Empires of the Undergrowth
- November 1, 2021
- Slug Disco
- 26h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Epic Games Store"Empires of the Undergrowth" is a real-time strategy game that allows you to build and manage an ant empire, controlling various warrior ant species in intense battles. Expand your nest, protect your queen, and navigate the threats and opportunities of the insect world, with hundreds of ants clashing in epic battles. Manage resources, optimize your nest, and ensure the survival of your colony.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Epic Games
Linux
Reviews
- story2,504 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story of "Empires of the Undergrowth" centers around a genetically engineered ant colony, known as "gene stealers," that must adapt and survive through various missions while being observed by scientists. Players engage in a series of documentary-style missions that blend humor and educational elements, allowing them to explore different ant species and their unique abilities. While the narrative is engaging and the gameplay offers a mix of strategy and resource management, many players express a desire for more content, as the current story mode is relatively short and lacks a save feature during missions, leading to repetitive gameplay.
“The story revolves around this ant colony that's being experimented on as a new species known as "gene stealers" who are able to adapt and add genetic material from other ant species into their own colony such as leaf-cutter ants, fire ants, black ants and more.”
“You have a set of "documentary missions" where you play as one of the new ant genes that you've added to the colony, attempting to live out in the wild.”
“The story missions, structured like nature documentaries (narrated by Mauler, the YouTuber), are immersive.”
“The lack of a save option while mid-mission was very disappointing when I had to restart the game, sometimes losing upwards of 2 hours of gameplay.”
“The story mode to this game makes no sense, is terrible as far as mechanics are concerned and will leave you confused about what the actual point of the game is.”
“I had to play the same few missions multiple times to get enough upgrades, territory and food to even pass the first gateway mission.”
- gameplay1,110 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Empires of the Undergrowth" is characterized by its blend of straightforward mechanics and strategic depth, appealing to both casual players and RTS enthusiasts. While many players appreciate the unique ant-related mechanics and immersive environments, some criticize the lack of complexity in base building and the absence of a save feature during missions, which can lead to frustrating experiences. Overall, the game offers a fun and engaging experience, particularly for those interested in nature and ant behavior, though it may require patience to fully grasp its mechanics.
“The gameplay is solid, the environments are stunning, voice acting and animations are great, and the music, my god, the music.”
“The core gameplay loop is amazing, the campaign narrative is surprisingly tense and immersive for a game about ants, and the music is just mwah!”
“The gameplay is deceptively simple.”
“The lack of a save option while mid-mission was very disappointing when I had to restart the game, sometimes losing upwards of 2 hours of gameplay.”
“Unfortunately, the idea is where it ends, and the mechanics are problematic.”
“The gameplay is really boring, and the graphics don't make up for it.”
- graphics648 mentions
- 66 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received a generally positive reception, with many players praising their beauty, detail, and realism, particularly in the context of an indie title. While some users noted minor glitches and a lack of next-gen polish, the overall aesthetic and animations were highlighted as impressive, contributing to an immersive gameplay experience. However, a few reviews pointed out that the graphics could be challenging to see in certain situations, suggesting a need for improved visibility in gameplay.
“The graphics are incredible as well as the combat features.”
“The combination of high-quality graphics and sound design makes 'Empires of the Undergrowth' a feast for the senses, drawing players deeper into the game’s world.”
“The graphics are amazing, gameplay is great even on my potato of a computer, almost no lag, and a very good storyline!”
“The visuals leave a lot to be desired.”
“With these graphics, I literally can't see anything; all units, ground, and structures are so hard to see.”
“Right when you log in, you notice how choppy everything is; even if you turn the graphic settings all the way down, it doesn't seem to help at all.”
- music436 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many players praising its quality, variety, and ability to enhance the gameplay experience. The soundtrack is described as dynamic and immersive, often shifting to match the game's action, and is considered one of the best in recent gaming history. While a few players found the music repetitive over extended play sessions, the majority agree that it significantly contributes to the game's atmosphere and enjoyment.
