✓
DoneMay 2026
Initial development
The first dig: three weeks of building the foundations every day. A player ant and a camera, then the two worlds — the overhead surface and the nest in cross-section — running side by side, and the colony simulation underneath them.
- Overworld and nest, both always running
- Workers, soldiers and a queen that bid for jobs
- Pheromone trails and colony food memory
- Procedurally generated, seeded worlds
✓
Donev0.1.8 · May 29, 2026
Tech demo
The first playable build. Create a colony, walk between the surface and the nest, forage alongside rival NPC colonies sharing the same map, and defend against beetle raids — all on placeholder art, and with a colony that was, honestly, a little too autonomous. It proved the idea worked.
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In progressv0.2.0 → v0.5.5.1 · June 2026 – now
Alpha
Where the game is today. Alpha is about turning the tech demo into a real game: every system that makes a run interesting goes in now, gets played, and gets reworked. The core loop is in place — forage, grow, dig, defend, go to war, evolve — and each update adds a layer on top of it.
Shipped so far
- v0.2.0War PartiesRival colonies muster and march on each other — and you can lead a band of your own.Jun 4 · Devlog #2
- v0.2.1Colony ControlA menu for directing the colony, a combat rebalance and scarier raids.Jun 12 · Devlog #3
- v0.2.2The Genome LabColony XP, levels and perks: your colony becomes a lineage that grows stronger.Jun 29 · Devlog #4
- v0.3.0The Combat OverhaulTargeting, auto-attack, threat, crits, elites and a world boss.Jul 31 · Devlog #5
- v0.3.3Weather & TimeSun, cloud, rain and fog, four seasons and a day/night cycle.Aug 8 · Devlog #6
- v0.3.4Rivals Fight BackRival colonies defend their nests instead of letting you stroll in.Aug 14 · Devlog #7
- v0.3.5A Mind of Their OwnRivals with personalities, grudges and a memory of what you did.Aug 25 · Devlog #8
- v0.3.9Sound & SurfaceAn original soundtrack, sound effects and a reworked HUD.Sep 11 · Devlog #9
- v0.4.4The Royal LineWinter that bites, princesses, succession, the nuptial flight and daughter colonies.Sep 19 · Devlog #10
- v0.4.5The Heir, the Tutorial & the Field GuideA thermometer and warm soil, tutorial cards, an in-game Field Guide, autosave and meat that spoils.Sep 29 · Devlog #11
- v0.4.6Spiders, Sunlight & a Glowing NightFive spider species, a moving sun with shadows, drifting fog, and nights lit by fungus and fireflies.Sep 29 · Devlog #11
- v0.5.3The Nest, RedrawnA new look underground: soil layers, light down the shaft, room name plates, cave-ins, and roots, seeds and boulders in the soil.Sep 29 · Devlog #11
- v0.5.4A Living WorldWildlife that eats, rests and raises young, beetle burrows you can raid, and a colony that divides its work by age.Oct 5 · Devlog #12
- v0.5.5Autumn & the HatchHatching back from an egg, autumn gusts that scatter scent, ponds and nest floods, and kills that leave a body.Oct 11 · Devlog #13
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In progressAlongside alpha
Alpha playtesting
Alpha builds are going out to a small group of playtesters, and it's already paying off: watching new players get lost is exactly why the game now has tutorial cards and a Field Guide. Playtesting runs alongside development for the rest of alpha, and it's what drives the balance pass.
Being tuned from playtest feedback
- How combat feels and how long fights last
- Raid size and frequency
- Rival AI, grudges and war bands
- Genome Lab costs and trait strength
- Whether winter really bites
- Elites, the boss, and how often they come
- Weather, plants and the food economy
- Performance for huge colonies and big raids
✓
LiveOct 2026
Steam page & wishlists
The Ant Game has its own Steam store page, so you can wishlist it now and get a ping the moment it's playable. Wishlists are the single best way to help a solo-developed game — if anything on this page caught your eye, adding it to yours makes a real difference.
6
Planned
Beta
Beta is the run-up to launch. The work turns from adding systems to making what's there solid enough for Early Access: bugs, performance, saves that keep loading across updates, and a balance pass from playtest data. A wider round of playtesting comes with it.
7
PlannedRelease date to be announced
Early Access on Steam
The Ant Game launches in Early Access on Steam for Windows and macOS. That's when everyone can play — and when development opens up to your feedback. The plan is roughly 12–18 months in Early Access on the way to a full 1.0, with the price rising gradually as major content lands, so the earliest players get it for the least.
Planned before 1.0
Water & changing ground
- Streams that reroute your foragers
- Drought and flooding as the year turns
- Frozen ponds to cross in winter
Fog of war
- Unexplored ground stays hidden
- Rival nests have to be found
- A colony map of what you've explored
Rivals & war
- Rivals that ally against the leader
- Territory they defend from each other
- Raids that carry off your food
Playing the ant
- An ability bar: bite, lunge, rally, taunt
- Sprint, with a stamina bar
- Dig new entrances and move old ones
Your dynasty
- A panel for every colony of your line
- Daughter colonies that wage their own wars
- New Genome Lab traits, and respecs
Threats & polish
- Rove beetles that hide in the nest
- Final art in place of the placeholders
- Controller support and more music
The Ant Game is built by one person, so this roadmap is a picture of the plan, not a promise. Features may move between updates, change shape, or get cut if they don't earn their place. Dates on this page are when things happened, never deadlines.
The Ant Game