5 replies to this topic

[fascinatedApe]

Hi fellow antlovers,

I'm a fascinated amateur who is also a hobby board game developer. My current Loveproject is a game about ants, playing as a colony colonizing the surrounding areas.

Since I want my game to be both fun and educational I was looking for specific data on different ants that would allow me to model the values in my game as closely as sensible to real world data.

Most studies and Journals are behind a paywall so I can't access them. I'm currently using formica rufa as my "model" ant, with plans to add more species if the game is a hit.

I'm looking for any sources of real world hard data on ants and ant colonies of any kind.

Just an example: Live Weight measurements, Sugar and Protein requirement individual/colony wise, average speed in terrain, digging speed.

The Data does not have to be a perfect fit and will have a wide range depending on many enviromental and species variables. But to develope a feeling for the magnitudes is what I'm looking for.

I'm not afraid of reading and would love your help in making this game as educational as possible.

Greetings
Mäx

[drawpositive]

There have been several ant themed board games already created (not trying to deter you in your mission, just informing you).

 

Myrmes and March of the Ants are two of the big ones: https://www.boardgam...e/126792/myrmes

 

https://www.boardgam...6496/march-ants

 

 

Here is a link to the complete list: https://www.boardgam...boardgamefamily

 

You may want to research some of these games before your creation goes too far into development (to either avoid redundancy or for inspiration)

[fascinatedApe]

Well thanks for the heads up. I did expect there to be a few games about ants, but I think mine will put a unique twist on it.

should you know any good places to look for more numerical information about ants I take any recommendations.

[TestSubjectOne]

Antwiki has a lot of information on behavior and morphology if you haven't been there yet, though I don't see specific measurements besides length. Good luck on your game and finding the information you want.

[Domagoj]

When it comes to scientific articles, paywalls are usually not an obstacle to getting the articles. A good deal of authors will happily send you a copy if you ask them since journals don't hold exclusive rights to them. Of course, finding a contact email may prove difficult, but last year I got in contact with one of the researchers working on fungus-farming ants and she was very helpful and took time out of her life to talk to me, a total stranger. I suppose researchers are just happy to know that there are people out there fascinated by ants just as much as they are.

[fascinatedApe]

When it comes to scientific articles, paywalls are usually not an obstacle to getting the articles. A good deal of authors will happily send you a copy if you ask them since journals don't hold exclusive rights to them. Of course, finding a contact email may prove difficult, but last year I got in contact with one of the researchers working on fungus-farming ants and she was very helpful and took time out of her life to talk to me, a total stranger. I suppose researchers are just happy to know that there are people out there fascinated by ants just as much as they are.

 

that's a great idea , I actually found quite a few Studies which could be interesting on researchgate where you can directly requrest a full text. Just not sure how often they look it up. But I could try and just research who is a expert about the topic I'm researching and try to find their contact Information. ... good Stuff thanks for the hint.

 

On another note, does anybody remeber there being like polls on this site about how much food your colony needs or other topics. I'm thinking there are probably alot of Ant keepers on here if any of them have anecdotal Information about their ants (like my colony is about 5.000 ants and eats 2 spoons of sugar and 1 Cockroach a day/week or whatever) that could also be helpful.

 

Sooo if there are any ant keepers out there who are have made any such observations about their colonies or are willing to start, Id love to hear from you. If this game ever makes it to market, which to be fair is a high bar, I will put the names of all the people who helped me somewhere on or in the game :-)

 

contact me at maximilian.rogers@gmail.com