“The gameplay is solid, the environments are stunning, voice acting and animations are great, and the music, my god, the music.”
“This is legitimately the best game soundtrack I've ever heard, up there with the Risk of Rain series.”
“The music complements this game really well, and the narrator... whoever the narrator is needs to get into narrating history/nature documentaries; about on par with Sir David Attenborough.”
“The music is horrendous and the gameplay is very boring.”
“The soundtrack is a bit too on the nerves after a couple of hours.”
“The game music is interesting; it has a feeling, but if you play multiple hours it can be frustrating and disturbing.”
- replayability228 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game "Empires of the Undergrowth" offers a varied level of replayability, with many players praising its unique maps, difficulty options, and freeplay mode that enhance the overall experience. While some users find the replay value to be high due to the procedural generation and challenge modes, others feel it may become repetitive over time, especially given the limited number of levels currently available. Overall, the game is generally regarded as enjoyable and replayable, particularly for those who appreciate its strategic depth and educational elements.
“Easily one of my all-time favorite games in recent times, it's got replay value and is a solid choice if anyone is looking for a master class RTS game.”
“Although we most likely won't get any more tiers in the story (at the time of writing this), the freeplay options, challenges, and extra levels give you near infinite replayability.”
“The procedural generation of underground maps adds to the game's replayability, as no two games are exactly alike.”
“Poor replayability for $30.”
“Its very shallow with a replay value of 0.”
“Almost 0 replay value, boring mechanics, basically waiting for a fish to spawn is the entire game.”
- humor184 mentions
- 99 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for being both entertaining and educational, with players enjoying the over-the-top antics and witty banter between characters, particularly the narrators and scientists. Many reviews highlight the comedic presentation of the story, which is likened to a nature documentary filled with amusing trivia about ants and other insects. The inclusion of features like an arachnophobia mode that adds funny hats to spiders further enhances the game's lighthearted tone, making it a delightful experience for players.
“The plot is funny and full of surprises; I really liked how the 'real world' missions are presented as a documentary.”
“A fun mix between educational, nature documentary-style commentary and a funny, insane scientist's story.”
“The narrator is so funny and evil; had me laughing the whole time.”
“If I could learn how to copy those little review things for the bug section, I would put 'the game itself is a big terrarium for bugs' as a joke, but since I can't, I have to explain it in this unfunny manner. Good game for strategy and ant enthusiasts!”
- grinding132 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 11 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback from players. While some find the resource farming and mission repetition tedious and frustrating, especially at higher difficulty levels, others appreciate the slow-paced, strategic gameplay that rewards persistence. Overall, many agree that the game can be excessively grindy, requiring players to replay missions multiple times to progress, which can detract from the overall enjoyment.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Not too grindy; you can get away with playing each level once on a fair difficulty and still be able to progress.”
“I loved every second of playing this game, until I got to the finale mission, saw the 30+ hours of grinding the same 2 missions, and said nope, I guess I just don't get to see the last 30 seconds of dialogue.”
“The game starts pretty fun, but later levels get frustrating with grinding for an hour or two to complete the objective, and then a hidden surprise attack kills everything and makes you start over from scratch.”
“After 190 hours, I think I've had enough of doing the same levels over and over and over and over and over and have yet to complete the campaign; 4+ missions are just a tedious joke.”
- stability84 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with some players reporting a generally smooth experience and minimal bugs, while others have encountered significant issues such as freezing and crashes, particularly in the early access phase. Many users noted that while the game is fun and engaging, it still has some glitches, especially related to achievements and AI pathing. Overall, players recommend caution for those considering playing in its current state, as stability can vary widely depending on the platform and specific updates.
“Game runs great on the highest graphic settings on my old 2019 iMac and on my newer beefier Windows box.”
“I was afraid since it was an early access, it would be riddled with bugs (no pun intended) but it was the opposite, no lag, no stutter, no glitches, no crashes, it ran smoothly and excellent.”
