Age of Empires Online is a fantastically fun strategy game. I've been playing it off and on since before its release with my son who is entirely new to not only the series, but the genre.

I figure he's likely not the only inexperienced gamer drawn to this flashy, new (sorta free) real-time strategy game for the PC, so I went to Microsoft and asked them to whip up a little strategy guide that might be useful to those new to the game. There may even be a few tips in here that those who've been playing Age of Empire since that first release, will find interesting.

Age of Empires Online is broken down into two distinct segments. There's the bit where you play strategy games against the computer (quests), against your friends (PvP), or with your friends (cooperative) and there's the persistent home city that you use to build up and strengthen your army. For this initial strategy guide, we're going to be talking just about some tips you might be able to use while questing or playing with or against your buddies in matches.

Don't forget that in Age of Empires Online you unlock your full technology tree by playing through and level up your home city over time. Some of these things, like the market, may not be available to you in the early quests.

Click through the images to read the guide. Make sure to click on the bottom right expand button to see each image in all of its full-sized glory.