35 Games Like Age of Empires
Our collection of games like Age of Empires offers a number of quality real time strategy (RTS) games with various settings for fans of the genre.
Age of Empires (AoE) follows a typical real time strategy (RTS) formula with players starting the majority of game modes with a town centre along with small number of workers. From these humble beginnings players gather various resources, create units, construct buildings and research technologies to advance their chosen civilisation in accordance with their desired strategy.
In the AoE series a returning mechanics is players advancing through a number of ages that represent historical time periods. With each age comes new technology, units and strategies for players to utilise. Another staple of the series is the wide variety of civilisations to select from that offer their own strengths and special units to create a large amount of strategic depth and choice.
The games like Age of Empires featured here offer the same great strategic experience that the AoE series is known for with options for all platforms including PC, Mac, Android, iOS and online (no download). On this page you'll find games with epic single player campaigns, active multiplayer communities and plenty of strategy to explore. These elements also make the options below perfect if you are seeking games like Age of Mythology, the popular spin-off title.
Cossacks: European Wars
Cossacks: European Wars is a real time strategy (RTS) game developed for Windows and released in 2001 that explores the European 17th and 18th eras and draws inspiration from the popular strategy titles of the day. With over a dozen nations that bring their own uniqueness the strategy elements of this first game in the Cossacks franchise offers a wealth of tactical options. Expanded with several expansion packs all of these were made available in on collection marketed as the Cossacks Anthology....[Read Review]
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds takes the popular science fiction Star Wars franchise into the real time strategy (RTS) game genre. With the same engine as the popular Age of Empires franchise (AoE 1 and 2) the adventure has many similarities in design and overall gameplay feel to that strategy series. Released in 2001 Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was followed by an expansion pack a year later (Clone Campaigns) which add an additional two factions and new campaign content. Campaigns are t...[Read Review]
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a popular fantasy real time strategy game released in 2002 by Blizzard Entertainment that features a familiar struggle between good and evil in a strategic framework with light RPG features for your hero units. In 2003 an expansion pack (Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne) expanded the game content with a full 2020 remake of the base game and expansion titled Warcraft III: Reforged with the same story albeit some notable changes from the original. Set several years a...[Read Review]
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II is set in the LOTR universe and offers a real time strategy experience for Windows and the Xbox 360. A genre rarely explored by film and media franchises this strategy adventure gives players the option to explore both a good and evil campaign as you experience the fantasy game world from both sides of the conflict. With similar core mechanics to the past game in the Battle for Middle-earth series you’ll find a challenge that is compara...[Read Review]
Rise of Nations
Released in 2003 Rise of Nations is one of the most popular and successful real time strategy games of all time with its diverse range of civilisations and solid foundation of RTS mechanics. Being both accessible to newcomers to the genre while offering vast strategic depth Rise of Nations achieved that rare feat that few games have been able to replicate since. This success also led to an expansion pack (Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots) and spin-off game (Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends)...[Read Review]
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War combines deep military strategy with a science fiction setting from the popular universe of Warhammer. Based on the tabletop games it has obvious appeal to fans of the Warhammer 40k physical tabletop war game but it is still an attractive real time strategy experience for newcomers to the franchise thanks to the robust mechanics and impressive campaign underneath the sci-fi skin. After the success of the original base game three expansion packs were released to expand ...[Read Review]
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes (CoH) is a WW2 real time strategy game released in 2006 and brought to mobile devices in 2020. Serving as the first in the series of strategy games players have a number of historic battles to conquer with realistic locations, units and familiar storylines. For the campaign component of Company of Heroes players will be joining the ranks of the US army Able Company in the later stages of the war in 1944. There is still ample combat to see the United States achieve victory thoug...[Read Review]
Empire Earth
Empire Earth (EE) offers delivers a real time strategy experience and is the first game in the expansive franchise released in 2001. Followed up with a 2002 expansion pack (Art of Conquest) Empire Earth has also subsequently expanded to a number of sequels with similar core gameplay. Like the popular Age of Empires II franchise of the day players start from a basic age of technology and advance through to a nano age with time (or the space age with the expansion). Empire Earth allows players to ...[Read Review]
Littlewargame
Littlewargame is a simple but addicting browser based adventure in the real time strategy game genre that creates an accessible experience with minimal fuss. While basic in core design Littlewargame offers all the necessary features to enable you to play games against the computer, friends or strangers. With a surprising array of features and regular updates this is the perfect title for accessible RTS gameplay that is always available if you have an internet connection. Littlewargame allows pla...[Read Review]
Stronghold
Stronghold is a real time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios that explores a historical game setting while challenging players to utilise all of options available to thrive in a century long past. Released in 2001 Stronghold is the first of many games in the Stronghold franchise with the success of this first strategy title leading to many sequels and spin off titles with some being equally successful. Given the time the game is set (Medieval Britain) was a period of war Stronghold has a...[Read Review]
StarCraft 2
StarCraft 2 is a 2010 real time strategy title which expands the Blizzard franchise with new single player campaigns and multiplayer content once again focused around the three races of Terran, Zerg and Protoss. Originally a paid experience released in three parts the base Wings of Liberty adventure and the corresponding multiplayer features went free to play in late 2017. The single player campaign content related to Zerg (Heart of the Swarm) and Progress (Legacy of the Void) are still paid exp...[Read Review]
Warfare Incorporated
