Swarm Queen

About this game

You're an insectoid alien fighting over Jupiter’s moon Europa.

It’ll be a tough battle - a test of your strategy, intuition, and perseverance.

                           
      

Your minions control themselves, using "fuzzy logic" to pick the best target.

Your job as the queen is to focus on strategy.


Mutate your eggs so you can create combat minions - but you only have 4 "egg slots", so you must choose.

Make sure to spawn Harvester bugs to collect nectar resources.

When and what you choose to spawn or mutate is a big part of the tactical choice.

And always watch the chaos of battle. Predicting the outcome of a fight can help you decide your next move.


In each of the 21 campaign levels, the enemy Swarm Queen has a new unit or ability, which you then unlock for use in later levels.
                                          
The enemy queen spawns Harvesters, collects nectar, and unlocks units just like you do. She judges the situation and tries to counter you as best as she can.

The enemy’s advantage is that she has a surprise new unit or ability in each level. But, she usually only has access to a few other units. (You can view the enemy’s unit list before starting the level or in the “pause” screen in-game.)

                                 

Completing the campaign unlocks some “challenge levels”, which put a twist on normal gameplay.

You could also try going back and beating levels on hard mode (good luck!), or starting a “New Game Plus” (added in a free update) with extra nectar for both queens.


In the biggest update yet, version 2.0 includes an alternate "cartoon" art style, Steam achievements, visible enemy "emotions", an "easy" difficulty setting, and more!


Swarm Queen is inspired by insects, and classic sci-fi aliens like Xenomorphs, Zerg, and the "Bugs" from Starship Troopers. It's like a war between ant colonies, but in space!

                
A “100% scientifically accurate” depiction of Jupiter’s moon Europa, including all of the alien life. :)

                                                           
Swarm Queen is a one-man indie game from Canadian developer Helmi Bastami (it rhymes with "sell me pastrami"), and my first commercial release. I used to be a hobbyist animator and creator of Flash games on Flyborg dot net.

Latest news

• Patch Notes·6 Jun 2022Official

  The BIGGEST Update: Version 2.0.00, June 2022

  This is literally the biggest update. Here's what's new: ALTERNATE ART STYLE Contains an alternate "cartoon" art style, selectable from the main menu. Changes the look of all minions to a simpler and more expressive style. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/c0ce61c26698a242aeff9b6fbc6e1e842c3fc416.jpg STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS Swarm Queen finally has Steam achievements! (55 of them, to be precise.) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/4a72dc0746ee96a6d5276fa9060fd9a509311179.jpg VISIBLE ENEMY "EMOTIONS" Did you know that the enemy does not (usually) cheat? She collects nectar and mutates her eggs just like you. She has to evaluate the situation to determine what to spend her resources on. But this wasn't very obvious to the player.. until now! You can now see the enemy Queen's "opinion" about her economy (Harvesters), army size, and egg mutation level. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/809101eee465c3344859b1d5bc5fd614e2e8f523.jpg While we're at it, I noticed a lot of players spending time counting the enemy Harvesters to compare with your own. So this number is now also visible to the player. "EASY" DIFFICULTY The new "Easy" difficulty setting is available after level 2, and it functions as the opposite of "Hard"; instead of upgrading the enemy Harvesters to provide +1 nectar, it upgrades yours. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/ccfe5c82c659d7d200d8d6294e44da57e4419227.jpg (BUT you can't get "3 stars" on a level unless you complete it on "Normal" or higher.) TRANSLATIONS The game has now been professionally translated into several languages! (简体中文, Español, Português do Brasil, Deutsch, Русский) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/1b3bdbab9bdf15051b3e01e45dbfe90bce5a3dc9.jpg If you're reading this (in English), it's probably not a huge deal. But I think it's cool. MISC UPDATES MAP AND MENU All menu screens have gone through an additional art pass, and they look a bit more spiffy. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/110b30bd5a414ec5a18e67680e62b68d363f6ee4.jpg UNIT ANIMATIONS Some of the unit animations have always a...
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• Announcements·12 Apr 2022Official

  Steam Achievements, Translations, and More, Coming Soon – Requesting Feedback!

