Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings cover

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 1999

Released: September 1999
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS) · Strategy
Platforms: PC · Mac · Dreamcast · PlayStation 2
Developer: Ensemble Studios
More info: Wikipedia IGDB

Where to buy

On sale: $32.01 $34.99 -9% as Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Fanatical More deals on Fanatical, and in Strategy
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Is it still worth playing?

A 1999 real time strategy game for Windows, set in the Middle Ages, with 13 civilizations in four architectural styles and four Ages spanning about 1,000 years. There are five campaigns in the original, featuring the Celts, Franks, Saracens, Mongols and Teutons. You gather four resources, food, wood, gold and stone, and win by conquest, by building a Wonder or by holding relics, or in Deathmatch and Regicide modes. Up to eight players can play together, and the population cap can be set from 25 to 200. It introduced the idle villager button and the town bell, two features for managing units. Its deliberate pace is why it still plays well: it scales so that players of any skill can choose the speed they are comfortable with.