Crawling Closer to an Ant Victory in March of the Ants
Follow along with another session report about the ants and the centipedes in March of the Ants.
I usually have goals laid out for various solo games. Sometimes I aspire to reach a victory point threshold, and other times I just want to win! Well, March of the Ants has me on the march for my first victory with the expansion, March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow. It’s been a real challenge so far, and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed!
Game Overview
Game Name: March of the Ants
Publication Year: 2015
Designer: Tim Eisner and Ryan Swisher
Artist: Tim Eisner, Ryan Swisher, and Peter Wocken
Solo Mode: Expanded with Minions of the Meadow
Everyone probably knows the basic concepts by now of managing an ant colony and its precious resources. So I skipped ahead a little bit with my photos…
Suffice to say that things didn’t look good early on! This giant fungus showed up and made a mess of the mud.
First Play
March 4, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
March 27, 2022
Expansions
2
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
25
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
26
Game Area
34" x 24"
Low Score
4
Clawing for Survival
I had a pretty good thing going throughout the first 2 of the 4 seasons. Resources were plentiful, centipedes were practically nonexistent, and my ants were thriving!
Unfortunately, a few missteps turned into a disaster. The lovely fungus was too much to deal with. It killed 3 ants who were herding valuable aphids.
The centipedes also proved to be disastrous. They were just biding their time, waiting to pop out of the tunnels.
By the very end, I went from a healthy colony of about 12 ants down to a meager 3 ants. Ouch!
A Towering Centipede
Perhaps the good news with this session involved the centipede broodmother… I found her again! So that’s still positive, even though I have no skills to defeat her. Yet.
I normally don’t go for accessories and add-ons that are purely cosmetic, but this was a different story!
Here, I think I finally captured the size difference between the broodmother and a standard, lowly centipede. Watch out! She’s quite monstrous, and a terror to behold.
So that should also explain why the unusual monster noises emanating from my game table exist. Ha ha!
The Strange Joy of Defeat
The overall goal of every board game, possibly except for a very limited handful, is to win. When I flitted from game to game in a blurry whirlwind, I really was focused on winning. Since I was about to pack up the game again and not play it again for months or even years, it felt much better to record the victory. Defeats were just… Terrible.
But I’ve been readjusting my thought process this year. Sticking with the same game for a while has given a lot more meaning to the losses. It isn’t just a case of, “Oh, I guess I’ll try harder next time!” I can pinpoint specific problem areas and try a better strategy with my next play. I’m notoriously slow at the process, but it’s still fun!
At the same time, victories feel a lot more meaningful for me. All of those endless defeats end up leading to that one exciting moment when I can properly celebrate! It feels like a full journey, rather than a single disjointed play.
Session Overview
Play Number: 14
Expansion: March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow
Solo Mode: Expanded with Minions of the Meadow
Play Details: Easy Expansion Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 34″ x 24″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 40 Minutes
Outcome: 17-28 (Loss)
You probably guessed the outcome early on. Still, I made a little progress in taking down both health levels. I don’t think I’ve done that before. Progress!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
9
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Broodmother
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 expansion game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the hard difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Do you enjoy the challenges present in March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow? Have you had any similar experiences with continuous defeats finally leading to a victory? I tend to take my time with solo board games, and that also ties into the time spent working towards a win. It may not be tomorrow, but I will destroy the broodmother!
With the huge quantity of good boardgames that have come out over the last few years, I’ve tended to shift around a lot. But in the last year or so I’ve been buying less, and playing a bit more of the games I like most. That’s not always the games my friends like, but fortunately most of them are soloable…
Sounds like you and I are right about in the same place! I love new games, but there are just so many to choose from. I’m a lot pickier now and find that something has to grab me completely for me to consider it. It’s nice to be discovering and rediscovering some older games, too. Many went right under my radar!
Thank goodness for solo games, too. My gaming group tends to only play a new game once or twice, then move onto the next new game. I fear a lot of my games would end up forgotten if it wasn’t for playing solo!