Taking a page out of Lemmings’ playbook, but taking it in new directions, “Adamant Ants” is a refreshing update to a classic genre (though, it seems like yesterday that I first played Lemmings on the Commodore Amiga… I guess that’s because I’m old).
This is not your father’s (or mother’s) Lemmings. Yes you are modifying the traits of your charges to help them pick through rock, climb, etc., but you are also getting them to staff turrets to fight attacking birds.
There’s an interesting “sun” collecting element, where you have to move the cursor to collect falling suns, which attempt to distract you from commanding your ants but reward you with points.
The goals are different, too: rather than trying to get every Lemming you can to safety, here there’s a capture the flag element that has you interacting with a series of flags, and the level is won when any of your ants (rather than all of them) make it to the goal, which makes gameplay a little less tedious than it was on some levels of Lemmings, which is a nice enhancement. It’s a good 80 Microsoft Point effort from the developer of “Geriatrix – Zombie City”, which I also enjoyed.
Here’s what the developer (Pixel Junkie Games) has to say about the game:
“Command and protect a loyal and blindly obedient army of ants. With a variety of special ability upgrades, you must dig, fly, shoot and explode your way to victory as you attempt to rescue the queen ant who has been kidnapped by the evil worm and bird alliance. An addicting game of action and strategy for all ages!”
Writings of Mass Deduction 