Ant Keeping Simulator

A little to realistic for my taste. If you want a very realistic timewise simulator then this might be for you but even at x1000 speed I felt things took to long. Also the ants bugging out of the test tube kills the realism. This just unfortunately is not the game I was hoping it would be. Maybe if they add a sandbox mode I could be convinced but the way you have to buy and feed the ants also seems weird and confusing to me. I personally think there are better ant games out there all though this is the best one for simulating the ant keeping hobby. If steam had a maybe or mixed option that would probably be my review. mid meh 5/10.

Good game. But the ants sadly bug out of the tubes. Like, not fully, but like their head is sticking out. Would be lovely to fix that! We also need like better movements ; )!

I like what the dev did with this simulation game. Even though it seems the subject matter might not be a passion for them, they definitely did a bit of research into the subject matter. Make no mistake that Ant Keeping Simulator is a low budget simulation/game from a single indie developer. There is a lack of intuitiveness with the UI and it takes some getting used to. I did have to do a bit of trial and error before I became comfortable with it. There are also clipping issues with moving ants geometry. Don't expect graphical mastery in this one. I will, however, do my best to tell you why I give it a thumbs up and give you a preview of what it's about... There are many ant sub-species to choose from. Each have their own size, environmental priorities, tastes and evolutionary growth. For example, some sub-species have majors (larger ants that are essentially tanks in combat). You start with the smallest ant species, but can earn access to more with $Bug Bucks. $Bug Bucks ( I will refer to the currency as $ from here) is the currency used to purchase needs for your ant colonies. They need food, water and more as they grow. I will note that the choices are a bit limited when it comes to expanding their formicarium (environment & home), but the base requirement elements are there. You will gain $ in very small portions as your colony grows. Do note that your $ wallet is a global wallet across all of your saves and not specific to one save, so be very careful when GAMBLING! The game portion (GAMBLING) is combat which takes place outside of the simulation, but is based on the colony that you are currently playing. It occurs in random intervals and is a way to increase $ exponetially and is always a GAMBLE. Though there is a lot of RND involved, it really helps to know the matchup as best as you can. Know your species VS enemy species. The quantity of ants on each side is never the defining factor in a fight, and can be misleading. Know the size of each species and which species has majors or extra abilities such as sting or formic acid defense (shown as green clouds). BTW, formic acid defense IS true to nature, just not as visible as this game shows. For example, if both you and the enemy have 50 ants, but your opponent is a species with Majors and your does not, you should expect to lose. You do go in blind, not knowing what you are facing beyond the knowledge of each species. The pace of the simulation is up to you. You can literally play it as real time (a snails pace that you just run in the background for weeks and weeks on end while you watch paint dry) or you can adjust the passing of time exponentially when you start a new save. It is my understanding that as long as you don't select "real time growth" when starting a new save, you get the time slider. The time slider allows you to speed up time up to 1000X. This WILL be handy ;). There is obviously a bit more to this simulation and many more details, but this is a review and not a guide, lol (I've gone on long enough). I will say that I do appreciate what they have done and for even attempting it. It is a bit of a niche type of subject and I appreciate the research and execution of that research that went into this. Even though the dev has moved onto their next project, they are still responsive in the steam forums. I always appreciate that type of dedication. For the small price, it is worth it IMO. I continue to play.