I’ve Been Thinking About SimAnt

I bought SimAnt from the scholastic book store — I saw it and I knew I wanted it. Do you remember it? You played as an ant colony and your goal was to move into the house and drive the humans out, I think. I got as far as the kitchen until I got owned by the red ants.

I think I was in elementary school when I got this game (1997? 1998?), an age where I was too young to understand some of the game mechanics — like fighting other ants. I sucked at that. I sucked at creating efficient colonies and sucked at leaving pheromone trails to food sources. (What was wrong with me?) Instead, I wanted to build the biggest ant colony I could. Being the yellow ant, I dug hard and fast while getting serviced food by the other worker ants (thanks bitches). I remember the first time I made queen ants and moved out into a different part of the lawn. That was pretty cool.

In almost every single SimAnt game, I was eaten by a spider. I never managed to kill it. Sometimes, I’d see it in the distance and I’d try to escape it. Other times, it’d be right by the ant hills. Speaking of, remember the antlions, the lawnmowers, and drowning from rain pooling into your ant colony? They sucked too. This game is probably the reason I hate going outside when it rains.

To play SimAnt, check this site out here.