Games like Age of Empires: The Best Alternatives

Age of Empires is known as a strategy game like no other game. However, there are also some worthwhile alternatives that strategy fans might be attracted to the PC. In this practical tip, we present three alternative games.

Sid Meier's Civilization - a journey through time like Age of Empires

The Civilization series plays very differently from Age of Empires, but a central feature of the historically inspired series is also strongly represented here: The journey through time with your people.

• The hallmark of Age of Empires is that your civilization begins in the Stone Age and has to take care of food, resources and protection with just a few technologies. Only step by step do you research distinctive tools such as the wheel or the millstone, in order to then fight your way through different times to the modern age.
• Hardly a game uses a similar mechanism. A popular exception is the Civilization series. Here you can also start with small settlements and simple scouts, research literature and blacksmithing and thus advance your empire. Step by step you will discover new resources such as oil and learn how to use them. Old units are being modernized to keep them on time and the whole world is shaping up with the advancing centuries.
• It's also nice that, like in Age of Empires, you can play historical scenarios and rewrite the story. In addition, the extensive Civilopedia offers endless information about human history, great personalities and wonders of the world.
• Age of Empires' diversity of nations is also represented in Civilization and lets you immerse yourself in foreign cultures.
• However, Civilization differs from Age of Empires in many ways. Here you do not build up a few settlements and manage resources to build up the largest possible army. Instead, the game is turn-based. Diplomacy is an important tool, as is trade with the numerous other peoples. You can choose to be the winner or be the first to launch into space. But a violent victory by large armies is also an option.
• Civilization 5 is available for the PC. If you especially want to deal with the future on foreign planets, Civilization: Beyond Earth is recommended.

Pure real-time strategy: StarCraft 2 as an age-of-empires alternative

An important aspect of Age of Empires are the gigantic battles and the unit balance. Here a game stands out from the mass of real-time strategy games: StarCraft 2. Unlike usual, StarCraft will play in the future.

• Three science fiction factions come together in StarCraft 2 and its extensions to the bitter struggle that you can fight in a detailed campaign. However, the online mode is much more important for most players, where they can constantly measure themselves and optimize their strategies.
• You do not have to manage resources as much as in Age of Empires, namely only minerals and gas, which you also need for almost every building and unit. Important decisions are also in this game, whether you want to invest more in offensive or business.
• Constant banter and synchronized arms race are the order of the day. The armies are growing rapidly and require enormous micro-work at a higher level in order to use them optimally.
• As in Age of Empires, in StarCraft you often come across a rock-paper-scissor principle with which you quickly become familiar.
• Unlike Age of Empires, there are only three races. However, these differ greatly from one another. The units in StarCraft are also more diverse than you will be used to from Age of Empires.
• StarCraft differs from Age of Empires in many ways. If you play Age of Empires mainly because of the large demanding battles, StarCraft 2 is still an alternative.
• StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty and the first expansion Heart of the Swarm are available for Windows PC and Mac. The second expansion, Legacy of the Void, is also just about to be launched.

From the Age of Empires mod to 0 AD

A free alternative is the open source game 0 AD from Wildfire Games.

• 0 AD was originally intended as a modification for Age of Empires 2, but has since developed into an extensive, independent project for fans of Age of Empires.
• Just like in Age of Empires, you lead a historical faction like the Romans, Celts or Persians through the battle against other peoples. These differ from each other in terms of their focus, technologies and units.
• You conduct research, ensure the supply of your people, and build armies to keep your enemies in check.
• Instead of advancing in ages, everything in 0 AD revolves around the year 0. But here too, as in Age of Empires, there are different levels with which you can unlock new technologies step by step.
• In addition to innovative game elements, the developers also value historical authenticity, which applies to names, designs and even the cards on which you play.
• The best thing about 0 AD: It's completely free and open source. If you are interested, you can view the code and participate in the game yourself. Mods are also very easy to implement. 0 AD is available for Windows and Linux.