Antheads

Lore & Background

The game takes place five years after It Came From the Desert in January 1956 and expands on the possible second Ant Queen mentioned in the first game's ending. The player character is Brick Nash, a war veteran and now working as a truck driver who has stolen a detonator for an atomic bomb because his younger brother Andy is a tester for the weapon. Nash fears that the Army's then-ignorance of radiation will cause his brother and other testers to die. Nash must find evidence that will prove radiation is fatal, as well as help the town fend off the new ant army. Brick Nash is an ex-fighter pilot who has recently returned from the Korean War, responding to a warning of thousands of potential deaths due to atomic testing in the desert outside the town of Lizard Breath. Whereas the protagonist of the first game – Dr.

Reader's Guide

Antheads was developed as a follow-up to It Came From the Desert, which had received rave reviews and sold thousands of copies. David Riordan from Cinemaware explained that the Desert gaming environment was constructed to allow for alternative scenarios, so they did not have to start over from scratch. Antheads was one of eight other scenarios they could not include in the original Desert. Programmer Randy Platt came up with the idea of using the original environment but layering in a new story. Riordan loved the concept that people would turn into zombie-like creatures that would help the ants take over. The technical crew figured out how to do it so players could buy a single disk upgrade to the original game. Reception was generally positive: John Scott from Games International (July 1990) rated gameplay and graphics an excellent 9 out of 10, though he found it too similar to the original. Mark Patterson from CU Amiga (May 1990) rated it 95%, calling it one of the best sequels to date. Gary Whitta from The One (June 1990) rated it 91%, noting it did not radically change the original but provided the next episode. Phil South from ACE (June 1990) declared it a better game than the original, especially for the ant transformation sequence. The Games Machine (June 1990) said if you liked the original, you would love this because it is more of the same. Zzap!64 praised the story and declared the gameplay different enough to justify the price.

Did You Know?

• Antheads was one of eight other scenarios that could not be included in the original It Came From the Desert.
• The player character Brick Nash is a war veteran and truck driver who has stolen a detonator for an atomic bomb.
• Townspeople transform into ants in front of Nash, a concept David Riordan described as zombie-like creatures helping the ants take over.
• The game was sold as a single disk upgrade to the original game.

Narrative & Setting

The story unfolds in January 1956, five years after the events of the original title, and builds upon a tantalizing thread left dangling in the first game's conclusion: the possibility of a second Ant Queen. The protagonist this time is Brick Nash, a Korean War veteran and former fighter pilot who has settled into a life as a truck driver. His journey begins when he steals a detonator belonging to an atomic bomb, driven by the fear that the Army's willful ignorance of radiation's dangers will kill his younger brother Andy, who works as a weapons tester, along with other test subjects. Nash must gather proof that radiation is lethal while simultaneously defending the desert town of Lizard Breath from a fresh ant invasion. Unlike the well-known Dr. Greg Bradley of the first installment, Nash is a complete stranger to the community, and the horror is compounded when townspeople begin transforming into ants right before his eyes.

Development & Design Philosophy

Cinemaware's David Riordan explained that the decision to create a follow-up was driven by the overwhelming success of the original, which earned rave reviews, industry awards, and strong sales. The team had already built the desert environment with flexibility in mind, meaning they could layer new scenarios onto existing infrastructure without rebuilding from the ground up. Antheads was, in fact, one of eight alternative storylines that simply did not fit within the original release. Programmer Randy Platt proposed the approach of reusing the established world while weaving in an entirely new narrative, and Riordan was particularly drawn to the idea of townspeople mutating into zombie-like creatures that aid the ant takeover. The technical team devised a way to deliver the content as a single-disk upgrade, allowing owners of the first game to slot in the new chapter seamlessly. Riordan described the result as though the two titles were a single game released in serial installments, with Antheads carrying the desert experience to its next logical step.

Critical Reception

Reviewers in 1990 were broadly enthusiastic, though they consistently noted the expansion's close kinship with its predecessor. John Scott of Games International felt the game leaned too heavily on the original and wished for more varied graphics and a fresh soundtrack, yet he still awarded both gameplay and visuals a nine out of ten, acknowledging that the modest price tag made it a no-brainer for existing fans. Mark Patterson in CU Amiga gave it a remarkable 95 percent and called it one of the finest sequels he had encountered, recommending it to anyone who already owned the base game. Gary Whitta of The One scored it 91 percent and argued that the lack of radical change was actually a virtue, since the core mechanics already worked brilliantly and simply needed a new mystery and fresh puzzles wrapped around them. Phil South in ACE went further, declaring Antheads superior to the original thanks to the terrifying ant-transformation sequence, and suggested it could even entice players who had never touched the first title. The Games Machine summed up the consensus with a simple "more of the same," while Zzap!64 praised the storytelling and found the gameplay shifts sufficient to justify the purchase.

Legacy & the Expansion Model

Published by Cinemaware in 1990, Antheads occupies a distinctive niche in early adventure-game history as a single-disk upgrade rather than a standalone sequel. The concept of delivering a new chapter on one disk, slotting it into the existing installation, was a practical and economical approach that treated the two titles almost as serialized episodes of a single narrative. Riordan's vision of the desert environment as a reusable stage capable of supporting multiple stories proved that a well-constructed game world could outlive its initial release and generate further content without the expense of a full rebuild. The fact that Antheads was merely one of eight scenarios the team had developed but could not include in the original package underscores how much creative material the engine could support. For players in 1990, the expansion represented a low-cost way to extend an already beloved experience, and reviewers frequently noted that the modest price made the additional story, puzzles, and the unsettling transformation sequence an easy recommendation. In the broader context of 1990 video gaming, Antheads stands as a notable early example of the additive-content model that would become far more common in later decades.