Age of Empires II

AGE OF EMPIRES II: THE AGE OF KINGS is a LEGENDARY MEDIEVAL REAL-TIME STRATEGY (RTS) game developed by ENSEMBLE STUDIOS (Dallas, Texas; also Age of Empires I, III, Age of Mythology, Halo Wars) + published by MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS. Released SEPTEMBER 30, 1999 on PC (Windows) + Mac (2001) + PlayStation 2 (2001 lesser port). Setting: HISTORICAL MEDIEVAL + EARLY MODERN ERA (Dark Age → Feudal Age → Castle Age → Imperial Age), spanning ~900 CE to 1600 CE across Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas. PLAYERS build economies, gather 4 resources (Food, Wood, Gold, Stone), train villagers + military units, research technologies, and wage massive REAL-TIME BATTLES against AI or other players. 40+ HISTORICAL CIVILIZATIONS in Definitive Edition (45+ as of 2025): Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Chinese, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Teutons, Turks, Vikings (original 13); Aztecs, Huns, Koreans, Mayans, Spanish (Conquerors 2000); Incas, Indians, Italians, Magyars, Slavs (Forgotten 2013); Berbers, Ethiopians, Malians, Portuguese (African Kingdoms 2015); Burmese, Khmer, Malay, Vietnamese (Rise of the Rajas 2016); Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, Tatars (Last Khans 2019); Bengalis, Bohemians, Dravidians, Gurjaras, Poles, Sicilians (Dawn of the Dukes + Dukes of the West + Return of Rome 2021-2023); Achaemenids, Athenians, Spartans (Return of Rome 2023). Each civ has UNIQUE BONUSES + UNIQUE UNIT (e.g., British Longbowman, Frankish Throwing Axeman + Paladin bonus, Mongolian Mangudai + Cavalry Archer bonus, Turkish Janissary + gunpowder bonus). Gameplay revolves around: (1) BUILD ECONOMY (villagers gather resources, build farms, mills, mines, lumber camps); (2) ADVANCE AGE (Dark → Feudal → Castle → Imperial by researching town center or paying resources); (3) BUILD ARMY (barracks, archery range, stable, siege workshop, castle for unique units); (4) COMBAT (rock-paper-scissors — infantry beats cavalry archers, cavalry beats archers, archers beat infantry; siege units for buildings). CAMPAIGNS: 20+ historical campaigns (William Wallace, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, Saladin, Barbarossa, Attila, El Cid, Montezuma, Alaric, Sundjata, plus dozens of DE-era expansions). Considered ONE OF THE GREATEST RTS GAMES EVER MADE + peak of Ensemble Studios' output. REFUSED TO DIE — Ensemble closed 2009, but community kept AoE II alive with fan patches (UserPatch, Voobly, HD Edition 2013 by Skybox Labs). AGE OF EMPIRES II DEFINITIVE EDITION (November 14, 2019, developed by FORGOTTEN EMPIRES + WORLD'S EDGE + Tantalus Media) brought 4K graphics + modernized UI + new expansions + XBOX (2023) + PlayStation (2023) versions + STEAM & Microsoft Store + Xbox Game Pass. Ongoing expansions: Lords of the West (2021), Dawn of the Dukes (2021), Dynasties of India (2022), Return of Rome (2023 adds Roman Empire era), The Mountain Royals (2024), Chronicles: Battle for Greece (2024). THRIVING PRO SCENE: Red Bull Wololo tournament series (Wololo IV, V, VI, VII, Legacy, Legends), King of the Desert, Nili Cup, Two Pools Tournament, EGCTV events. TOP PROS: TheViper (Denmark), Hera (Canada), MbL, Yo, Nicov, DauT, Liereyy, TaToH. 30M+ COPIES SOLD across all versions.

Elimination-based; ranked ELO on 1v1 and Team Game ladders; tournament format single/double elimination.

Win condition · Standard: destroy all enemy castles + town centers + wonders. Regicide: kill enemy king. Wonder: build + hold Wonder for 200 game years. Relic: hold all relics for 200 years. Conquest: eliminate all enemy units + buildings.

PC (Steam, Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass), Xbox (Xbox One/Series with mouse+keyboard support), PS5 (2023 port).

• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition ($20 USD; free on Xbox Game Pass)

  Base game + core content

• Ongoing expansion DLCs ($10-15 each)

  Lords of the West, Dawn of the Dukes, Dynasties of India, Return of Rome, Mountain Royals, Chronicles

• Gaming mouse + hotkeys mandatory for competitive

  APM (Actions Per Minute) matters

• AoE Community mods (free)

  UserPatch legacy content still popular

• Learn build order for your civ (Scout Rush, Archer Rush, Fast Castle)

  Openings define game pace.

• APM: Actions Per Minute; higher = more responsive economy + army

  Pros hit 200-400+ APM.

• Wall + tower key positions

  Defensive economy allows longer game.

• Counter enemy composition: pikemen for cavalry, monks for elephants, mangonels for archers

  Adapt army mid-game.

• Scout continuously with cavalry

  Info wins wars.

Villager (villy)

Economic unit; gathers resources + builds.

Age

Progression tier (Dark, Feudal, Castle, Imperial).

Wonder

Massive building; 200-year timer for victory.

APM

Actions Per Minute; pro skill metric.

Wololo!

Iconic monk conversion sound.

Boom

Fast economic expansion strategy.

Rush

Early military aggression (Feudal or early Castle Age).

Fast Castle

Skip Feudal aggression, boom to Castle Age quickly.

Trebuchet (Treb)

Late-game siege unit with 15+ range.

Unique Unit

Civ-specific unit from Castle (Longbowman, Mangudai, Janissary, etc.).

• Red Bull Wololo (main tournament series, held annually since 2020, $50-200k prize pools)

  annual · worldwide · since 2020

• King of the Desert (community-run 1v1, annual)

  annual · worldwide online · since 2018

• Nili Cup (community tournaments)

  periodic · worldwide online · since 2019

• EGCTV / T90Official events

  regular · worldwide online · since 2019

• AoE World Championship 2023 (Microsoft-sponsored)

  occasional · worldwide · since 2023

• 🇺🇸United States
• 🇬🇧United Kingdom
• 🇩🇪Germany
• 🇫🇷France
• 🇮🇹Italy
• 🇪🇸Spain
• 🇧🇷Brazil
• 🇲🇽Mexico
• 🇦🇷Argentina
• 🇵🇱Poland
• 🇸🇪Sweden
• 🇳🇴Norway
• 🇩🇰Denmark
• 🇫🇮Finland
• 🇦🇺Australia
• 🇨🇳China
• 🇮🇳India
• 🇰🇷South Korea
• 🇯🇵Japan

• Microsoft Game Studios / Xbox Game Studios (publisher)

  Founded 2002 · Redmond, Washington, USA

• Forgotten Empires (current developer, Antwerp Belgium)

  Founded 2016 · Belgium

• World's Edge (Microsoft AoE steward, London UK)

  Founded 2019 · UK

• Tantalus Media (co-developer)

  Founded 1994 · Australia

• Red Bull (major tournament sponsor: Wololo series)

  Founded 1987 · Austria

• Age of Empires (official site)— Microsoft / Xbox Game Studios
• Wikipedia — Age of Empires II— Wikipedia