Age of Empires Mobilecombines the classic franchise with a mobile city-building game. While the name remains the same, the actual gameplay of Age of Empires Mobile is far different from a typical Age of Empires game. As such, you may be a bit confused about where to start.

In this guide, we are going to take a look at some beginner tips for those who are new to Age of Empires Mobile. This will cover the basics of getting started, aimed for those who are new to mobile city-building games and may feel a bit overwhelmed by all the stuff there is to do.

A player looking at the option to buy Leonidas and Mulan.

Hold Off On Spending Money

Right from the start, you’ll notice that Age of Empires Mobilereally pushes the microtransactions.Oftentimes, you’ll open a menu to see a shiny button asking you to spend a few dollars to get a new material or expedite something.

These aren’t necessary to play the game; especially not this early into the game. While it may be appealing at times,you can start Age of Empires and play a decent amount of the game without ever spending a dime.

A player looking at the Japanese Civilization.

Choose A New Civilization

Shortly after starting, you’ll be able tochoose a new civilization from the one that you are currently playing as.You aren’t required to change this, but it can add some much-needed variation to the game. For example, if you play as the Japanese, you’ll get a bonus for Swordmen’s Defense, attack against tribes, and attack against other citadels.

Below, you may see a list of all the civilizations currently in the game.

A player looking at the resource buildings options.

If you want to change your civilization,click on your icon in the top left-hand corner of the screen.From here, you’ll see your current civilization to the right of your figure; clicking on this will give you the option to choose a new one.

Don’t Forget To Build

When going through the quests at the start of the game, you may get set in a rhythm of just doing what the game tells you to do. By pressing thelittle house icon slightly to the right of the world map,you can build the following buildings.

Tavern

Take Time To Explore The Technology Trees

By the time you can freely explore all the menus, you’ll probably be a bit overwhelmed by all there is. Before setting out to conquer and explore,consider taking some time to look at the technology trees that you can research on.

For example, by clicking on the university, you’re able to head into the research menu to see theeconomic and military technologiesthat you can fund and research (with everything requiring a bit of time).

A player looking at the Military technology research tree.

We also recommendlooking at each building that you have placedto get an understanding of what it does. While this may not seem important, it’s a good idea to actuallyunderstand the logistics of your civilization before getting serious.

Join An Alliance

Once you reach chapter eight, you’ll be able tojoin an alliance.This is required to continue to further chapters, but it’s still essential if you want to get the most out of the game. Alliances can provide avariety of helpful resources and buffs.

For example, you’ll be able toearn Alliance Coins,which can then be used to purchase items like XP tomes. You’ll also be able to request help from allies (other players in the alliance) and earn rewards based on their own achievements, such as defeating a tribe.

The alliance join and create screen being shown for the first time in Age of Empires Mobile.

Upgrade Heroes

Heroes are yourmain units used to battle and defend.These can be obtained in thegacha systemor just purchased (for example, you can buy either Mulan or Leonidas I for 99 cents). By heading to the heroes menu, you’ll be able tolevel up the heroes that you currently have.

You’ll be prompted to do this in a few chapters, but it’s a good idea to keep your heroes as strong as possible. You can alsorecruit new heroes from the tavern with the summoning currency,so be sure to head here to see what heroes you can pick up.

A player looking at Yi Sin-Shin.

Redeem Active Codes

Age of Empires Mobile gives you the option toinput codes in order to get certain rewards. It may be easy to forget about this, but be sure tocheck out the latest codes to see what you can obtain.For example, as of the publication of this article, the code ‘aoemgl’ could be used to get ten Legendary Arrival recruitment tokens.

Forget What You Know About Age Of Empires

Last but not least, it’s important to keep in mind that Age of Empires Mobile ispretty much nothing like the classic Age of Empires that you may have played before.If you are completely new to the franchise, then this may not matter too much. If, on the other hand, you have a firm picture of what Age of Empires should be,then you’re in for a surprise.

Age of Empires Mobile follows a typical mobile city-building game that relies on your alliance, a gacha system, and waiting for certain periods of time for things to upgrade. Overall,don’t dive into this game expecting a classic experience.

A city center in Age of Empires Mobile.

Joan of Arc facing foes in Age of Empires Mobile.