March of the Ants Evolved Edition

Can ants march?

In March of the Ants we’ll lead a colony of ants whose goal is to take control of a huge tunnel and the nearby meadows. During the game, we’ll go through several phases that will allow us to develop our troops’ powers, explore the surrounding areas, gather food for our subordinates, and score points for our actions.

Why was it worth stirring up this anthill?

I’ll start with the best part of the game: upgrading our colony. By adding new body parts to the ants, we grant them special abilities and various useful bonuses. We can develop the head, thorax, and abdomen, which allows us to combine different bonuses and create unique combinations. Thanks to this, our ant army can gain additional actions and increase its effectiveness in combat. Sometimes, you can pull off some really sweet combos. We can replace body parts with new ones, and further upgrading them grants victory points and even more bonuses. You can feel that constant progress and how we’re strengthening our troops every moment. It worked just great, and it made me want to discover new, overpowered combinations that could surprise my rivals

Another thing I really liked is the collaborative map-building. At the start of the game, we all begin in the Great Tunnel and add new tiles ourselves, expanding the available area for exploration. By placing them, we can block off our rivals in true Eclipse style.

Another cool thing is that our ants aren’t just brave warriors, but also a form of currency we spend to play new cards. You have to constantly balance between strengthening your units on the map and playing as many cards as possible

Ant March is very thematic, considering what the game is about. I may not have heard Sir David Attenborough voice while playing, but I felt that this board game colony was alive, and I had an impact on its future

The box contains over a hundred small ant meeples and other components. Everything is stored in special boxes, which means that when setting up the game, we won’t have to scramble around like in an anthill.

Another thing I liked was the fact that players can influence how long the main action phase lasts. Sometimes, we might intentionally pass early to prevent other players from getting too carried away. Then, each turn, we take a token and watch as our opponents consider whether to pass as well, in order to thwart someone’s aggressive plans.

Another aspect that really appealed to me was the cooperative variant. We fight the Skolopendras together and try to ensure that each player scores more points than they do. I really liked that we had to decide together who would go where, who would deal with the enemies, and how we would help each other score points. I don’t yet have an area-control cooperative game in my collection, so I’ll be happy to return to The March specifically in this mode.

Minor Drawbacks

I’m not a big fan of the reaction system in this game. I get that it’s meant to keep us engaged the whole time, but the symbols are so unintuitive that I was never sure of my moves and kept having to check the rules. Sometimes I’d place a larva on my board, other times in a tunnel, and still other times I could just discard the card. Overall, it’s cool that these reactions exist, but the game wouldn’t lose anything if they were removed

The colony development mechanics work great, but they require constantly monitoring other players’ progress in terms of combat. While this is part of the gameplay, constantly asking for details can become annoying in the long run.

In the Polish version of March of the Ants, I found a small typo in the cooperative variant. Additionally, one of the thoraxes is actually an abdomen. At least the body symbol is correct, though.

Summary

March of the Ants turned out to be a truly great game. Simple rules and fast gameplay are presented here in a very cohesive, ant-themed style. What I liked most was upgrading my colony and the various cool synergies I could create. I also really enjoyed the game’s mobility, because every move we made had huge strategic significance.

An added bonus is the cooperative variant, which I’ll be playing with great pleasure. Fighting the centipedes together turned out to be incredibly exciting and completely changed our approach to the game.

I also can’t help but mention that the gameplay reminds me a bit of Eclipse, only in a slightly smaller, ant-themed version. That’s why the game quickly won me over.  

Final verdict: March of the Ants blew my abdomen and tickled my antennas!

Pros
Simple rules
Continuous colony development
Ant currency
Collaborative meadow development
Very thematic
Storage boxes
Cooperative variant

Cons
You react to those reactions
How are your ants doing?
Ant-related errors in the Polish version

[Game provided by Galakta]