Age Of Empires

1997video game seriesclassic

Age of Empires is a historical real-time strategy game series that debuted on PC in 1997 and grew into a long-running franchise with dedicated fan sites and active modding communities. The second game in particular built an online following strong enough to push Microsoft to fund a community-made expansion in 2013.

age of empires memesgamingmicrosoft memeslate 2000s memesnostalgia memes

Overview

Age of Empires is a historical real-time strategy series originally built by Ensemble Studios, in which players pick a civilization, gather food, wood, gold, and stone, and win by military conquest, economic dominance, or building a wonder3. The franchise mixes recognizable historical eras (Stone Age through Iron Age in the first game, medieval Europe in the second, colonial exploration in the third) with unit rosters tied to real cultures, from Britons and Franks to Mongols and Aztecs6.

The look most fans reference is the second game: isometric sprite art, villagers hauling wood, walls of trebuchets, and the trademark "Wololo" chant that plays when a monk converts an enemy unit4. Fan hubs like Age of Empires Heaven appeared in 1997 alongside the first release and stayed active for years, feeding an ecosystem of strategy guides, tournaments, and mods5.

What makes Age of Empires stand out from other 1990s RTS titles is how tightly the fan community and its publisher eventually merged. An unofficial mod called Forgotten Empires was picked up by Microsoft and turned into an official Age of Empires II expansion in 2013, and the same team went on to build later official content with the publisher's backing12.

How It Spread

The series expanded through the 2000s. Age of Empires III shipped October 18, 2005, focused on the age of exploration with eight European civilizations7. Its expansions The War Chiefs (October 17, 2006) added three Native American factions, and The Asian Dynasties (October 23, 2007) added three Asian factions9. Ensemble Studios also produced Age of Mythology in October 2002, swapping history for Greek, Norse, and Egyptian pantheons, plus its Titans expansion in 20035.

The franchise moved to handhelds and free-to-play in the following years. Age of Empires: The Age of Kings for Nintendo DS launched November 14, 2006 as a turn-based tactics take on the RTS, and Age of Empires: Mythology followed on DS in November 2008. Age of Empires Online launched August 16, 2011 on Games for Windows Live with a microtransaction model, and its servers ran until July 1, 2014. The Windows-app spin-off Age of Empires: Castle Siege followed on September 17, 2014, later coming to iOS on May 20, 20155.

The biggest cultural moment came from fans, though. Hidden Path Entertainment's HD Edition launched on Steam on April 9, 2013, led by Matt Pritchard, the original Age of Empires II lead programmer at the now-defunct Ensemble Studios4. Microsoft then folded the fan team Forgotten Empires (whose 2011 unofficial mod inspired the deal) into an official expansion called The Forgotten, released November 7, 20131. On April 9, 2015, HD producer Ryan Chaply announced a further Forgotten Empires expansion, later revealed as The African Kingdoms, featuring civilizations including the Malians and the Berbers2.

How to Use This Meme

Age of Empires as a common gaming touchstone typically shows up in three ways: quoting the "Wololo" monk conversion line in unrelated contexts, sharing screenshots of ridiculous castle rushes or wonder builds, and citing specific civilizations (the Franks, the Mongols) as shorthand for a strategy style. On Steam Workshop and modding sites like ModDB, players still trade custom maps and rebalanced unit rosters built on top of the HD Edition4.

Frequently Asked Questions

Age Of Empires

1997video game seriesclassic

Age of Empires is a historical real-time strategy game series that debuted on PC in 1997 and grew into a long-running franchise with dedicated fan sites and active modding communities. The second game in particular built an online following strong enough to push Microsoft to fund a community-made expansion in 2013.

age of empires memes gaming microsoft memes late 2000s memes nostalgia memes

Overview

Age of Empires is a historical real-time strategy series originally built by Ensemble Studios, in which players pick a civilization, gather food, wood, gold, and stone, and win by military conquest, economic dominance, or building a wonder3. The franchise mixes recognizable historical eras (Stone Age through Iron Age in the first game, medieval Europe in the second, colonial exploration in the third) with unit rosters tied to real cultures, from Britons and Franks to Mongols and Aztecs6.

The look most fans reference is the second game: isometric sprite art, villagers hauling wood, walls of trebuchets, and the trademark "Wololo" chant that plays when a monk converts an enemy unit4. Fan hubs like Age of Empires Heaven appeared in 1997 alongside the first release and stayed active for years, feeding an ecosystem of strategy guides, tournaments, and mods5.

What makes Age of Empires stand out from other 1990s RTS titles is how tightly the fan community and its publisher eventually merged. An unofficial mod called Forgotten Empires was picked up by Microsoft and turned into an official Age of Empires II expansion in 2013, and the same team went on to build later official content with the publisher's backing12.

How It Spread

The series expanded through the 2000s. Age of Empires III shipped October 18, 2005, focused on the age of exploration with eight European civilizations7. Its expansions The War Chiefs (October 17, 2006) added three Native American factions, and The Asian Dynasties (October 23, 2007) added three Asian factions9. Ensemble Studios also produced Age of Mythology in October 2002, swapping history for Greek, Norse, and Egyptian pantheons, plus its Titans expansion in 20035.

The franchise moved to handhelds and free-to-play in the following years. Age of Empires: The Age of Kings for Nintendo DS launched November 14, 2006 as a turn-based tactics take on the RTS, and Age of Empires: Mythology followed on DS in November 2008. Age of Empires Online launched August 16, 2011 on Games for Windows Live with a microtransaction model, and its servers ran until July 1, 2014. The Windows-app spin-off Age of Empires: Castle Siege followed on September 17, 2014, later coming to iOS on May 20, 20155.

The biggest cultural moment came from fans, though. Hidden Path Entertainment's HD Edition launched on Steam on April 9, 2013, led by Matt Pritchard, the original Age of Empires II lead programmer at the now-defunct Ensemble Studios4. Microsoft then folded the fan team Forgotten Empires (whose 2011 unofficial mod inspired the deal) into an official expansion called The Forgotten, released November 7, 20131. On April 9, 2015, HD producer Ryan Chaply announced a further Forgotten Empires expansion, later revealed as The African Kingdoms, featuring civilizations including the Malians and the Berbers2.

How to Use This Meme

Age of Empires as a common gaming touchstone typically shows up in three ways: quoting the "Wololo" monk conversion line in unrelated contexts, sharing screenshots of ridiculous castle rushes or wonder builds, and citing specific civilizations (the Franks, the Mongols) as shorthand for a strategy style. On Steam Workshop and modding sites like ModDB, players still trade custom maps and rebalanced unit rosters built on top of the HD Edition4.

Frequently Asked Questions