Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been added into the game—including territories and attrition warfare. Rise of Nations features 18 civilizations, playable through 8 ages of world history.
On April 28, 2004, Big Huge Games released Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, an expansion pack. Later that year, a Gold edition of Rise of Nations was released, which included both the original and the expansion.
In May 2006, Big Huge Games released Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, a stand alone title in the series. It is a fantasy type game that does not require the original Rise of Nations to play. It is different in many ways to the original, with no shared units or nations.