| Empire of the Ants | |||
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| Gameplay & Story | Release Date | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Empire of the Ants is an ant-sized RTS adventure packed with epic battles, immersive visuals, and the quirks of life at ground level. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Empire of the Ants Review Overview
What is Empire of the Ants?
Empire of the Ants follows the journey of #103,683, an ant chosen to lead its colony in a struggle for survival. Displaced from their home, the colony must now rebuild, thrive, and conquer new territories. The story revolves around managing resources, forming alliances with local wildlife, and engaging in tactical battles to protect the colony. Based on Bernard Werber’s bestselling novel, the game translates the epic struggles of the ant world into an immersive strategic experience, filled with exploration and decision-making that affect the colony’s fate.
Empire of the Ants features:
⚫︎ Third-person perspective gameplay as an ant leader
⚫︎ 3D real-time strategy mechanics
⚫︎ Immersive and photorealistic environments
⚫︎ Seasonal-based narrative with day and night cycles
⚫︎ Interactions with local wildlife and other forest creatures
⚫︎ Single-player campaign and online multiplayer mode
⚫︎ Strategic exploration, resource management, and colony building
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Empire of the Ants's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
 Epic |
 GoG |
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 PlayStation |
 Xbox |
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| Price | $39.99 | ||||
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Empire of the Ants Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Really Makes You Feel Small Immersive Writing? Strange, but Welcome Epic Ant (and Beetle) Fights |
Sometimes Too Small Everything Just Takes Too Much Time It’s Like Driving Silly Putty |
Empire of the Ants Overall Score - 82/100
Empire of the Ants offers a surprisingly fun and visually stunning journey into the daily struggles of an ant colony, from gathering resources to battling rival insects. While the story is simple, it fits the game’s purpose, and the gameplay takes creative liberties to keep things engaging, even if movement can be a bit frustrating. The visuals are breathtaking, immersing players in a larger-than-life world, while the audio adds an immersive (if sometimes repetitive) layer to the experience.
Empire of the Ants Story - 7/10
The story isn’t too deep. The campaign focuses on the usual things ants deal with in their day-to-day lives, like gathering resources, defending their territory, and... leading beetles into battle? Anyway, it moves things along in a way that makes sense for us humans, and that’s really all it needs to accomplish.
Empire of the Ants Gameplay - 8/10
Who would have thought being an ant could be so fun? Well, the game does take some liberties in interpreting an ant’s abilities to make gameplay more engaging, but still. Despite not being an ant queen yourself, you can order legions of your brethren (and beetles) into battle, organize workers like a well-oiled machine, or even do both at the same time! The whole experience would be perfect if not for pacing issues and the fact that moving around can be seriously annoying.
Empire of the Ants Visuals - 10/10
If you want to know what it feels like to be half an inch tall, with a standing height no taller than two stacked coins, then look no further than Empire of the Ants. Everything looks larger than life—from your fellow ants to the dead branches you walk on, to the predatory spiders you’d best avoid. But despite the lurking dangers, every scene is breathtakingly beautiful without exception.
Empire of the Ants Audio - 9/10
The developers did an incredible job with the audio design. All the scuttling sounds as dozens of your kind move around have a way of getting under your skin. The sound effects have a bit of comedy to them too, especially when combined with visuals of your army throwing enemies around like pillows in a pillow fight. It does become a bit monotonous in longer missions, though.
Empire of the Ants Value for Money - 7/10
At $39.99, Empire of the Ants is reasonably priced for everything it offers. It’s neither too expensive nor too cheap, so there’s no real need to wait for a sale to get your money’s worth. However, the deluxe editions aren’t worth it, even if they let you play three days early and include some digital goodies.
Empire of the Ants Review: Epic Scale of the Smallest Details
Look, I’ll be completely honest here. When I saw the number of followers for Empire of the Ants on Steamdb, I thought it had to be a mistake. I mean, it looked exactly as you’d expect from the title: an ant simulator with RTS elements. How could nearly twenty thousand people find this concept interesting enough to follow it on Steam?
I ended up getting the game anyway. As a proper RTS fan, how could I resist? And after spending several hours playing, I found it was just what I expected—well, partly. I was right about it being a pretty-looking ant simulator, sure. But I was so wrong about it not being entertaining.
Because it is. Almost criminally so, in my opinion.
Glorious Ant (and Beetle) Battles!
Let’s jump straight to what matters in an RTS: the gameplay. Although it touts itself as an RTS, Empire of the Ants also has a heavy dose of adventure. You play as Ant (checks notes) 103,683rd, a veteran among her countless siblings in leadership and command. Not only are you in charge of high-stakes military operations but also of diplomatic missions and other tasks.
This role isn’t just a narrative setup—you literally control 103,683rd in a third-person perspective. Hence, unlike most RTS games like StarCraft 2 or Stormgate, you can only exercise fine control over your units if they’re within a certain range of you. Similarly, any base management must be done up close, within a short physical distance from your nests.
