Released in 2002 for Windows and Mac, Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios that departs from historical settings in favor of ancient mythology. Rather than drawing on documented history as the Age of Empires series does, it builds its world around Greek, Egyptian, and Norse legend. The campaign centers on Arkantos, an Atlantean admiral who travels through the territories of all three civilizations while pursuing a cyclops allied with Poseidon in a plot against Atlantis. Core gameplay follows the familiar RTS framework Ensemble established in earlier work — base building, resource gathering, and military command — but incorporates mythological units and divine powers reflecting each culture's pantheon. The result is a strategy game that blends accessible mechanics with a narrative drawn from classical and Norse myth.
Like many other real-time strategy games, Age of Mythology is based on defeating enemy units and towns, building your own units and towns, and training villagers and fighters. In this way, players are able to defeat and conquer rival towns and civilizations. Players advance their tribe through four "Ages": starting in the Archaic Age, the player may upgrade to the Classical Age, the Heroic Age, and finally, the Mythic Age. Each upgrade to a higher Age unlocks new units and technologies for the player, which strengthens their settlement. However, upgrading requires a sum of resources to be paid and a certain prerequisite building to be constructed. There are three playable cultures in Age of Mythology: the Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse. Each culture has three "major gods"—important deities such as Ra, Zeus, or Odin. The player chooses their major god before the game begins. Every time a player advances to the next age, a "minor god" is selected. Minor gods are slightly less significant historically than their major counterparts. Some minor gods include Bast and Aphrodite. All gods grant the player unique technologies, myth units, and a unique "god power"—A one-time special ability that can either damage an opponent, or benefit the player that uses it.
