Every Age of Empires game, ranked
All 7 Age of Empires games we hold, spanning 1999 to 2021: 6 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 482,745 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (GamingPickz Score 8.1), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999) and follow the release-order timeline below.
- For the money: Age of Empires II (Retired) gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Age of Empires games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 6 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
6 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 6 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
- Xbox
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Every game by critic score
The grid above is built from Steam data, so it can only place the Age of Empires games that were on Steam. This one uses the Metacritic critic aggregate, which the older console-only entries have too, so the whole series lands on a single chart: critic score against release year.
On Steam (also has a GamingPickz Score) Console-only (Metacritic only)
6 best Age of Empires games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Best for: Playing through with a friend online
8.1GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceAge of Empires II: Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2019 Studio World's Edge Player sentiment 95% positive of 181,889 Critics 84/100 Price $34.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 15 GB Accessibility 7 declared features Raw 95% shrinks to 95.0 on 181,889 reviews, then blends with the 84 critic aggregate, giving 8.1.
What the data supports- 95% positive across 181,889 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Declares 7 accessibility features, well above the catalogue norm.
- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
- 2
Age of Empires II (Retired)
Best for: Players who trust other players over critics
8.1GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceAge of Empires II (Retired) at a glance Released 2013 Studio Skybox Labs Player sentiment 96% positive of 102,820 Critics 68/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck verified Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 96% shrinks to 96.0 on 102,820 reviews, then blends with the 68 critic aggregate, giving 8.1.
What the data supports- 96% positive across 102,820 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 96 against 68. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
Age of Empires III (2007) at a glance Released 2012 Studio Ensemble Studios Player sentiment 91% positive of 32,254 Critics 81/100 Price Not listed Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 91% shrinks to 90.9 on 32,254 reviews, then blends with the 81 critic aggregate, giving 7.9.
- 4
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Best for: Playing through with a friend online
7.8GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceAge of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition at a glance Released 2021 Studio World's Edge Player sentiment 86% positive of 95,393 Critics 81/100 Price $39.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 50 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 86% shrinks to 86.0 on 95,393 reviews, then blends with the 81 critic aggregate, giving 7.8.
- 5
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Best for: Playing with other people
7.6GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceAge of Empires III: Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2020 Studio World's Edge Player sentiment 86% positive of 54,770 Critics 75/100 Price $34.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 42 GB Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 86% shrinks to 86.0 on 54,770 reviews, then blends with the 75 critic aggregate, giving 7.6.
What the data supports- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
- 6
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
Best for: Playing with other people
7.1GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceAge of Empires: Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2019 Studio World's Edge Player sentiment 84% positive of 15,619 Critics 69/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 20 GB Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 84% shrinks to 84.0 on 15,619 reviews, then blends with the 69 critic aggregate, giving 7.1.
What the data supports- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 84 against 69. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
Only the 6 Age of Empires games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Age of Empires game we can score is Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition at 8.1. The lowest is Age of Empires: Definitive Edition at 7.1, a 1.0-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2012 to 2021. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Age of Empires II (Retired) at $19.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Age of Empires II (Retired), the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Age of Empires entries on Steam:
- Verified: Age of Empires II (Retired)
- Playable: Age of Empires III (2007), Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Platforms across the series
Where the 7 Age of Empires games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 7 of 7 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 7 |
| Xbox | 1 of 7 |
The Age of Empires series, game by game
Every Age of Empires game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 1999
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Metacritic 92Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh in 2001, it is the second game in the Age of Empires series. The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains 13 playable… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Sales In January 2000, three months after its release, Microsoft had shipped two million copies of The Age of Kings . The game topped sales charts in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and South Korea. It spent the next two and a half years on top 20 sales lists. (Wikipedia)
- 2012
Microsoft Studios brings you three epic Age of Empires III games in one monumental collection for the first time. (Steam)
- 2013
Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition. With the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this product will not be updated further. (Steam)
- 2019
42 Civilizations, 229 Campaign Missions, Singleplayer, Co-Op, Multiplayer, In-Game Editor, Mods, Cross-play...It is good to be the king. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 84/100 from 32 reviews. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 92% of critics. Windows Central s Cale Hunt praised the improved artwork, animations and quality of life additions but criticized the AI pathfinding and pointed out a need for… (Wikipedia)
- 2019
Age of Empires, the pivotal real-time strategy game that launched a 20-year legacy returns with modernized gameplay, all-new 4K visuals, 8-person multiplayer battles and a host of other new features. Welcome back to history. (Steam)
Reception
Sales In the United States, Age of Empires debuted at #7 on PC Data 's computer game sales rankings for October 1997. It secured places eighth and 13th the following two months, respectively. By the end of 1997, Age of Empires totaled sales in the country above 178,000 units, for revenues in excess of $8 million. (Wikipedia)
- 2020
Lead powerful civilizations across the globe, master strategies and tactics, and relive history in co op battles—now remastered in stunning 4K and modernized gameplay. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 75/100 from 46 reviews. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 71% of critics. Windows Central s Samuel Tolbert praised the new graphics and campaign changes but criticized the AI path finding . (Wikipedia)
- 2021
Celebrating its first year of delighting millions of global players, the award-winning and best-selling strategy franchise continues with Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, putting you at the center of even more epic historical battles that shaped the world. (Steam)
Age of Empires, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Age of Empires vs other series
How Age of Empires stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Age of Empires vs Dragon Age, Age of Empires vs Anno, Age of Empires vs Sniper Elite, Age of Empires vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Age of Empires vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Age of Empires vs Tropico, Age of Empires vs Age of History, Age of Empires vs America's Army, Age of Empires vs Beholder, Age of Empires vs Brothers in Arms, Age of Empires vs Call to Arms, Age of Empires vs Day of Defeat, Age of Empires vs Divinity, Age of Empires vs Door Kickers, Age of Empires vs Dungeons, Age of Empires vs eFootball PES, Age of Empires vs ENDLESS Space, Age of Empires vs Euro Truck Simulator, Age of Empires vs Europa Universalis, Age of Empires vs Forza Horizon, Age of Empires vs Frostpunk, Age of Empires vs Hearts of Iron, Age of Empires vs Heaven Island, Age of Empires vs Insurgency, Age of Empires vs Jurassic World Evolution, Age of Empires vs Kingdom, Age of Empires vs Men of War, Age of Empires vs Might & Magic, Age of Empires vs Overcooked, Age of Empires vs Pathfinder, Age of Empires vs Payday, Age of Empires vs Poker Night, Age of Empires vs Project CARS, Age of Empires vs Red Orchestra, Age of Empires vs Slime Rancher, Age of Empires vs Sniper, Age of Empires vs Soda Dungeon, Age of Empires vs Stronghold, Age of Empires vs Stronghold Crusader, Age of Empires vs Transport Fever, Age of Empires vs Universe Sandbox, Age of Empires vs Victoria, Age of Empires vs Wasteland
Common questions
How many Age of Empires games are there?
We hold 7 Age of Empires games in the catalogue, released between 1999 and 2021. 6 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Age of Empires game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition rates highest at 8.1. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Age of Empires games in?
Release order is listed below, from 1999 to 2021. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.