  A big update is coming soon to Swarm Queen, including Steam achievements, an alternate art style, translations (Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Russian), and a bunch more features and improvements to be revealed later. I’d love feedback from anyone who wants to try it early. To access the beta, right-click on Swarm Queen in your Steam library, hit "properties", go to “BETAS”, and enter the password “testingupdate”. UPDATE JUNE 6th 2022: Thanks for the feedback! The beta test is complete, and this update is now live! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30693806/19d3cccded015bd6fdb915d4451074452735b5ce.jpg I really appreciate feedback, especially if you find a bug or a translation mistake! ----------------------------- BETA PATCHES: April 21st: Performance optimization, and fixed a bug identified by a player. April 25th: Returned the sky, which was broken in the previous update. June 5th: A few minor graphics updates/fixes.
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• Patch Notes·20 May 2019Official

  BIG 1.2.00 update - NG+, plus!

  https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30693806/14a655731859a3776f87e81b7fc3401517ccb753.jpg NEW FEATURES: NEW MODE: NEW GAME PLUS! (more info below) Swarm Queen now has Steam trading cards and badges! Now includes a "Swarmpedia" (on the map screen) with info on unlocked minions and basic game mechanics. QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30693806/829113438587dd9a9f6f048fc036791984bdd036.png Each level now shows which minions are unlocked for that level. This is a much-requested feature that should help with replaying previously-completed levels. (also shows in the "Escape" menu in-game) CHANGES TO UPGRADES: The "REVENGE" upgrades used to only trigger when your Queen fell below 25% health, making them useless if you want to 3-star a level. They now all trigger when EITHER Queen falls below 50% health. The upgrades menu has been redone. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30693806/ab4a610e4df55ba408bca798a28f63dd6b936865.png BALANCE UPDATES: Level 11: Enemy no longer has access to Spewers, Neurotoxin or Bio-Nuke. MISC CHANGES: Various minor menu/map/settings screen visual improvements. The Twitch.tv gimmick that nobody uses should look less cluttered (names are half the size, and only for your own minions) The "Challenge Levels" screen has been redone. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30693806/886837a9a68ba89872c49458c66be7545e7e092c.png BUG FIXES: Challenge level: "Survival": Enemy wasn't actually getting extra nectar. Challenge level: "Super Wormy": Wormy-speed carried over into regular levels. Challenge level: "Infinite Nectar" (hard mode): Slow mutations carried over into regular levels. Challenge level: "Silly Speed": The enemy Swarm Queen would randomly become unable to take damage. All levels: Wormy was doing extra damage to you on "Hard" difficulty (unintended). NEW GAME PLUS DETAILS: If you have a save fil...
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• Patch Notes·7 May 2019Official

  Upcoming Patch / Features

  Hey! There's a decent-sized patch coming to Swarm Queen next week, with a "new game plus" mode, Steam trading cards, a "Swarmpedia" with minion-info on the map screen, and various small menu improvements and bug fixes. (Details will be in full patch notes on release.) If you want to test it early (except trading cards which won't be active until next week), you can right-click on the game in your Steam library, and then in properties -> betas, enter the code "testing12345". -Helmi
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• Patch Notes·8 Jan 2018Official

  Patch 1.1.00 // THIRD PATCH! A BIG ONE!

  BIG UPDATES: > Swarm Queen now contains an "evolution" upgrades tree! Customize your Queen by spending the stars that you get from completing levels! > 3 additional challenge levels have been added! > Hat. HAT. THERE'S A HAT. THERE'S A F***ING HAT!!! MISC CHANGES: > The "challenge levels" menu has been redesigned. BALANCE CHANGES: > Neurotoxin deals +2 damage, but it won't make ground minions run away for nearly as long. > Skitterbug cost reverted back to 30 from 33. > Smartbug Launchers and Siege Caterpillars have slightly shorter range. > The enemy should be slightly better at dealing with "smartbug"-shooting minions > Level 5: Enemy no longer has access to Neurotoxin. > Level 6: Enemy no longer has access to Spewers. > Level 7: Enemy no longer has access to Skitterbugs. > Level 8: Enemy no longer has access to Bio-Nuke. BUG FIXES: > The extra nectar granted in certain Challenge Levels will no longer carry over into regular levels. > The extra nectar gathered by enemy harvesters in hard mode will no longer apply to challenge levels. > Goop Slug and the Nuke organ will now properly "purple-out" when you can't afford to mutate eggs into them. > Changed "less minions" to "fewer minions" because that's how to language the words more good like. > stealth update v1.1.00b > Tank damage reduced by 1, and attack speed increased slightly. (They should be slightly better countered by melee minions, as they should be.) > Neurotoxin damage cap increased slightly. (It's slightly better against large minions, such as Tanks and Sky Queen) > Waddle Rockets will look further for a large target, such as Sky Queens. > Fixed a visual bug with 2-star hard-mode-completed levels on the map. Previous patches: http://steamcommunity.com/games/701870/announcements/detail/1598081006386279861 http://steamcommunity.com/games/701870/announcements/detail/1598081006356965900
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