Age of Empires facts for kids

Age of Empires is a super popular series of real-time strategy computer games. These games were created by Ensemble studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. In Age of Empires, you get to guide a group of people through different times in history!

The Story So Far

There are three main games in the Age of Empires series: Age of Empires, Age of Empires II, and Age of Empires III. There is also a special game called Age of Mythology. This game is a spinoff because it's similar to Age of Empires, but you can also control cool monsters like the cyclops!

After the original creators, Ensemble Studios, closed down, another game was made. It was called Age of Empires Online. This game is "free to play". This means you don't have to pay money to start playing. But, you can buy extra things inside the game if you want to.

Years later, some of the older games got a fresh new look! Age of Empires I (released in 2018) and Age of Empires II (released in 2019) now have Definitive Editions. These versions have much better graphics and other improvements. A Definitive Edition for Age of Empires III is also being made.

How Do You Play?

In Age of Empires, you usually start with a small tribe of people. Your goal is to help them build a big, strong city. These people are called villagers. They can do many helpful things:

• They can hunt deer or collect berries for food.
• They can chop down trees to get wood.
• They can dig in mines to find gold and stone.

Your villagers use these resources to build all sorts of buildings. This helps your small town grow into a large city!

You will also find enemy cities in the game. Your goal is to destroy them! Once you have enough food, wood, gold, and stone, you can train soldiers. These soldiers will fight your enemies. At the start of the game, you only have weak soldiers. But as time goes on, you can get stronger and better units.

Each game takes place over several time periods, called ages. You always start in the first age. Your goal is to reach the last age. Each Age of Empires game has its own set of ages:

• In Age of Empires, you start in the Stone Age.
  • To reach the Tool Age, you need 500 food.
  • To reach the Bronze Age, you need 800 food.
  • To reach the Iron Age, you need 1000 food and 800 gold.
• In Age of Empires II (also known as Age of Kings), you start in the Dark Age.
  • To reach the Feudal Age, you need 500 food.
  • To reach the Castle Age, you need 800 food and 200 gold.
  • To reach the Imperial Age, you need 1000 food and 800 gold.
• In Age of Empires III, you start in the Discovery Age.
  • To reach the Colonial Age, you need 800 food.
  • To reach the Fortress Age, you need 1200 food and 1000 gold.
  • To reach the Industrial Age, you need 2000 food and 1200 gold.
  • To reach the Imperial Age, you need 4000 food and 4000 gold.

When you have enough food and gold, you can advance to the next age. After a short wait, your city will reach the new age. Your buildings will look different, and you can do new things. You can also get new, powerful soldiers! These include archers (who shoot with bows), cavalry (warriors on horses), catapults (machines that throw stones), and artillery (big guns that shoot cannon balls). You can also build strong walls and towers to defend your city. You can even build amazing Wonders that give you special benefits.

The Age of Empires games are known for being fair. The game makes sure that no single type of soldier is too powerful. There's always a way to defeat a large group of enemy units. For example, if many archers are attacking, you might fight back with cavalry or artillery. Many players call this balance. It means that no one unit can become too strong and win every time.

The Age of Empires games let you choose from many different groups of people, called civilizations. Each group has its own unique soldiers and special abilities.

There are four common ways to play Age of Empires:

• Random Map: You start with a small town. You build it up and then fight against other players.
• Deathmatch: You start with a small town, but you get lots of food, wood, gold, and stone right away. Because you have so many resources, you can build a huge army very fast. This leads to big, exciting fights!
• Treaty: You start with a small town. You build up your economy, but you cannot attack for a set amount of time. Since everyone has time to build a huge economy, the fights are usually very big and last a long time.
• Regicide (in Age of Empires II): You start with a small town and a king. You must protect your own king and try to kill the enemy kings. If your king dies, you lose the game and cannot play anymore.

You can play Age of Empires alone against computer players. Or, you can play online against other human players! You can play online using official multiplayer platforms or programs like GameRanger and Voobly.

See also

In Spanish: Age of Empires (serie) para niños