‘It Returned To The Desert’ Tactically Battles Monstrous Ants

Meteor radiation is making local ants grow to colossal sizes. You’ll need to enlist help and fight back in tactical game It Returned To The Desert.

Dr. Mill is a geologist is in town to see what’s going on with the meteor. Even though he sees the huge ants first-hand, the people in town aren’t terribly inclined to believe him. Seeing as death is permanent in this game, Dr. Mill probably shouldn’t try to take on hordes of massive ants all on his own. Because of that, you’ll have to do what you can to convince people that these ants are real. So, you’ll need to collect evidence to use to get people on your side while you try to stay alive against the ravenous insects. If you can show a few people that it’s real, you’ll at least get some helpers in a fight.

Fighting the ants can be pretty challenging in this dusty area. While you can hear them scuttling around the grid map, the blowing sands make it hard to see them until they’re very close. You’ll need to approach carefully and stuck together so that when an ant shows up, you can fight it together. They’re fairly durable creatures, but you can target body parts to slow them down. That said, it’s downright terrifying listening to the sounds of their movements in the blowing grit all around you. A single step could have you blundering right into the ants, or they might just come charging out of the sandstorm right beside you. Hopefully you’ve convinced some people that they’re real so you’re not enduring this alone.

It Returned to the Desert is a stressful strategy game where you can die very quickly. It’s also a compelling adventure that will have you exploring and finding things that will get some more of the townsfolks on your side. If you can’t convince them to help you, you won’t survive long in the bleak desert.

It Returned To The Desert is available now on Steam.

About The Author

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.

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