March of the Ants Evolved Edition Board Game Review

March Of The Ants Evolved Edition

WBG Score: 8.5

Player Count:1-5

You’ll like this if you like: Your 4x games to be a little simpler and more Anty!

Published by: Weird City Games

Designed by: Tim Eisner, Ryan Swisher

March of the Ants was first released in 2015. It was successfully launched on Kickstarter to 1,691 backers. There was a reprint and a couple of expansions launched to just under 3,000 backers in 2020, and then in 2025, a revised "Evolved" edition with new art, a streamlined rulebook, and some rebalanced mechanics found a home with just under 5,500 backers. The game sure is growing in popularity over time. And this final Evolved version is the one we are reviewing here. People like 4X games, but they can sometimes take up too much time and room on the table. 4X stands for games where you will explore (place and move into new tiles), exploit (gain resources from the tiles), exterminate (fight other ants), and finally, expand, grow your armies! They often have quite heavy themes, often around war. Whereas here, March of the Ants promises a streamlined 4X experience with ants. What's not to love? So, let's get it to the table and see how it plays.

How To Set Up March of the Ants Evolved Edition

Begin by placing The Great Tunnel in the centre of the table. This will be the heart of your colony and the focus of much of the action. Next, set up the Score and Round Track to one side of the play area, making sure the four round side is facing up. There is an option for a longer five round advanced variant when you become more au fait with the game but four is fine for your first game. Place the Round Marker on Round one and the Centipede Strength Marker on the space linked to your current player count, this is shown on the board itself.

Next, shuffle the ten standard hex tiles with the blue borders and place two tiles per player face down in a stack beside The Great Tunnel. Now take the Beyond the Meadow hexes and choose two (three with a four or five player game) at random on top of the blue hexes. Place the starting hex on top of these and put all other hexes back into the box.

Now, place the food, centipede, and wormhole tokens within easy reach of all players, then shuffle the Rest tiles and create a face-down stack near the score track. Reveal one Rest tile per player and lay them face up beneath the score track so everyone can see what’s available. For the Great Tunnel Reward tiles, randomly choose two of each type. Stack the level three tiles face down at the bottom, then place the level one and two tiles on top. Return any unused tiles to the box. Then reveal the top Great Tunnel Reward tile and place it face up in the centre of The Great Tunnel then finally shuffle the Ant card deck and place it near the play area.

Now each player can set up their own player area, or nest. Take all the ant tokens of your chosen colour along with one Nest Mat. Be sure to place this with the Star side facing up. This is best for your first game as it shows the four phases of play at the top. The reverse side has a minor asymmetric power that you can choose in later games. Place four of your ants in your Larvae Chamber to start as larvae, and two more in The Great Tunnel. The remaining ants go beside your Nest Mat as eggs, waiting to hatch later. The Ant meeples obviously won't change, but can represent an egg, larvae, or an Ant depending on where they are on the mat/tile/table! Put your score marker on the starting space of the score track and add two food tokens to your Food Stores. Take the deck of Ant cards and deal three cards to each player.

For a two player game, each player takes two unused starting tiles, picks on, discard the other, then places it down on the main board next to The Great Tunnel, and adds three of their own ants to this hex. You also need to get some Ants of a non-playing colour, and set them aside for later.

Finally, randomly select a starting player and give them the Active Player Marker. The player sitting to their right gains one extra larva in their Larvae Chamber, giving them a slight early boost. You are now ready to play!

How To Play March of the Ants Evolved Edition

The game plays over four rounds with four phases each round; a Worker Phase, Soldier Phase, Queen Phase, and finally Slumber. Lets go through each one in turn.

Worker Phase: This is the main phase of the game where players take turns to perform one of five actions. You can either Explore, Forage, March, Play a Card, or Rest.

When you Explore, simply take the top Hex from the stack you created during setup and place it next to any other hex of The Great Tunnel, where you have at least one Ant present. You must connect at least one tunnel with this new Hex, but others can be blocked. You must then move in one Ant to this new Hex, but you can move in more if you wish. Each Hex has spaces on it to collect various resources during the Queen phase, but you can place Ants into other areas on the Hex if you wish, simply to have more Soldiers there. One of the resource spaces will be the Control site and marked accordingly. This will dictate who gets the points from this Hex in the Slumber phase.