Unlike in other RTS games, where production buildings can mass-produce units if you have enough resources, Empire of the Ants combines bases and production buildings into one, allowing each to support only one legion/unit of ants at a time. For example, if you have two nests, you can control up to two legions simultaneously. This means you can’t just amass units and throw them into the grinder every time you max out (sorry, Zerg mains).
There are four general unit types: warriors, gunners, workers, and aphids, with special units like beetles filling more resource-heavy, specialized roles. The first three types have a rock-paper-scissors relationship: workers beat gunners, gunners beat warriors, and warriors beat workers. Units can also be upgraded to stronger tiers using resources and tech facilities. While these counters don’t matter much in large-scale battles, they’re helpful in tight situations when you’re stretched thin and defending bases.
But in my opinion, the game shines brightest when you’re fighting enemies with capturable bases. Simultaneously defending outlying bases while watching legions of your brethren storm enemy nests is immensely satisfying, especially since the developers added some comedic combat animations, like warriors manhandling enemies and throwing them high into the air.
It Would Be Even More Glorious if It was Faster
While the RTS mechanics lead to epic clashes of dozens of ants in each fight, getting to that point requires serious patience. See, every legion takes a few seconds to spawn. That’s quick, right? But that doesn’t include the five-odd minutes needed for them to gather in usable numbers. Until then, they’re just uncontrollable blips on your UI.
Sure, you can accelerate the timer, but it costs a lot of resources. During the early stages of each mission, you likely won’t have enough resources to spawn an active legion of ants right at the start, so you’ll end up waiting at least a few dozen seconds before mobilizing.
This waiting issue is unique to Empire of the Ants because there’s not much build variety in the campaign. Your enemies already have their bases and units set up, so there’s no real need for units to take so long to spawn. It just creates unnecessary downtime.
Although this mechanic does add some depth to 1v1 player-versus-player matches.
I think the game could really benefit from halving production times in story mode.
It’ll Really Make You Feel Small
Ants are small. Unless we’re talking about the ones in THEM! or It Came from the Desert, playing as an ant means shrinking to a size where even leaves look gigantic. On the upside, it offers a fresh perspective, letting you view small sections of the world in impressive, breathtaking detail.
I absolutely love the visuals in Empire of the Ants. Everything—from your fellow ants to the rocks you step on—looks massive and impressive. Being tiny means everything else is larger than life, especially the “small” insects we tend to ignore every day. The developers clearly took care to make the world feel alive, with bees, flies, spiders, dragonflies, and other creatures adding a sense of realism.
The scenery is equally impressive, with even a piece of fallen tree looking like a majestic skyscraper from your perspective. These supersized settings make you feel like you’re living among giants, struggling to survive with only your wits and numbers. The audio enhances the immersion too, with distinct sounds of grass shifting, gravel rolling, and yes, the noises of creepy crawlies.
Maybe Too Small Sometimes
On the downside, being so small comes with navigation issues. As an ant, you can walk on walls and even upside down. But due to your size and the awkward terrain, you’ll often find yourself accidentally slipping off leaves or going under them by mistake. Repeatedly, I might add.
You can also sprint, but sprinting lets you launch yourself off of sudden changes in angles. Running up walls and through uneven terrain is a challenge, as you’re likely to ragdoll yourself all over the place. Why not just make you stick to surfaces? You can jump (for some reason), so there’s really no need to make sprinting feel like riding a trial bike.
How Does This Game Have Immersive Writing?
Immersive writing isn’t a big focus in most RTS games, which tend to prioritize gameplay. But Empire of the Ants surprised me with its dialogues, especially near safe zones like main nests. I went in expecting basic orders from the ant queen to take up the vast majority of my interactions, but I didn’t expect a random ant to tell me how it felt during a flood, or a beetle trying to communicate despite our inability to understand each other.
You can even “scan” objects, particularly human-made ones, and walk away with new insights about the strange world around you; perspectives that ants understandably find hard to grasp.
Is Empire of the Ants Worth It?
Reasonably-Priced, I Would Say
At $39.99, Empire of the Ants is priced fairly for a game this beautiful and engaging (once you get used to being flung around like a ragdoll). You could opt for the digital deluxe edition for $49.99, which includes wallpapers, the original soundtrack, and an artbook. But if you’re just looking to play the game, I’d recommend skipping the deluxe and waiting for the standard edition’s release on November 7, 2024, at the base price.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
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| Steam |
Epic |
GoG |
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| PlayStation |
Xbox |
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| Price | $39.99 | ||||
Empire of the Ants FAQ
What platforms is Empire of the Ants available on?
Empire of the Ants can be purchased for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S
Does Empire of the Ants have multiplayer?
Yes, Empire of the Ants supports player-vs-player cross-platform matches
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Empire of the Ants Product Information
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| Title | EMPIRE OF THE ANTS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 7, 2024 |
| Developer | Tower Five |
| Publisher | Microids |
| Supported Platforms | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam, GOG, Epic) |
| Genre | Simulation, Strategy |
| Number of Players | 1-3 |
| Rating | ESRB E, PEGI 12 |
| Official Website | Empire of the Ants Official Website |
