Age of Empires I Definitive Edition
Hacker ApprovedRanked 8 of 24 strategy games by recommenders
People recommend it for fun replayable strategy, the history it teaches, and nostalgia; the most common caveat is its stiff presentation.
People recommend it for fun replayable strategy, the history it teaches, and nostalgia; the most common caveat is its stiff presentation.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun and replayable strategy
“I'm having a blast with AoE I on Linux, in this case the Definitive Edition.”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Wine ported to OpenBSD” “I played the hell out of the various isotopes of that game back in the 90s.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?” “I enjoy 1 a ton (my partner and I regularly play it)”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “OpenRA” - Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?”
Teaches history along the way
“the best "educational" application made in the entire history of computing is Age of Empires.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Is building a calm, non-gamified learning app a mistake?” “playing games like Age of Empires which taught me history on the side”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “U.S. kids no longer reading for pleasure” “as a young nerd I did appreciate the history section of the game”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Why Are There No Empires in Age of Empires? (2019)” Nostalgic favorite for longtime players
“I played the hell out of the various isotopes of that game back in the 90s.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?” “replaying it now feels weirdly nostalgic”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?”
Other strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle for Wesnoth | 39 | 4 | 91% | 4 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization | 25 | 9 | 74% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization III | 20 | 10 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | 16 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Age of Empires I Definitive EditionThis page | 13 | 3 | 81% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'm having a blast with AoE I on Linux, in this case the Definitive Edition.”
“its presentation is so stiff that I refused to play it”
“as a young nerd I did appreciate the history section of the game”
“I enjoy 1 a ton (my partner and I regularly play it)”
“playing games like Age of Empires which taught me history on the side”
“I played the hell out of the various isotopes of that game back in the 90s.”
“replaying it now feels weirdly nostalgic”
“It worked really well with the pen input.”
“AoE in specific has always had a lot of lag once players start to get full armies”
“it had bizarre effects, like you could steer an enemy army around by building a wall across a forest path”
“AoE is easy to learn and hard to master, imo.”
“what a great talk with many little highlights”
“Wasn't AoE1 released for PPC Mac natively?”
“the best "educational" application made in the entire history of computing is Age of Empires.”
“Age of Empires 1,2,3 vs 4. You can really see this.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.