. It is important to be prepared to deal with multiple invasions occurring simultaneously on both the underground and surface maps, and to demonstrate your ability to manage the ants.

Although it is a work that features the microscopic world, the level of perfection as a real-time strategy game is first-class, and it is sure to provide a satisfying experience even for those who have played numerous RTS titles in the past. You will be able to concentrate on how to develop the world of ants, so you will definitely be immersed in playing for a long time.

Supports Japanese interface

The selling price on Steam is 3,980 yen, and it is currently on sale at 2,587 yen, a 35% OFF release commemorative sale price (limited time price until June 22, 2024). The discount range is quite large and the price is very reasonable, so if you want to play the game, be sure to get it by June 22nd. It's a new PC game with a reasonable sale price.

In addition, those who purchased this product in the early access version can upgrade to the official version “1.0'' for free. You will be able to play the official version without any additional fees, so if you have only played a little bit and left it in your library, it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to launch the game, receive the update, and bring it to its full state.

The game supports a Japanese interface and subtitles as standard, so even those who are not good at foreign games can enjoy it. Regarding the operation system, in addition to the standard keyboard and mouse, there is full support for operations with the Xbox controller, so even those who usually play games with a controller can feel at ease. There are a total of 133 different Steam achievements to unlock.

By the way, this game is also compatible with Valve's portable game console “Steam Deck,'' but the play rating is “playable,'' and some text is displayed quite small, so it has not been fully certified for compatibility. The game's detailed game graphics are also appealing, so if possible, I'd like to play it on a large PC monitor rather than a small display.

System requirements

Although it is the latest game title, the appeal of “Empires of the Undergrowth'' is that the required specifications for the PC are set to be low. The graphic board presented in the recommended requirements is NVIDIA's GTX 550 Ti class, and the required VRAM is also quite low at 1GB.

The recommended CPU model is Intel's i5-2400 class or AMD's FX-8100 class processor, and the recommended amount of main memory is 8GB, which is low. It is a work that can be played without any problems if you have a current low-end gaming PC, and it can be said that it is a game title that is suitable for PC users with a wide range of settings.

The installation size is 5GB, which is as light as a smartphone app. This work has the advantage of being able to be downloaded with peace of mind even for users who usually save a lot of games and are short on storage space, and since there are no plans to expand the game world with downloadable content in the future, it is also attractive that there is no need to worry about leaving it on.

The recommended new real-time strategy simulation game “Empires of the Undergrowth'', where you can enjoy your own strategy while guiding ants in the microscopic world, is currently being distributed on the Steam store. This is a must-see indie game title that has finally emerged from its long period of early access.

It is a popular work that has created many fans here in Japan, and is a PC game that can be recommended not only to those who love playing RTS, but also to those who are interested in the ecology and activities of insects. If you are interested, please visit the Steam store now and check out detailed game information.

[Recommended points]Lead the ants and create an empire!

Gameplay flow

This section describes the tutorial section of “Empires of the Undergrowth'' to make it easier to understand for novice users who have not played the game yet. This description is almost unnecessary for users who have already played the game, so if you are, please skip to the general review.

When you launch the game, a home screen appears, and by pressing the play button, four items appear: “Tutorial'', “Story'', “Game Customization'', and “Arcade''. The features and basic system of the game are as mentioned above, but if you are playing this work for the first time, you should first access the “tutorial'' to deepen your understanding.

When you open the tutorial, a video of an ant nest appears first. The mission goals will be displayed in the upper left corner of the play screen, so start by following them. The first “theme'' presented is to excavate 12 tiles (hex-shaped), and you will learn about “expanding an ant nest'', which is the basic of the basics.

The play screen shows the nest with the queen at its center, and the underground areas that have not been dug are shown in a blacked-out state. By placing the mouse cursor over a desired hex and giving instructions, the “worker ants” will expand the nest as if digging a tunnel, so let's proceed with the play while becoming familiar with the series of actions and operation system.

When you dig through 12 tiles, the first task is completed, and then the theme “Construct a nursery room for black ants: soldier ants in the mined area'' appears. The flow of expanding your territory and creating facilities that can be built is exactly the same as a general nation-building simulation game, and it is interesting in that the stage is set from a “macro perspective''.

Eggs grow in the nursery room, and eventually soldier ants are born. In addition, the status of what is happening on the play screen is displayed in text, such as the worker ants moving to get eggs from the queen ant located in the center, so even people who are not very familiar with ant ecology should be able to quickly understand how an ant nest develops.

