Myrmes

Overview

Myrmes is a worker placement and area control game where players manage ant colonies. Over 3 game years (12 seasons), players birth new ants, explore territory, harvest resources, complete objectives for the Queen, and fight rival ants. Each year has 3 active seasons plus a winter maintenance phase. The most efficient colony scores the most points.

Components

• 1 game board (outdoor terrain with hexes)
• Player colony boards (underground nest)
• Ant worker tokens
• Nurse tokens
• Soldier tokens
• Larvae tokens
• Resource tokens (soil, stone, food)
• Pheromone tiles
• Objective cards (Queen’s requests)
• Season/year track
• VP tokens

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center.
2. Each player takes a colony board and starting ants/resources.
3. Shuffle objective cards and display a set for each difficulty level.
4. Set the season track to Year 1, Spring.
5. Determine first player.

Turn Structure

Each active season (Spring, Summer, Autumn):

1. Event Phase: Reveal the season event affecting all players.
2. Birth Phase: Use nurses to produce larvae, which become workers, soldiers, or nurses.
3. Worker Phase: Assign ant workers to colony tasks or outdoor actions.
4. Harvest Phase: Collect resources from controlled terrain.
5. Objective Phase: Complete Queen’s objectives for VP.

Winter (Maintenance)

• Feed your colony (spend food based on colony size).
• Unfed ants die.
• Pheromones fade (remove some territory markers).

Actions

Colony Actions (Underground)

Action	Effect
Dig tunnels	Expand your nest, gaining new action spaces
Nurse	Produce larvae from nurses
Upgrade	Evolve larvae into workers, soldiers, or nurses

Outdoor Actions

Action	Effect
Explore	Send workers out to claim terrain hexes
Place pheromones	Mark territory with pheromone tiles (area control)
Hunt	Capture prey for food and VP
Fight	Remove rival pheromones from contested hexes
Gather	Collect resources from the surface

Objectives

Complete the Queen’s objectives by spending specific resource combinations. Higher-difficulty objectives yield more VP.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

VP comes from:

Source	Points
Completed objectives	Varies by difficulty
Pheromone territory	Points per controlled hex
Special achievements	Bonus tiles
Hunting prey	Points per prey captured
Nest development	Points for expanded tunnels

After 3 years (12 seasons), the player with the most VP wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Soldiers are needed to fight rival ants on contested hexes.
• Pheromone tiles degrade during winter – plan for territory loss.
• Food shortage in winter kills unfed ants, potentially crippling your colony.
• Some terrain hexes provide specific resources; placement of pheromones determines what you can harvest.
• The event each season affects all players equally (weather, predators, etc.).

Player Reference

Phase	Action
Event	Reveal seasonal event
Birth	Use nurses to create larvae
Worker	Assign workers to tasks
Harvest	Collect resources from territory
Objective	Complete Queen’s requests for VP
Winter	Feed colony; pheromones fade
End	After 3 years (12 seasons); most VP wins