Pretty fun idea! Directional input with isometric tiles is always a bit tricky, but otherwise the UI was pretty clear. I probably would have preferred mouse input, but I guess that’s not how PICO-8 works.
Strategy-wise, I feel like this game could use a little more depth. Seems like Flies and Locust Swarms are pretty much always the best thing to use, while ants are extremely underpowered. Maybe having some enemy types to higher amounts of damage would help with that.