Warfare Incorporated is an older real time strategy game that originally released in 2003 for a range of operating software including Palm OS. With the advent of mobile devices the game was eventually ported over to iOS (discontinued) and Android devices to carry over the legacy of the game while also releasing as an open sourced version called Hostile Takeover (available on GitHub). Warfare Incorporated is set far into the future where the world has been reduced to two super corporations fighti...[Read Review]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 continues the extremely popular real time strategy series with a 2008 game available on all major platforms. In a similar fashion to the previous Red Alert games you’ll get to experience an alternative reality with a different spin on World War II. Fans of previous Red Alert games will quickly jump right into the setting but it’s also fairly friendly to players without any experience with this series. The game pits the same three factions against each other (So...[Read Review]
Empire Earth II
Empire Earth II builds on the popular original and delivers a strong real time strategy experience with plenty of new additions to the epoch based experience that sees you control units from the stone age to the synthetic age. Empire Earth II development was handled by Mad Doc Software who created the expansion pack for the original Empire Earth game so players are in safe hands for this expansion of the series. In Empire Earth II players can complete one of three available campaigns which focus...[Read Review]
Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404)
Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404 outside of North America) offers city building with an economic focus that is similar to the other titles in the vast Anno franchise. For this addition to the series players will explore an age of medieval and renaissance as you build up a thriving civilisation. Originally launched in 2009 a 2010 Anno 1404: Venice expansion pack expanded content, buildings, quests and introduced multiplayer functionality. The Dawn of Discovery campaign centres around both the west an...[Read Review]
Black & White 2
Black & White 2 is a sequel to the first popular god game in the series and expands on the core gameplay with the addition of real time strategy elements to expand on the original challenge. Praised as offering something unique Black & White 2 continues to have a small dedicated fan base decades after its release with plenty of nostalgia for those that played it upon original release date. In Black & White 2 players again take on the role of a god and use their divine hand to interac...[Read Review]
The Settlers Online
The Settlers Online (The Settlers Online: Castle Empire) is a free to play browser based strategy game that utilises familiar mechanics from the core Settlers franchise. The result is a mixture of popular modern strategy games and the MMO strategy genre. The Settlers Online offers an accessible challenge which features a familiar gameplay loop of building a sprawling city, raiding bandits, achieving objectives and in time gaining levels that unlock additional content to expand your strategy opti...[Read Review]
From Dust
From Dust combines a number of genres incorporating strategy, building and god games into one with players helping their own tribe of humans through the challenges that they face. From Dust was published by Ubisoft in July 2011 for the Xbox 360 and was followed by Windows and PlayStation 3 a few months later, along with Xbox One backwards compatibility. From Dust was briefly made available on the Google Chrome store in 2012 although this version has since been discontinued. Set in a world where ...[Read Review]
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War puts you straight into the centre of a galactic war while giving you real time strategic control over the battles taking place across the galaxy. Depicting the struggle of the Rebels and the Empire the game is loosely set between the events of Episode III and Episode IV in the Star Wars plot line. This era provides Star Wars: Empire at War sufficient foundation to work with based on the Death Star construction while also ensuring that there is plenty of creative freedom ...[Read Review]
The Settlers: Rise of an Empire
The Settlers: Rise of an Empire is a real time strategy game that features a 4X style of gameplay with additional elements of city building that combine to create a diverse economic challenge. Released in 2007 Rise of an Empire is the sixth in the long running and popular series of The Settlers and seeks to bring together many of the different elements that the series has explored into a pinnacle adventure. Most notably this comes across in a reduction of overall combat and simplifying the core ...[Read Review]
Anno 2070
Anno 2070 released in 2011 and is the fifth game in this growing franchise of economic management titles that tests your strategic decision making in a futuristic game setting. Like the other Anno games you’ll find a blended mixture of gameplay that borderlines the popular real time strategy genre and the planning of city building titles. Taking place in the near future of 2070 global warming has taken hold and as a result melted ice caps that have unleashed a torrent of floods on coastal ...[Read Review]
Impossible Creatures
Impossible Creatures lets you create your own army of strange creatures from and then test them out in a real time strategy environment. Offering an experience unlike any other Impossible Creatures has a captivating and unique game loop that revolves around creating your own units and testing them on the battlefield. Impossible Creatures was released in 2002 and developed by Relic Entertainment which does mean the fantastically unique game design is offset by some technical limitations of the ti...[Read Review]
Company of Heroes 2
Company of Heroes 2 is the sequel to the original highly popular CoH game and builds on the fundamentals previously established in this war strategy title. Released in the middle of 2013 you’ll find a familiar core gameplay experience alongside many enhancements that pushes the game to a new level of strategic and visual experience across a base game and several expansion packs. Within the base game players will find a story based around the Red Army who is currently engaged in a brutal co...[Read Review]
Knights of Honor
Knights of Honor is a real time strategy game at heart but also offers some large scale empire management as you conquer Europe over the course of hours of strategic gameplay. With over 100 kingdoms to choose from there are many paths to total conquest on offer that each offer their own spin on game mechanics to play as or be worthy opponents instead. Released in 2004 with a 2005 North American release players are set deep into the past with a Medieval Europe at your finger tips that is ripe for...[Read Review]
Stronghold Crusader
Stronghold Crusader was the first sequel to the original Stronghold and also one of the most popular. The game shifts the game setting to the Middle East and adds plenty of new units for you to participate in the Crusades with. The game is simply packed full of single player campaign content with players participating in the first, second and third Crusades. This means there are over 50 missions to tackle which feature a number of unique and challenging objectives. These missions offer great pac...[Read Review]
DomiNations
DomiNations combines traditional real time strategy games such as Age of Empires and Rise of Nations with the more modern mobile genre that is dominated by the likes of Clash of Clans in an attempt to offer great strategy challenge on mobile devices (iOS and Android). The result is a unique variant of the mobile strategy genre that achieves some of it’s objectives but doesn’t quite reach the peak of capturing real time strategy on mobile. Your overarching objective in DomiNations is ...[Read Review]
Anno 1701 (1701 A.D.)
