Age of Empires
"Age of Empires", released on October 26, 1997, was the first game in the series, as well as the first major release from Ensemble Studios. It was one of the first history-based real-time strategy games made, utilizing the Genie game engine. GameSpot described it as a mix of "Civilization" and "". The game gives players a choice of 12 civilizations to develop from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. The expansion pack, "The Rise of Rome", published by Microsoft on October 31, 1998, introduced new features and four new civilizations, including the Romans. Although the two games had contained many software bugs, patches resolved many of the problems.
Age of Wonders
Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy video game often likened to "Master of Magic". Originally titled "World of Wonders", the game incorporated several role-playing video game elements that were dropped when simultaneous turns were implemented. The game was co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic MegaGames, Dutch and American game developers respectively, and published by Gathering of Developers in 1999; it was re-released in 2010 on GOG.com and Steam.