serpANTine

runs better in chrome for now

Steer a growing trail through water, rain, rival colonies, beetles, birds, roots, stone and hungry soil. Open the colony into a winding line to gather and surround. Compress it into a rolling BALL to break obstacles, charge enemies and survive impact.

Or turn on AUTO and watch the colony make its own decisions under exactly the same rules.

 What is here

- A responsive colony made from hundreds or thousands of individual ants

- Trail movement, BALL transformation, whirls, bridges and changing formations

- Four distinct soils beginning in turquoise Aquamarine

- Rain, springs, thirst, shade, insects, rival colonies and small ecosystem interactions

- WORLD view and WATCH camera for observing the whole living map

- Boss colonies, mutations, multiple cycles and an extremely demanding Hard mode

- A permanent lineage tree: Nest Memory, Water Memory and Trail Memory survive between lives

- Full autoplay, touch controls and mobile-browser support

 Controls

- Drag anywhere with mouse or touch to steer

- Tap BALL, or double-tap the field, to transform

- AUTO lets the colony play continuously

- WORLD zooms out; WATCH follows interesting events

- MENU pauses and gives access to difficulty, soil, cycle and lineage

A note on saves

Permanent lineage progress is stored in this browser on this device. Clearing site data or changing browsers will begin a new lineage.

Status

This is an early public release. It is already fully playable, but feedback about clarity, balance, performance and the strange lives your colonies live is especially welcome.

Landscape gives the widest view. Portrait play is supported.