As the ant family increases, the next step is to search for and obtain food. If food is located far away, the soldier ants responsible for collecting it will not notice, so the player must place a pheromone marker to guide the soldier ants to the area where the food is located. It's a little complicated, but you'll gradually get a feel for the controls as you play.

You need a place to store the food you collect. Initially, you can store it on the tile directly below the queen, but in order to secure more food, you will need to excavate and create new storage areas, which is where the fun of colony development comes in. In the tutorial section, you create something that is instructed in a fixed place, but in the actual game you will be expanding it while thinking about it yourself.

While playing the tutorial section, a number of tips that will be useful in the actual game will be displayed, so it is essential to call out these texts and understand them, even if it is tedious. I understand the desire to move forward with the actual play as quickly as possible, but if you try to develop an ant empire in the natural world without knowing anything about it, you will definitely be in trouble. Patience is sometimes necessary.

This section also provides a detailed explanation of the interface and the role of the icons displayed on the play screen. Although the displayed text size is a little small, the Japanese translation is very complete, so the point is that you can accumulate knowledge about the game without hesitation even if you see it for the first time. Again, it's easier to play on a large PC monitor.

In this work, as the ant nest expands, it becomes impossible to fit within the play screen, but in such a case, you can move the camera and scroll to any location, so use this to develop various actions at the same time. While playing, time is always passing in real time, so accurate judgment and operation are the key to success or failure.

It is also important to have a firm understanding of the composition of the ant nest that you have expanded, and doing this will make a difference in the speed at which you can respond in the event of a critical situation. The minimap can be checked at the bottom left of the screen, so make sure to make effective use of this minimap so that you can accurately execute the actions you want to take as your top priority.

The scenes where you fight against large insects are similar to boss battles in an MMORPG, and you should be able to experience a tense battle. As mentioned in the previous section, you will need to approach the enemy by changing your tactics and strategies depending on the type of enemy, so when you succeed and achieve victory, you will experience the greatest joy. It's a new game with lots of fun elements.

Overall review: Ant's nest expansion is the most interesting new work

“Empires of the Undergrowth'' was completed after a huge amount of time, approximately 6 years and 6 months, and you can see the hard work and effort that went into translating the ecology of real-world ants into a strategy game. I get the impression that a game that is very rewarding to play was created as a result of serious consideration of the ecology of insects.

First of all, the play screen has been designed to look like a cross-sectional view of a plane, which gives a sense of style. Actual ant nests have a more three-dimensional structure, and it is not impossible to reproduce this in-game, but some of the expressions are difficult, and above all, it becomes difficult for the player to understand the structure. It is admirable that this was avoided through flat depiction.

By depicting the structure of the nest in a two-dimensional manner, the game retains the play screen structure of RTS games that have been familiar to many PC gamers for many years, and has also achieved “more efficient operation'' by being able to quickly issue various instructions and actions from a top-down play perspective. The method of arranging actual ecology in a game-like manner is a high point.

The gameplay element of evolving ants with various characteristics and creating fine soldiers is also typical of a nation-building strategy work, and the battle element of confronting insects that pose a threat to the ants is also tense and interesting. Even when compared to RTS works with human protagonists, the “essence'' is exactly the same, so RTS fans will be able to get used to it quickly.

On the other hand, there are some scenes that give the impression of being a bit “hard”, which may divide reviews of this work. It would have been nice to have a more pop-like presentation in the tutorial, but I guess this is because all the development members have very serious temperaments, so the content is stoic. The entertainment element is a little weak, and people will either like it or dislike it.

However, the fact that they created all of their game designs from scratch without relying on assets is definitely a high point, and their originality and ideas are worthy of praise. There have been SLGs with ant as the main character before this work, but the style is intentionally different from that of the original work, so it is a completely different work from a rip-off game.

It's clear from user reviews on the Steam store that the gameplay balance and replay elements are excellent, and we can see evidence that the development team worked hard to create the “best real-time strategy game'' while dealing with feedback. This is a new game with an outstanding level of perfection, and is sure to keep you hooked for a long time.

The recommended new real-time strategy simulation game “Empires of the Undergrowth'', where you can enjoy your own strategy while guiding ants in the microscopic world, is currently being distributed on the Steam store. This is a must-see indie game title where the action of developing an ant's nest is as interesting as it gets.

It's a great game because it has elements that anyone who likes RTS mechanics will be able to get into right away, and it also depicts the insects as they really are without strangely deforming them. If you are interested in the game, please visit the Steam store now and check out detailed game information.

[Recommended points]Develop your ant empire!