Player Guide

How to Play Formiga

Formiga is a deterministic colony strategy game. Random events happen, but your epoch decisions drive the outcome.

Your job is to keep the queen alive and the colony stable through all epochs. Each pause is a chance to rebalance before the next wave of pressure.

1. Win Condition

  • You win by surviving all configured epochs.
  • You lose when queen HP reaches 0.
  • Queen HP usually drops from starvation, predators, and hazards near the nest.

2. Core Loop

  • The simulation runs in ticks.
  • Every epoch, the game pauses and opens a decision modal.
  • Choose stance (Expand, Fortify, Brood) and role allocation (foragers, soldiers, nurses).
  • Confirm, then watch results and repeat.

3. Read These First

  • Food Store: if this trends down, fix it immediately.
  • Queen HP: your true survival clock.
  • Risk Forecast: predator surge, starvation, nest hazards.
  • Epoch report: what caused losses last epoch.
  • Decision preview: projected food, brood, and threat before confirming.

4. Stance Guide

  • Expand: best for recovering food and scouting more efficiently.
  • Fortify: best for predator pressure and nest defense.
  • Brood: best for growth when risks are already low.

5. Allocation Guide

  • More foragers increases food income.
  • More soldiers reduces predator damage and queen pressure.
  • More nurses accelerates brood growth, but can hurt food balance if overused.
  • Use diagnostics chips in the modal to avoid extreme imbalance.

6. Counterplay (Event Epochs)

  • Shield nest: lowers queen damage, but increases food upkeep.
  • Scout surge: helps food discovery, but weakens soldier damage.
  • Rationing: cuts food usage, but slows brood progress.
  • Pick counterplay for your biggest current risk, not your ideal future state.

7. Simple Plan for New Players

  • Early game: prioritize stable food (Expand + forager-heavy).
  • If predators spike: switch to Fortify and raise soldiers.
  • When risks are low: move to Brood for growth.
  • If the game offers a Recommended setup, use it as baseline and fine-tune.