Antkeep
Release date: Jul 28, 2023
Developers: Tomato Foundry
Publishers: Tomato Foundry
Genres: Indie, Simulation, Strategy, Early Access
Categories: Single-player, Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Stats, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English, Traditional Chinese

Game Mechanism There are many different elements in the game, all aimed at enhancing the ants and giving them the ability to fight back. Upgrade ant abilities by collecting honey Breed ant colonies in test tubes Launch defensive ants to form a protective barrier Use kamikaze-style attacks against the opponent's ant colony Deploy ants to collect honey Use buckets to temporarily slow down the opponent's attack Game Story As an environmental conservationist, you are sent to explore the ecology of Antilles islands and investigate the local ant population. You discover that the island has been invaded by invasive red fire ants, and the native ants are on the brink of collapse. You must quickly supply the native ants with the resources they need to fight back against the fierce red fire ants. Game Features Breeding “Towers”: Once the ant nest is upgraded, its offspring will also become stronger. Different Strategies: Different strategies can be used to face enemy attacks, whether it's adventurous, conservative, fast-paced, or steady. Different Ant Species: Ants can be converted into spreading nests, patrolling and intercepting, or suicidal attacks to match different strategies. Ant Simulation: A gamified simulation of ant growth. Islands: Different islands have not only different missions, but also different species of ants and ecologies. About the Team I'm Michael Pan, a student from Taiwan’s Tatung University, and the sole member of the team XD. I have participated in many game productions before, but this is the only time where I'm responsible for the entire process from start to finish, including planning, designing, programming, art, and marketing. There is still much room for improvement and learning. Idea Origin This game started as a school project, it was a 'serious' game that teach player invasive ant. After the semester ended, I felt that the game had unique qualities. So I planned some future directions for its development. With the help of my internship unit 'Team9', I continued to develop the game mechanics and planning, constantly refining the game. Today, we're excited to bring our unique game concept to Steam! All About That Ant The most well-known invasive ant is the red fire ant, they have strong live, grow rapidly, disrupting the ecological chain. There are many ways to control invasive ants, such as liquid nitrogen, hot water, poison, etc. Each with its advantages and disadvantages. This game focuses mainly on 'biological resistance.' Biological resistance is achieved through strong native species to resist invasive species. When it's time to mate, ants will take to the air and mate outside of the nest, building a new nest in a new location. The nesting process is the most vulnerable time for ants, as the ant population is low. If there are already strong native ants competing for food nearby at this time, it will reduce the likelihood of invasive ants spreading.