How to play Age of Empires II: Gold Edition on Mac

PlatformsComputer

Game summary

Age of Empires II Gold Edition unites the exciting game play of both Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion - plus additional content - for one compelling gaming experience. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings spans 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, in which players control the destiny of one of thirteen civilizations. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion will challenge veterans and novices to wage war on an epic scale with all-new civilizations, unique units and technologies, and campaigns based on infamous conquerors such as Attila the Hun, El Cid and Montezuma. Age of Empires 2 Gold Edition unites the exciting game play of both Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires2: The Conquerors Expansion plus additional content for one compelling gaming experience. Experience real-time evolution as you build your civilization into a flourishing empire, from the Dark Age to the Imperial Age. Decide whether to conquer the world through military might, commerce and diplomacy, or intrigue and regicide. There are many paths to power but only one will reign supreme. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings spans 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages. Players control the destiny of one of 13 civilizations. The game keeps the epic scope of Age of Empires' gameplay while evolving the combat and economic features. Developed by Ensemble Studios, Age of Empires 2features the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co designer of Age of Empires and the hit strategy game Civilization. Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors Expansion adds five new civilizations, four new campaigns, 11 new units, 26 new technologies, real world maps, and much more. Experience the adventure of the Spanish Conquistadors as they enter the exotic lands of the Aztecs, or relive the destructive force of Attila's pillaging Huns. This add-on pack focuses on the armies and military thinking of a handful of history'
First released: May 2002

Play Age of Empires II: Gold Edition on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play Age of Empires II: Gold Edition on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

Age of Empires II: Gold Edition installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Age of Empires II: Gold Edition like you would on any PC.
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