Farm (Age of Empires)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires. For other uses of the term, see Farm.

Farm
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Economic
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Tool Age
Use	Provides food
Construction
Requires	Market
Wood	75
Build time	24 seconds
Statistics
Size	3×3 tiles
Hit points	50
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Line of Sight	3

“	Provides a finite amount of food that can be gathered by a villager. Farms eventually need to be replanted.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Farm is a building in Age of Empires that provides a reliable supply of food, which can only be gathered by Villagers. The Market must be built in order to build Farms. Unupgraded Farms provide 250 food.

Gameplay

Although multiple Villagers can gather from a Farm at once, secondary Villagers cannot gather food until the original Farmer leaves to deposit food. Before the Definitive Edition, Farms did not allow units (even the Villager) to pass through it (meaning the player had to be careful about their placement) and could not be automatically reseeded.

For some civilizations their icon shows this building but with brown plants, for some reason.

A now traversable Farm

In the Definitive Edition, both the appearance and mechanics of Farms change. Farms no longer include the little huts in their graphics, which means all units can walk on them, friend or foe. Also, the player can right click with a Villager on the Farms when exhausted and they will rebuild them.

Further statistics

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Food quantity	Domestication (+75, to a total of 325 food) Plow (+100, to a total of 425 food) Irrigation (+125, to a total of 550 food)
Hit points	Architecture (+20%)
Line of Sight	Writing (share exploration with allies)
Build time	Architecture (-33%)

Civilization bonuses

• Egyptians: Farms cost -20%.
• Macedonians: Farms are four times more resistant to conversion.
• Romans: Farms cost -10%.
• Sumerians: Farms have +125 food production.

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: Farms are built 10% faster.
• Lac Viet: Farms are built 50% faster.
• Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit Farms are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Minoans: Farms have +60 food.
• Farms have construction time 30 seconds and 4 Line of Sight.
• Farms are not traversable.

Definitive Edition

• Farms have construction time 24 seconds and 3 Line of Sight.
• Farms are by default traversable by land units, this feature can be turned off to make Farms behave like in the original game in the skirmish settings.

Return of Rome

• Minoans: Farms bonus food removed.
• Team bonuses added.

History

“	The humble farm was the foundation of the great civilizations of antiquity and most human societies since. The farm was the technological advance that provided the large and dependable supplies of food necessary for civilization to arise. Farming began when edible seeds and fruits were preserved from one growing season and systematically planted in prepared ground the following season. The plant that resulted were nurtured and protected until the edible produce was suitable for harvest. Important farming advancements in ancient times included irrigation of rich but arid land, the plow that opened the soil for receiving seeds, and the continual selection of seeds from the most successful plants that gradually improved food plant yields.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Trivia

• Version 1.0 of Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome has a bug when both a farmer and Farm are selected at the same time: pressing "S" causes the Farm to replenish the amount of food available. This version is still popular in the Vietnamese Age of Empires community, and exploiting this is allowed in local tournaments.

Gallery

Farm in the original game

Farms and a Town Center (in the Tool Age), as featured in the Definitive Edition

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age