“Fun, original, educational, challenging, pretty, bug free (forgive the pun), regular updates and additional content, developer communication, achievements, runs well on a potato rig, early access but pretty much complete, would happily put another 175 hours into it.”
“However, this being a new game, it is very buggy, perhaps only on Mac.”
“Games are buggy and keep crashing every time you do something that involves saving or going to the menu.”
“Too bad currently the most recent update, which I enjoy when I can, has introduced lag spikes and freezes even so bad they've locked the game in a pseudo pause mode without access to a pause menu or any ability to escape this state.”
- optimization64 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback from users. While many praise its solid performance and ability to run smoothly even on lower-end systems, some report significant performance issues, particularly during high-action moments, indicating that further optimization is needed. Overall, the game shows promise in terms of stability and efficiency, but there are still areas that require improvement.
“I absolutely love this game, even when I get super high populations of ants my FPS stays over 35 on max graphics, that says a lot to how well optimized this is.”
“It's an extremely high quality RTS game, and I gotta admit I'm blown away by the optimization.”
“The game looks amazing and is well optimized to be able to run on less powerful systems, it has a reasonable learning curve with several difficulty options, and it feels rewarding overcoming tough enemies.”
“Several times throughout the campaign, I had to restart the game because the performance would take a nosedive off a cliff.”
“The overall visual performance is like something from 20 years ago, with unpolished details.”
“This garbage fire is the least optimized strategy game I have ever seen, and the only thing I like about it is ruined by this design flaw that the devs do not fix.”
- atmosphere26 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its exceptional voice narration, immersive ambient sounds, and engaging music, which together create a captivating environment. Players appreciate the emotional depth conveyed through the narration, enhancing the experience of exploring the dangerous lives of insects. Overall, the atmosphere effectively blends gaming with educational elements, making it a standout feature of the game.
“Exceptional voice narration helps the game have a great atmosphere throughout the campaign.”
“Ambient sounds and effects, such as the rustling of leaves and the scurrying of ants, create an atmospheric and immersive environment.”
“But the winner is the atmosphere; I found myself jumping in emotions, from fear to disgust through the narration of how insects' life is always dangerous.”
“It adds a bit of atmosphere with it being about bugs.”
“Pretty great even in early access, absolutely nails the atmosphere and walks the line well between gaming and biology.”
- monetization16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game has been positively received, with players appreciating that it does not feel like a cash grab despite initial concerns. The small development team is praised for their dedication to creating a quality product, with unique and detailed levels, and for providing regular updates, which contrasts with the ad-heavy experiences found in other games. However, some players have expressed frustration with intrusive ads that disrupt gameplay.
“This game is an elaborate advertisement for ant farms.”
“Fun fact: I quit that game because the amount of ads blocking reinforcements and forcing me to lose.”
“It also looks like the game that many false Facebook ads proclaim to be.”
- emotional14 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a wide range of emotions while engaging with the game, from nostalgia and excitement reminiscent of childhood experiences to deep philosophical reflections on the nature of work and existence. Some reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke strong feelings, including joy and empathy, while others feel disappointed and cheated by its perceived lack of polish. Overall, the emotional impact of the game varies significantly among players, with many finding it both uplifting and thought-provoking.
“Now, with the long journey finally at its conclusion, I have to say; never before has a game got me this emotional.”
“This game made me feel philosophical. When I bought this game, I thought I would feel a bit of fun and be gone, but after my extensive playing, I have come to realize my foolishness. The way the workers build, dig, and collect reflects our modern day. Many are doing just as the workers do; however, unlike them, the workers do not do it for personal wealth. These workers do it for the sake of the colony. Some may say they are animals with no thought of free will, but I say these so-called 'animals' are much like us. So I end this review with something much more simple: it's good, try it out sometime.”
“This game made me so happy I cried, died, and turned into the sun.”