If the Hex you place has a Worm or Centipede on it, be sure to mark it with the appropriate tile or token, and if a Centipede, move the token on the Centipede strength tracker on the round tracker up one space. They get stronger as the game carries on! The wormhole will join up and form places from which you can move from and to when there are two or more across various hexes. Wormholes are all considered adjacent. The Centipedes will battle against you in the soldier phase.

Whenever anyone explores, everyone else is then able to move one of their larvae from their Larvae Chamber to The Great Tunnel or hex, wherever they currently have at least one ant.

The second option available to players on their turn is to Forage. Here, you will draw three cards from the deck, then discard one. Cards will either be upgrade cards used on your player mat, giving you instant benefits, ongoing powers, or scoring opportunities. Your head can be upgraded to increase your fighting ability in the Soldier phase. Your thorax can be upgraded to add extra reaction turns at the end of the Worker phase. And the abdomen can be upgraded to assist the feeding of your colony during the Queen phase. Cards can also offer instant power benefits in the form of Event cards or offer big points opportunities at the end of each Slumber phase.

Whenever anyone takes the Forage action, each other player will gain one additional Larvae to add their their Larvae chamber.

The third option is to March. Here you can take up to six actions of either moving larvae from the chamber onto any hex where you have an ant already, or the Great Tunnel, or move ants already on hexes or the Great Tunnel. You can move them from one hex to another, from hexes onto any available resource locations on hexes, or in or out of the Great Tunnel by any connected tunnel.

Whenever anyone takes the March action, all other players can take one single March action themselves.

These first three actions to Explore, Forage, or March, all cost one Food token. If you have no Food left, you cannot takes these actions.

The fourth action is to play a card. Each card has an associated cost, as shown on the top left of the card. Generally, it will be a few ants or larvae being sacrificed, moved back into your egg storage. The card can then be added to the next board if it is an upgrade, placed to the right of the board if it is a colony goal, or played and discarded if it is an event.

Whenever anyone plays a card, all other players can, if they choose, discard a card from their hand and replace it with the top card from the deck.

The fifth and final action available to the player is to rest. Here, you must take one of the available Rest tiles placed during setup, immediately take that benefit as shown on the tile, and then place it face down, showing the rest icon above your player mat. On your next turn, if you have one, you must also rest, taking another tile. When the final rest tile is taken, that round is over. There is no reaction benefit to other players when one player rests.

When the Worker phase ends, all players with at least one Thorax upgrade can then take one reaction action for each Thorax card they have played. This includes either adding a Larvae to a Hex as an Ant, adding a Larvae into their Chamber, Marching, or discarding and replacing a card.

Soldier Phase: First, check any Head upgrade effects that may be applicable here, and then resolve all battles! Battles happen in any Hex where there are at least two different types of Ant, and at least one not on a collection site. The battles happen in The Great Tunnel first, then any other Hex where appropriate. You will then battle in Hexes where there are any Ants where Centipedes are present. Battles all work the same way.

First, calculate each side's Ferocity rating. You can use the tracker board for this, placed during setup. Players gain one Ferocity rating for all Ants present in the battle and for all Head cards upgraded on their Nest. Players can then play one single card from their hand to add to this. Each card has a Ferocity of one to four as shown by a small symbol on the top left of the card under the cost. The player with the highest Ferocity after all this wins.

The winner will then lose one ant for every two ants they faced in the battle. They must have at least one ant remaining after this. The loser will lose one ant for all ants in the winning team's army. If more than two people fought in the battle, the losers share the damage between them and cause damage to the winner collectively.

In a Hex battle, the winning player gains one point and may, if they choose, move one extra Ant into the Control space of the Hex where the battle took place if it is still held by an opponent. If the battle took place in The Great Tunnel, assign rewards as shown by the round's reward tile.

