Empires of the Undergrowth

Empires of the Undergrowth is developed by Slug Disco and published by Hooded Horse and Slug Disco. It entered Steam Early Access on December 1, 2017, and reached its full release on June 7, 2024, for Windows and macOS. Players forge an ant colony empire from the ground up, commanding warrior ants and managing an underground nest against the many fearsome threats of the insect world.

Sobre el juego

Empires of the Undergrowth reimagines real-time strategy through pheromone-based commands rather than direct unit control. Instead of simply clicking to send ants somewhere, players place pheromone markers that direct entire groups toward specific tasks, food gathering, combat, or defense, based on adjustable rules of engagement. Digging through a hex-based maze of soil and bedrock, players expand a nest of store rooms, nurseries, and hallways while protecting a vulnerable queen at all costs.

Beyond the nest, the surface world offers plenty of food sources, but each comes loaded with strategic tradeoffs, since ladybugs, nocturnal predators, and rival colonies all compete for the same resources. Combat scales up dramatically at night, when warrior ants push out to secure supplies or defend against incoming threats, while daytime often means competing directly against enemy colonies for territory. A narrative-driven campaign follows a lab experiment involving mysterious “gene thief” ants alongside a documentary-style exploration of real ant species, giving the RTS structure a genuine story to follow alongside standard skirmish modes.

Características principales

Pheromone-Based Unit Commands: Direct entire groups of ants using pheromone markers and adjustable rules of engagement rather than clicking individual units.
Hex-Based Underground Nest Building: Dig through soil and bedrock to construct store rooms, nurseries, and hallways while defending a vulnerable queen.
Diverse Ant Species and Enemies: Command trap-jaw ants, leafcutter majors, and wood ants, each with unique combat roles, against arachnids, amphibians, and rival colonies.
Narrative Campaign Mode: Follow a lab experiment centered on genetically altered ants alongside a documentary series exploring real insect species and biomes.

Juegos como éste

Juego similar	Diferencia clave	Lo mejor para
StarCraft II	StarCraft II builds its RTS combat around direct unit control and competitive esports balance. Empires of the Undergrowth instead uses pheromone-based group commands rooted in real insect behavior.	Players who want precise, direct-control competitive RTS gameplay.
Son miles de millones	They Are Billions focuses on large-scale base defense against overwhelming zombie hordes. Empires of the Undergrowth instead splits its focus between nest building and territorial ant warfare.	Players who want pure base-defense strategy against relentless waves.
SimAnt	SimAnt offers a simpler, more experimental simulation of ant colony life from decades earlier. Empires of the Undergrowth expands that same core concept into a fully modern RTS with campaign storytelling.	Players curious about the classic simulation that inspired this genre.

Detalles del juego

Developer: Slug Disco
Publisher: Hooded Horse, Slug Disco
Platforms: Windows, macOS (Steam)
Release Date: Early Access, December 1, 2017; Full Release, June 7, 2024
Genre: Simulation, Strategy (Real-Time Strategy, Colony Sim, City Builder)
Precio: $29,99
Mod Support: Moddable
Supported Languages: English, German, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Spanish (Spain), Russian, French, Czech, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Italian, Hungarian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Portuguese (Brazil)