Anno 1701 (1701 A.D.) mixes strategy and city building together to create an economical focused experience like the Anno titles before it. Part of the popular Anno franchise Anno 1701 offers a blend of familiar and new challenges for players to overcome on PC with a related spin-off title for the Nintendo DS known as Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery. Focused on the real world timeframe of the 18th century players are challenged to explore the recently discovered new world and colonise it by using al...[Read Review]
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
Serving as a spin off title to the popular Rise of Nations title, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a real time strategy game that attempts to blend the worlds of fantasy magic and technology together into one. Despite the change in setting the game stays closely to the original Rise of Nations experience although does shed some of the deeper 4X and turn based elements which purists of the original may hold dear. The game is not just a trimmed down version though and instead uses this space fo...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander 2 is the second game in the Supreme Commander series of real time strategy games that explore modern and futuristic warfare with a focus on vehicle combat. The game takes place in a futuristic setting and is available on Windows, Mac and Xbox 360 with backward compatibility available for Xbox One. Supreme Commander 2 takes you through three different campaigns as you command the United Earth Federation, the Illuminate and the Cybran in battle. Each of these campaigns has their ...[Read Review]
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is a science fiction real time strategy game published in 2007 by Electronic Arts and joins the broad number of games within the C&C franchise with a number of changes to the core formula. For this adventure players will explore a futuristic 2047 with a story that continues to explore the Global Defence Initiative (GDI), Brotherhood of Nod and a new alien faction known as the Scrin. Designed to serve as a sequel to the 1999 Tiberian Sun title it’s...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander
Supreme Commander is a real time strategy title that was been born out of the success of Total Annihilation, an exceedingly popular 1997 strategy game. Centred around mechanical units known as Armoured Command Units (ACU) it’s a futuristic war like adventure. In this future setting humanity has also reached a point of space travel which makes it possible to jump across the galaxy quickly through an invention known as the quantum gateway. With the ability to travel the stars the United Eart...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a stand alone expansion to the original Supreme Commander title, this standalone approach was used in order to alter gameplay features, add additional units and improve performance over the original release. Set in the same futuristic setting where humans have achieved space travel through the use of quantum tunnels, capable of sending ships from one side of the galaxy to the other near instantaneously. This has in turn led to many human colonies across the ...[Read Review]
American Conquest
American Conquest is a real time strategy game set within the history of America and gives players the opportunity to play a strategic role in the 15th to 19th century timeframe. In the base game and two stand alone expansion packs players will take part in and influence the first centuries of the American continents. Originally released in 2003 the two additional expansion packs (Fight Back and Divided Nation) were released in 2003 and 2006 respectively and boost the variation of nations and un...[Read Review]
Stronghold Kingdoms
Stronghold Kingdoms aims to change up the classic MMORTS formula by focusing on wars between medieval castles all across ancient Europe. With a focus on managing your castle the title has castle simulation elements while offering plenty of depth and strategy to explore for newcomers or fans of the Stronghold franchise. Available for Windows Stronghold Kingdoms is also available on iOS and Android which share the same game world. Like other games in the genre Stronghold Kingdoms features an array...[Read Review]
Grand Ages: Rome
Grand Ages: Rome is a single player and multi-player game that offers a mixture of city building and real time strategy to create an overall fun and strategic focused game experience. Grand Ages: Rome was released in 2009 and is published by Kalypso Media. The game is the sequel to Imperium Romanum and was originally named Imperium Romanum 2. An expansion pack for the game (The Reign of Augustus) was released approximately a year later to add additional gameplay. In the single player campaign of...[Read Review]