Have you ever wondered what it’s like to play a game where you control a colony of ants and help them survive a cruel world where everyone finds them annoying and wants to kill them? Well, if you do, then do I have a game for you. Empires of the Undergrowth is a strategy game similar to the Civilization series, except it’s about ants. This game is surprisingly full of features and has a fanbase that still play today. If you’re just starting, then follow this guide to get ahead of the game.
Complete Beginners Guide – Empires Of The Undergrowth
Before we start talking about how to successfully run an ant colony, we’ll first start off with useful tips and tricks to know while playing the game.
First off, using the left Ctrl will display the food values when holding them. This is important to know as you will be checking if the food is good or not 90% of the time. If you don’t want to hold the Ctrl key for a long time though, you can always press the I key once to show the food value, then press again to remove it.
Left Alt will display the units information, that way you can get a proper look at what the units function. Just like with the food values, there is also a button that you can press once to toggle it on or off, which is the C key.
Upgrading your tiles is also quick. Like immediately quick, so you don’t have to worry too much about waiting for upgrades. Also, it’s useful to have more workers in the Queen’s group. The nest jobs will be finished a lot more quickly, like replacing hatched eggs. If you have none, then no jobs get done.
With your colony, you should set up each building efficiently. They all have to be in range of each other, otherwise the ants will take too long from one building to another, which is time wasted when they could be finished in lesser time.
The Nursery buildings have tiles that will make ants move slower when they’re on them, so it is best to build them in dead end rooms that’s off the path. If you want different type of ants for more variety, you will have to build multiple Nurseries.
The Food Storage holds from 10 up to 60, depending on the upgrade. It is more efficient when the building is next to the nest entrance, as ants will be going back and forth to the outside. Having the Food Storage near the entrances will lessen the time it takes to bring the food.
The Waste Disposal building is poisonous to the ants, so make sure to keep it away from them. But, don’t put them far from the colony altogether, as the time it will take to bring waste to the building will be a, well, waste of time.
Moving on to the type of ants you’ll be using, we have the Worker Ants, Black Ant Soldiers, Wood Ant Mortars, Wood Ant Rapid Fire, and Leaf Cutter Majors. Each ant brings something different to the table and are important in their own ways.
The Worker Ants do the most of the nest work. The more Worker Ants you have, the faster your army respawns. They can fight, but they’re not the best fighters. They can be upgraded to have improved Health, Speed, and Job Completion.
Black Ant Soldiers are the melee fighters. They are essentially the tanks of the army and the more you have, the more they can hold back. Upgrading them is crucial, as they take the brunt of the attack while the Range fighters will attack from afar.
Wood Ant Mortars are the first of the range ants. They have a slow firing speed, but they have great damage, especially AoE damage when upgraded.
Wood Ant Rapid Fire ants are your main range ants. What they lack in power, they make up for in speed, so having a ton of Wood Ant Rapid Fire ants is crucial in your army.
Leaf Cutter Majors can taunt or stun your enemies when they reach level 3. It’s advised to have them upgraded as fast as possible, as they aren’t valuable in the early levels.
Moving on to different types of food, as they are what keeps the ants going. Collecting food is your primary goal, besides building your army. You should always have as much Food Storage buildings as possible as your army grows, because lack of food is deadly to the ants.
Here are the types of food you can find:
- Woodworms – Found underground, incapable of fighting back
- Woodlice – Will not fight back but has high armor
- Seeds – Can be found underground or in the surface
- Honeydew Nectar – Created by Aphids as the game goes on
- Food Chunks – Dropped by Tiger Beetle Larvae or found in spider lairs
- Shrimp – Can be found underground or in the surface
- Fish – Found in the surface
- Leaves – Found in the surface
Lastly, you need to learn about your enemies. They come in different shapes and sizes, and they will attack on sight. It’s better to come prepared than none at all. Here is the list of enemies you will encounter:
- Devil’s Coach-Horse Larvae
- Devil’s Coach-Horse Beetle
- European Mole-Cricket
- Funnel Web Spider
- Slave Maker Ants
- Tiger Beetle
- Hermit Crab
- Wolf Spider
- Tiger Beetle Larvae
- Enemy Black Ant
- Enemy Wood Ant
- Lady-Birds
- Jumping Spider
- Praying Mantis
- Rave Beetle
- Harvestman
- Spiny Devil
- Whip Spider
- Enemy Leaf-Cutter Ants
- Trapjaw Ants
ALSO READ: MultiVersus: How To Play Bugs Bunny | Guide To Bugs Bunny
