Age of War
Send cavemen at the enemy base, bank the gold, and evolve your whole army through five ages up to the future.
Max Games put Age of War out in 2007 and it defined a whole genre of lane-battle strategy games. Two bases face each other across a single flat line. You buy units that walk right and fight whatever they meet, and gold comes from kills, so your income depends on winning fights you have already picked.
The hook is evolution. Enough experience moves you from the Stone Age to the Medieval, Renaissance, Modern and finally Future age, and each one replaces your entire roster with something stronger. The tension is that evolving costs everything you have saved, leaving you briefly defenceless, so the game is really about choosing the one safe moment to spend it all.
Controls
Mouse only: click units and turrets to buy, click the evolve button when it lights up
Tips
- Never evolve while an enemy wave is on screen. You will be broke and undefended at exactly the wrong moment.
- Buy turrets early. They hold the line for free while you save the much larger sum an age-up costs.
- The special attack is a full-screen wipe on a long cooldown, so save it for a push that would otherwise reach your base.