Everyone sees the same colony

Because visitors only look at a shared copy, a hundred people watching costs no more than one.

An AI makes the big decisions

The colony asks the AI to choose from a short list of options. It never writes anything, it only picks. Most of the time nothing is being decided and the colony just follows its rules. Here is what it's asked, and when:

• What matters most right now?dig, find food, tend babies, defend, rest, or build something hugeevery 10 minutes, on a clock
• Where should we dig next?one of about 12 spots, each described in a linewhenever the diggers run out of work
• What is this new room for?nursery, food store, garden, barracks and moreas soon as a room is finished
• What should we build now that we're many?a giant hall, a deep well, twin towers and morewhen the colony reaches 500, 2,000 and 5,000 ants
• A flood or cave-in! What now?evacuate, repair, seal it off, or give up the areathe moment one happens

A young colony means few decisions, because there's little to dig and few rooms to finish. As the nest grows, decisions come faster. If the same situation came up in the last 5 minutes, the earlier answer is reused instead of asking again.

If the AI is slow, gives a bad answer, or has used up its daily allowance, simple built-in rules decide instead. The colony never stops.

Plain rules do everything else

Digging, eating, eggs growing into ants, the seasons, rain and cave-ins all follow fixed rules. Harder soil digs slower, winter slows everything, and the colony can only grow as fast as it can dig new space.

The ants you see are drawn by your screen

The colony only keeps track of a few dozen work crews. Your browser turns each crew into individual ants and walks them through the real tunnels. That's why you can see hundreds of ants without a big server. Your screen is drawing – ants right now.

Time here

Every 10 seconds the colony takes a step. One real hour is one colony day, and a season lasts 20 days. The sun in the sky follows the same clock.

Right now: –