Definition
Age of Empires is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game series developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. The first game was released in 1997, and the series became one of the most influential and beloved strategy franchises in gaming history. Players build civilizations from the Stone Age to the Iron Age (and beyond in later games), gathering resources, constructing buildings, training armies, and crushing their enemies. The iconic phrase “wololo” — the sound a priest unit makes when converting an enemy — became a meme before memes were mainstream.
Why It Matters
Age of Empires defined a generation of PC gaming. Before esports was a billion-dollar industry, before Twitch existed, before “streaming” meant anything other than water, Age of Empires was the game you played for eight hours straight while your parents thought you were “learning about history.” And technically, you were: the game was historically grounded enough that teachers sometimes used it in classrooms. The series also pioneered features that became RTS standards: tech trees, civilization bonuses, and the eternal frustration of being rushed by someone who built their economy faster. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999) is still played competitively today, with an active esports scene and regular tournaments.
Example
“He was 10 years old and playing Age of Empires on his family’s Windows 98 computer. He built a massive army of elephants and charged into the enemy base. His mom walked in and asked if he was learning history. He said yes. He was not learning history. He was learning that war elephants are overpowered and that the computer cheats on Hard difficulty.”
The LMAAIFY Angle
Age of Empires is the game that taught a generation of kids that history is just a tech tree with violence. You start with a Town Center and some villagers, and somehow, 45 minutes later, you’re commanding an army of catapults and trying to delete your own units because you hit the population cap. The game’s genius is that it makes you feel like a genius when you win and like the AI is cheating when you lose. (It is. The AI gets resources faster on higher difficulties. This is a known fact. It is also the first conspiracy theory most gamers believed.) The “wololo” sound is permanently embedded in the brains of everyone who played this game. Say it to any 30-something and watch them twitch. Age of Empires also gave us the “villager noises” — the incomprehensible grunts and phrases that villagers say when you click on them. “Shhhhaaaal!” “Mandatum?” These are not words. They are trauma. And we love them.
Related Terms
- RTS — Real-Time Strategy, the genre Age of Empires defined
- Wololo — The iconic priest conversion sound
- Rush — The strategy of attacking early before your enemy is ready
- Tech Tree — The upgrade path every civilization follows
- Ensemble Studios — The legendary developer behind the series