In a battle against a Centipede, the Centipede will gain its Ferocity based on the current position of the token on the round tracker. The Centipede will then add Ferocity from the top card of the deck. They draw first. The player fighting can then add a card if they need to. When defeated, the Centipede will reward you based on its current strength, again as shown on the round tracker. Remember, various upgrade cards that you can play could help in these battles.

Queen Phase: Here, players will now collect resources for all locations where they have ants on collection sites. Each player can do this simultaneously. All players must then feed all ants, one food token to each four ants, unless you have upgraded your abdomen. If you have any unfed ants after this, lose one point per hungry ant. Then, all players can make a choice, to either generate two food, six larvae, or one food and three larvae.

Slumber: Finally, players will now score one point for each Hex where they have an Ant on the control site, and for any Colony cards they may have played up to this point. One player will then refresh the Rest and Reward tile in The Great Tunnel, move the round tracker on one, and the next round will begin. Play will start with the player next to the player who took the final turn in the previous round.

After four rounds, the game ends. Players will then score points for the player with the most larvae, the most food, and the most cards in hand. Most points wins!

Is It Fun? March of the Ants Evolved Edition Board Game Review

March of the Ants: Evolved Edition offers the kind of clever, compact 4X experience that’s rare in the genre. It keeps the key elements of exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination, but swaps the usual star ships and galaxies for tunnels and mandibles. What makes this version shine is how accessible it feels. Turns are snappy, actions have simple cause-and-effect clarity, and the “Evolved” tweaks make it far easier to learn than before.

You’ll still get that satisfying sense of growth as your colony spreads and adapts, but without needing an entire weekend or a second table to fit it all like other popular 4x games. This game is ideal for players who love strategic planning and gradual engine building but don’t want the overhead of a heavyweight 4X. Fans of Root or Dune: Imperium will appreciate the tight balance between tactical aggression and efficient resource management, while more casual gamers will enjoy the unique theme, cute Ant meeples, and smooth flow of play.

The asymmetric upgrades through faction powers give every colony a sense of identity, and the Centipedes provide a fun bit of chaos that keeps players on their toes. It’s the kind of game that rewards both careful thought and a willingness to take bold, ant-sized risks.

That said, it’s not without its small frustrations. The rulebook, while streamlined and full of examples, still hide a few edge cases that might stump first-timers and is ordered and laid out out in a somewhat confusing way to me. Combat can swing sharply on a single card, which won’t be for everyone. And

However joyously, because so much of the game’s rhythm comes from shared reactions to others’ turns, downtime is minimal, even in higher player counts. You are always involved and paying attention to other peoples turns. Overall, March of the Ants: Evolved Edition delivers a smart, engaging, and delightfully thematic 4X experience in under two hours, a feat that few games in the genre can claim.

I still find I am discovering new strategies, cards, and ways to play after multiple games. I am eager to come back for more, and right now, simply refuse to get up from my gaming table because I just want to play it again and again! The options available on your turns always feel juicy. I always want to do more. And the tight balance between the available resources to me and my desired goals keeps this game tight, interesting, rewarding, engaging throughout, and quite simply, a lot of fun to play.

Pros:

• Streamlined and approachable 4X gameplay in a compact format

• Unique ant colony theme that feels fresh and immersive

• Engaging upgrade system that encourages diverse strategies

• Strong production values and improved rulebook in the Evolved Edition

• Interactive turns with meaningful player reactions

  
  

Cons:

• Occasional rule ambiguities and learning curve for new players

• Combat outcomes can feel swingy due to card draws

• Theme and pacing may not satisfy players seeking heavier 4X depth

  
  

March of the Ants Review

March of the Ants: Evolved Edition takes everything that made the original stand out and polishes it into a sharp, engaging, and highly replayable package. It’s a rare 4X that manages to feel big in scope but light on complexity, delivering strategic depth without overstaying its welcome. The blend of exploration, combat, and colony-building creates a rich sense of progression, while the Evolved updates bring clarity, balance, and visual charm. It won’t please those hunting for a sprawling epic, but for players who want a fast, thematic, and beautifully designed strategy game that still rewards smart play and adaptability, this is one colony well worth joining.