In one of our reference videos a player opened Build an Ant Empire for the first time, set a goal of one million apples, blew past it in minutes, and finished the hour with $1 trillion. Only small Robux purchases (cash passes and a couple of food packs) were involved. Here is how the hour went.
Minutes 0–5: tutorial and daily rewards
The first ant cost $45. The daily reward handed out a Normal Speed Jelly and a Flying Saucer Ant — a Mythic in the first two minutes. Two quick nest expansions followed.
Minutes 5–15: Food Gain spam
Instead of chasing luck, the player hammered Food Gain Multiplier ("the best thing you can get") and bought every new ant. Cash jumped to $21M by roughly minute five of real progress.
Minutes 15–25: mutations and the first lost mount
Leaf and Bubblegum potions from rewards went onto the best ant, and a Mutation Removal Potion let them swap Leaf for Bubblegum (648K → 840K EFF). A mount-training attempt then killed an ant — a reminder to only train spares.
Minutes 25–35: Strawberry King and a Petal potion
Spinning the Strawberry King wheel ×10 dropped a Petal Mutation Potion. After removing the old mutation, the best ant reached 1.74M EFF.
Minutes 35–45: the Snail pet
A dungeon dropped a Snail Egg. The hatched Snail showed a 14.4× earnings boost, the single biggest jump of the run.
Minutes 45–60: Food Buyer and food packs
The Food Buyer arrived paying 2.5×, then a 29-Robux food pack (89B food) was sold at a ~2× multiplier. An Exotic Wizard Ant came next (a Starlight Generator Ant was rolled but too expensive at 150B), and the run crossed $1 trillion, finishing with a first Secret ant.
Takeaways
- Food Gain early beats luck early.
- Fill slots with whatever you can afford, then replace.
- Pets are a huge multiplier — don't skip dungeons.
- Sell big stacks at high multipliers or to the Food Buyer.
Read the full beginner guide for the same plan in checklist form.