The first time I loaded up Age of Empires on my mate’s PC back in ’97, I thought it’d be just another real-time strategy game where you build units and bash them into each other until someone wins. Christ, was I wrong about that. This wasn’t just some mindless clickfest – it was like having a proper history lesson disguised as entertainment, and somehow that combination worked brilliantly for a gaming-obsessed teenager who’d previously thought history was the most boring subject in school.
See, most RTS games at the time were either completely fictional fantasy affairs or sci-fi nonsense with laser guns and spaceships. Age of Empires was different because it grounded everything in actual human history, and I mean proper history – not some Hollywood version of it. You weren’t commanding made-up factions with ridiculous names; you were leading the Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians, civilizations that actually existed and did the things the game was letting you recreate. The developers had clearly done their homework, consulting with actual historians to make sure they weren’t just making stuff up for gameplay convenience.
What hooked me immediately was how the game handled technological progression. You didn’t just research “better sword” or “faster horse” – you were actually moving through genuine historical ages, from the Stone Age through to the Iron Age, with each transition bringing technologies that these civilizations really developed. When you advanced from using copper tools to bronze tools, that wasn’t just a gameplay mechanic, it was reflecting an actual shift that happened in human development. Suddenly I found myself caring about metallurgy and agriculture in ways my school teachers had never managed to achieve.
The campaign mode was where the game really shone for educational value. Instead of generic “destroy the enemy base” missions, you were playing through actual historical scenarios with proper context. The game would give you a briefing explaining what was happening historically, then let you play through a version of those events, then show you what actually happened afterward. I remember being genuinely invested in outcomes because these weren’t just fictional stories – real people had lived through these conflicts and changes.
Playing through the various civilizations taught me more about ancient history than years of school lessons had managed. Each civilization had unique units and technologies that reflected their actual historical strengths and characteristics. The Egyptians had their fantastic priests and impressive architecture, the Greeks had their hoplites and superior naval units, the Babylonians had their strong walls and advanced mathematics. These weren’t arbitrary game balance decisions – they were based on what these civilizations were actually known for historically.
I spent countless hours with that first game, but it was Age of Empires II that really cemented my love for the series and for history more generally. The medieval setting was absolutely perfect, covering a period that felt both familiar from films and books but also historically grounded in reality. The civilizations were more diverse, each with genuinely unique tech trees and architectural styles that reflected actual historical differences between medieval cultures.
The Joan of Arc campaign in particular left a lasting impression on me. Here was this teenage French peasant girl who convinced the French court to let her lead armies against the English occupation, and somehow it worked. Playing through her campaigns made the Hundred Years’ War feel real and immediate in ways that reading about it never had. The game presented her story with respect for the historical record while still making it engaging as a gaming experience. When you successfully lifted the siege of Orléans, it felt like a genuine historical achievement rather than just completing another level.
What’s remarkable looking back is how Age of Empires managed to be educational without feeling like schoolwork. The game never lectured you about history – it let you experience historical situations and then provided context for what you were experiencing. You learned about medieval siege warfare by conducting medieval sieges, not by reading paragraphs of text about siege equipment. You understood the importance of trade routes by building and protecting your own economic networks.
The cultural impact of the series was massive, particularly among my generation of gamers who were coming of age in the late ’90s. Age of Empires sold millions of copies worldwide and proved that educational games didn’t have to be boring or patronizing. Teachers started incorporating it into history lessons, and suddenly students were excited about learning about ancient civilizations because they’d spent hours building Egyptian pyramids and commanding Roman legions.
The game inspired a whole generation to dig deeper into history. Online forums dedicated to Age of Empires were filled with discussions about historical accuracy, debates about whether certain units or technologies were properly represented, arguments about which civilization was most powerful historically versus in-game. Players were doing independent research about medieval military tactics or ancient economic systems because they wanted to understand the historical basis for game mechanics.
The influence on other strategy games has been enormous. Total War, Civilization, Rise of Nations – they all owe something to what Age of Empires established about combining historical authenticity with engaging gameplay. Each series found its own approach to historical gaming, but Age of Empires proved there was a massive audience hungry for games that took history seriously while still being genuinely fun to play.
The modding community that developed around the series was incredible. Players created historical scenarios covering everything from World War II to ancient Rome, always with careful attention to historical detail. The community policed itself for historical accuracy – mods that took too many liberties with historical facts were criticized, while those that introduced new but historically plausible content were celebrated.
Even now, more than two decades later, the series maintains an active community of players who organize tournaments, create new content, and debate historical details with the passion of amateur historians. The definitive editions of the classic games have introduced the series to new generations while keeping the core historical focus that made the originals special.
Age of Empires taught me that history wasn’t just memorizing dates and names – it was about understanding how human societies developed, how technology changed the way people lived, how geography influenced civilization development. The game made abstract historical concepts concrete and understandable by letting you experience them directly.
Looking ahead to Age of Empires IV, I’m cautiously optimistic that the developers understand what made the series special. It wasn’t just the real-time strategy gameplay – plenty of games have done RTS well. It was the commitment to historical authenticity combined with respect for the player’s intelligence. The series never dumbed down history to make it more palatable; instead, it found ways to make complex historical processes understandable and engaging.
For me personally, Age of Empires represents gaming at its best – entertainment that enriches rather than just distracts, gameplay that educates while it engages, technology used to make learning more effective rather than replacing it entirely. The series proved that games could be both fun and meaningful, that players were hungry for content that respected their intelligence and curiosity about the world.
In an industry often criticized for promoting violence or wasting time, Age of Empires stood as an example of gaming’s potential to genuinely improve people’s understanding of the world around them. It made history accessible, engaging, and personally meaningful in ways that traditional educational approaches often failed to achieve. That’s a legacy worth celebrating, and one that I hope continues to influence game developers for years to come.
John grew up swapping floppy disks and reading Amiga Power cover to cover. Now an IT manager in Manchester, he writes about the glory days of British computer gaming—Sensible Soccer, Speedball 2, and why the Amiga deserved more love than it ever got.
