Chris InglisDawn of Ages is a free-to-play medieval strategy game developed by Stratosphere Games and published by BoomBit for PC and mobile. You can feel the mobile-first interface on PC, but this quickly abates as you go through some tutorials to learn how to play the game. It reminded me of placing Forge of Empires many moons ago, only Dawn of Ages delivers a much more authentic medieval strategy experience that blends city-building, empire management, and large-scale, historically inspired battles. The real sticking point is monetisation with a battlepass and a shop for items.
You start the game by choosing a lord from historically themed factions such as the Franks, Vikings, or Anglo-Saxons. Each faction comes with its own unique units, bonuses, and visuals. A key strength of Dawn of Ages lies in its dedication to historical authenticity. The team at Stratosphere Games has explicitly avoided magic and dragons in this fantasy world, instead focusing on actual troop types and era-appropriate technology. This commitment to stylised realism is quite cool if you are a history buff. For me though, if I could balance melee and ranged units with appropriate bonuses against the different damage and armour types, I was happy.
The game’s graphics are crisp and detailed, especially as your settlements grow from scattered huts to sprawling strongholds across the ages. Unit models are distinct, and the environmental details, from lush forests to arid deserts, create an immersive backdrop for your empire’s rise. The sound design complements this well, with satisfying building sound effects, impactful combat audio, and an appropriate backdrop soundtrack to keep you engaged.
Combat in Dawn of Ages is an auto battler style, with your only input being troop positioning and choosing a bonus card to play for that battle that can give your troops benefits or hinder the enemy. You can see your combined army strength on the top left of the UI and your opponent stats on the right. But it goes deeper than higher numbers beating lower numbers, considering different troops have different weapons and armour that you need to counter. Fights end with you earning a star rating, with 3-stars being the highest and netting you the most rewards. You can go back and re-attempt previous campaign battles easily.
Between battles, the city-building layer allows you to gather resources, upgrade buildings, and improve your economy to support a growing army. Individual buildings and their upgrades are tied to your town hall level which is an initial progression stumbling block. This is where either patience and coming back the next day or utilise monetisation with a paid battlepass as well as the ability to purchase some items in the game’s shop. You earn gold from battles and can buy limited bulk resources per day, however with the paid battlepass and dropping money on other items, you can zoom ahead in progression and therefore army strength compared to free-to-play players. This means the game is pushing into pay-win territory which is where I usually stop playing.
The game offers both PvE and PvP content. The single-player campaign chapters are solid, providing a robust experience for those who prefer to play solo. While dipping into multiplayer, matchups can sometimes feel uneven, with some players possessing significantly advanced technology. This is a common risk in free-to-play strategy titles, so PvP was not a main attraction. You are generally matched against an even or lesser player, but you don’t know what unlocks they have utilised or not, so I only did the occasional PvP game to break up the campaign missions.
Overall, the core Dawn of Ages gameplay experience is highly enjoyable and there is a promising strategy game there. It’s your choice as to whether you engage with the monetisation side, and PvP modes are optional so you can just stick to the solo campaigns and daily missions if you wish. The blend of historical realism, deep troop customisation, and strategic battles makes it worth playing the free-to-play version at least.
This review utilised a key provided by and Dawn of Ages is available on Steam, Epic Games Store, iOS and Android.
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Johnny