The episode begins with Elliot annoyed that Josh is playing a video game called "Ant Invasion" in the middle of the night, keeping him awake. Elliot complains the next day, but Josh is unfazed. To prove the game is harder than Elliot is making it out to be, Josh dares him to clear the first level. And so, Elliot begins playing the game himself. After Elliot succeeds, Josh asks for the game back, but Elliot insists on continuing further. Elliot spends the rest of the day absorbed in the game, and Josh has to track him down in the night when he's still playing the game. Josh tries to take back the game, but Elliot insists on at least finishing the current level he's on before returning it.
The next morning, Elliot is still distracted by the game, even playing it during class, getting him in trouble. Edgar brings Elliot to the principal's office, and Malcolm decides to confiscate the game for a while so that Elliot can get a break from it. Josh is angry when he finds out Elliot got the game confiscated, but Elliot swears he'll get it back.
During the night, Elliot sneaks out of his and Josh's room and manages to take the game back from Malcolm's office. However, Edgar and Malcolm catch him and take it back. Elliot wants to finish the last level, but Malcolm and Edgar note that Elliot has been getting too caught up in it and Edgar wants to dispose of the game. He throws it into a chute, admitting no one knows what exactly is down it. Elliot tries going in after it, and finds himself in the basement.
Elliot hears a voice asking "How many players?", and uncertainly replies "One". Elliot suddenly finds parts of the room pixelated, and realizes the first level of the game has been recreated as he finds himself facing a giant ant. Remembering how to clear the level, he manages to escape.
Victoria complains to Janice about Elliot accidentally bumping into her and ruining her art project, as Janice goes to find Elliot who had promised to help her with algebra. Elsewhere, Elliot finds himself having to get through Level 2 in real life. He ends up accidentally spraying Janice with a fire extinguiser and tries to warn her about the situation. However, Janice points out that there are no ants nearby. Elliot insists they were there, and Janice tries to get him to help with her algebra. Elliot is too caught up in trying to figure out what's going on, and an annoyed Janice decides to leave.
As she leaves, the level resumes, and Elliot must escape more giant ants. Elliot finds himself in Malcolm's office, and tries to explain the situation to Malcolm and Gilbert. However, they don't understand what's going on. Figuring they won't believe him, he decides to exit the office. Meanwhile, Janice vents her frustration to Josh, who notes how odd it is for Elliot to turn her down.
Having fled outside, Elliot hears the voice telling him Level 3 will now begin. Escaping some flying ants, Elliot runs into Master, who gives him a bottle of ant spray. Elliot realizes that the ants only appear when he's alone, and asks Master if it's okay if he sticks around for the day, only to realize Master has already left and is chased by ants again.
Elliot goes to find his friends, and suggests they hang out, but they're still mad at him and leave. Elliot meets with Edgar, and suggests he stick around to watch him finish the work for the classes he's missed. However, Edgar leaves him to work alone in a room, and Elliot is dragged back into the game by ants. He soon finds himself having to face the boss level.
Elliot's friends find the shoe Elliot dropped, and hear his screams, and go to investigate. Facing down the Queen Ant, Elliot asks his friends if they know how to deal with the situation, but they think he's just playing the game again. Elliot can't get them to realize the actual danger he's in, and Josh just admits he never reached that point in the game before Elliot took it. Janice suggests using bug spray, and Elliot uses the ant spray he got from Master earlier.
Finally defeating the Ant, the others comment on how caught up in the game Elliot was and Josh asks him to return it. However, having had enough, Elliot destroys the game, and promises Josh to buy him a different one to replace it later. The episode ends with principal Malcolm picking up the game, and trying it out himself.
