Ant Attack

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1983 video game

title: "Ant Attack" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1983-video-games", "commodore-64-games", "quicksilva-games", "single-player-video-games", "video-games-about-ants", "video-games-developed-in-the-united-kingdom", "video-games-inspired-by-m.-c.-escher", "video-games-with-gender-selectable-protagonists", "video-games-with-isometric-graphics", "zx-spectrum-games", "action-games"] description: "1983 video game" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_Attack" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1983 video game ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox video game"]

FieldValue
titleAnt Attack
image3d ant attack cover art.jpg
altAnt Attack cassette cover art
captionCover art by David John Rowe
developerSandy White
publisherQuicksilva
engineSoftsolid 3D
platformsZX Spectrum, Commodore 64
released(Spectrum)
1984 (C64)
genreAction
modesSingle-player
::

|title = Ant Attack |image = 3d ant attack cover art.jpg |alt = Ant Attack cassette cover art |caption = Cover art by David John Rowe |developer = Sandy White |publisher = Quicksilva |engine = Softsolid 3D |platforms = ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 |released = (Spectrum) 1984 (C64) |genre = Action |modes = Single-player

Ant Attack is an action video game developed by Sandy White for the ZX Spectrum and published by Quicksilva in 1983. A Commodore 64 version was released in 1984.

While Zaxxon and Q*bert previously used isometric projection, Ant Attack added an extra degree of freedom (ability to go up and down instead of just north, south, east and west), and it may be the first isometric game for PCs. The same type of isometric projection was used in Sandy White's later Zombie Zombie. It was also one of the first games to allow players to choose their gender.

Gameplay

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/3d_ant_attack_1.gif" caption="ZX Spectrum in-game screenshot"] ::

The player chooses whether to control the character of "Girl" or "Boy", who then enters the walled city of Antescher to rescue the other, who has been captured and immobilised somewhere in the city.

The city is inhabited by giant ants which chase and attempt to bite the player. The player can defend themselves by throwing grenades at the ants, but these can also harm the humans. Once the hostage is rescued, the two must escape the city. The game then starts again with the hostage located in a different, harder-to-reach part of the city.

Development

Almost all of the game code was written by hand on paper using assembler mnemonics, then manually assembled, with the resulting hexadecimal digits typed sequentially into an external EEPROM emulator device (aka SoftROM or "softie") attached to a host Spectrum. Similarly, the character graphics and other custom sprites were all hand-drawn on squared paper and manually converted to strings of hex data. Additionally, some minor add-on routines such as high score registration were added on to the core game using regular Sinclair BASIC.

The game's setting of "Antescher" is a reference to the artist M. C. Escher.

Reception

|CRASH = 85% |CVG = 30/40 |rev1 = Personal Computer Games |rev1Score = 7/10

Ant Attack was well received by gaming press. The game was nominated in the 1983 Golden Joystick Awards for Best Original Game of the Year, eventually coming second to Ah Diddums. The ZX Spectrum version was rated number 14 in the ''Your Sinclair'''s Official Top 100 Games of All Time.

In 2009, the staff of Edge wrote that it "marked the very beginnings of the survival horror genre".

References

References

  1. (April 1985). "On the Cover".
  2. (November 1990). "Hall of Fame: Ant Attack". Future Publishing.
  3. Sandy White. "Sandy White - an Ant Attack homepage".
  4. Whitehead, Dan. (Mar 8, 2013). "Code Britannia: Sandy White". Eurogamer.net.
  5. "CRASH 1 - 3D Ant Attack".
  6. Wilkins, Chris. (Oct 10, 2007). "Ant Attack". Eurogamer.net.
  7. "SoftROM mini feature, Issue 2, March 1984". Your Sinclair online archive.
  8. (23 November 2011). "Video interview with Sandy White". Youtube.
  9. "Comments guestbook with owner's replies, page one". Sandy White personal homepage.
  10. (February 1984). "Soft Solid 3D Ant Attack".
  11. (16 November 1983). "Awesome Ants Leap to the Attack!".
  12. Cooke, Steve. (February 1984). "Screen Test".
  13. [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue029/Pages/CVG02900015.jpg "The Golden Joystick Award"], [[C&VG]], Issue 29.
  14. (September 1993). "Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time". Your Sinclair.
  15. Edge staff. (2009-07-31). "The Making Of: Ant Attack". [[Edge (magazine).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1983-video-gamescommodore-64-gamesquicksilva-gamessingle-player-video-gamesvideo-games-about-antsvideo-games-developed-in-the-united-kingdomvideo-games-inspired-by-m.-c.-eschervideo-games-with-gender-selectable-protagonistsvideo-games-with-isometric-graphicszx-spectrum-gamesaction-games