Age of Empires

Age of Empires (often abbreviated as AoE) is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios on October 15, 1997 in North America and on February 2, 1998 in Europe and Japan.

Ancient civilizations, epic battles

The game takes place over a period between 5000 BC. BC and 800 AD During which the player must evolve a civilization through four ages: the Stone Age, the Tool Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The four campaigns of the game retrace events in the history of four civilizations: ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Babylon and Japan from the Yamato period. In the first of these, which also serves as a tutorial, the player is entrusted with the destiny of Egypt from the establishment of a village on the banks of the Nile to the construction of a pyramid. The Greek campaign traces the advent of city-states, the war between Athens and Sparta, the fall of Troy and the conquests led by Alexander the Great. The player then follows the Yamato clan in his struggle to unify Japan before witnessing the Babylonian rise in power in the Euphrates Valley and the wars with the Egyptians and Assyrians.

Gather resources to build your empire

Age of Empires is about the player developing a civilization starting from an ancient group of villagers the must gather resources, hunt and farm to reach a great empire in the Iron Ages. To win, the player must collect resources to build buildings, develop new technologies and create an army capable of defeating the enemy army and destroy its base. Resources must also be preserved since they are not renewed during the game – for example, when a tree is felled it will not grow back4.5.

Twelve civilizations competing and advancing in time

Twelve civilizations are available, each providing the player with a variety of technologies and units. Each civilization also has unique technologies, none of them having all the technologies available in the game. One of the major elements of the game is the possibility for the player to evolve his civilization through the four ages mentioned before. This evolution is done through a unique research. Each passage to a more advanced age providing the player with new technologies, weapons and units5,7.