Wonder (Age of Empires)

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

Wonder
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Civilian
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Iron Age
Use	In Standard victory conditions, the player wins the game if their Wonder stands beyond the countdown.
Construction
Wood	1,000
Gold	1,000
Stone	1,000
Build time	8,000 seconds
Statistics
Size	5×5 tiles
Hit points	500
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Line of Sight	4

“	A massive structure that is the crowning achievement of a civilization. Building a Wonder can be a victory condition or increase your score.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Wonder is a massive structure that can be built in the Iron Age in Age of Empires. It greatly increases the player's score, and is a victory condition in Random Map games. It has a high amount of hit points, yet no attack, and it takes a very long time to build and repair. If it is constructed and stands for two thousand years (two hundred in Return of Rome), the player will automatically win the game.

The infobox uses "O" as the shorthand of "original" for the original icon. Moreover it uses the following shorthands for different architecture sets:

• G - Greek
• A - East Asian
• E - Egyptian
• M - Mesopotamian
• R - Roman

Gameplay

Wonders require 1,000 wood, 1,000 gold, and 1,000 stone to build, making them the costliest building in the game. As such, it is highly recommended that the Wonder be built as far away as possible from the enemies, either near the heart of the player's city or by the edge of the map, as they will mount a relentless assault on it until it is brought down. Wonders are among one of the few buildings that cannot be converted by Priests. If a player's Wonder is destroyed, the player does not lose the game, although the player does not receive any resources back. The Wonder represents the prestige of a player's empire.

If a player attempts to build a Wonder, all players in the game will receive a notification, and the Wonder's foundation will be revealed as well. Clicking on the foundation will give other players a clue on how close the Wonder is to completion, since it will reveal its hit points. Once the Wonder has been completed, all players will gain line of sight on the area around it without fog of war.

By default, the timer between Wonder completion and victory is 2,000 years in the original game, or 200 years in Return of Rome. Both are equivalent to 1,000 seconds unpaused at the slowest speed, or 16 minutes 40 seconds on the in-game clock. Some scenarios have different timers for Wonder victories.

Further statistics

• Architecture: increases hit points by 20% and reduces build time by 33%.
• City Watch increases Line of Sight by 3.*

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: The Wonder is built 10% faster.
• Choson: Wonders have +2 Line of Sight.
• Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit the Wonder are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Return of Rome

• Team bonuses added:
  • Babylonians: The Wonder is built 10% faster.
  • Choson: With update 93001, Wonders have +2 Line of Sight.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit the Wonder are researched 30% faster.

Variations

The appearances of a Wonder is determined by which architecture set the civilization belongs to, resulting in five different variations of the structure.

East Asian architecture

The East Asian Wonder, the Temple of Heaven, and its in-game counterpart

Choson, Lac Viet, Shang, Yamato

Wonder: Temple of Heaven, built by the Chinese Ming dynasty in 1420 AD.

Campaign appearances:

• The Coming of the Huns (Definitive Edition version)

Egyptian architecture

The Egyptian Wonder, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and its in-game counterpart

Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittites

Wonder: Pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Great Pyramid, built by the Egyptians in 2600 BC.

Campaign appearances:

• A Wonder of the World
• Alexander the Great (since Return of Rome)
• Subartu

Greek architecture

The Greek Wonder, the Monument of King Leonidas, and its in-game counterpart

Greeks, Minoans, Phoenicians

Wonder: Monument of King Leonidas

Campaign appearances:

• Wonder
• Alexander the Great
• The Conquest of Nineveh (before the Definitive Edition)
• The Year of the Four Emperors (before the Definitive Edition)
• Sisyphus

Mesopotamian architecture

• Definitive
• Original

The Mesopotamian Wonder in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, a recreation of Etemenanki, and its in-game counterpart

Babylonians, Persians, Sumerians

Wonder: Etemenanki, built by the Babylonians between 14th and 9th Centuries BC.

Campaign appearances:

• Alexander the Great (Since Return of Rome)
• Ransom at Ctesiphon
• Raid on Babylon
• The Chosen One
• The Prophecy
• The Land of Kings
• Blood in the Water

The Mesopotamian Wonder in Age of Empires, the ruins of Ziggurat of Ur, and its in-game counterpart

Babylonians, Persians, Hittites

Wonder: Ziggurat of Ur, built by the Sumerians in 2100 BC and restored by the Babylonians in 600 BC.

Campaign appearances:

• Ctesiphon

Roman architecture

The Roman Wonder, the Colosseum, and its in-game counterpart

Carthaginians, Macedonians, Palmyrans, Romans

Wonder: Colosseum built by the Romans in 80 AD.

Campaign appearances:

• The Battle of the Metaurus
• The Battle of Zama (original version)
• Mithridates
• The Year of the Four Emperors
• Battle of Tunis
• Sisyphus

History

“	A Wonder is a massive structure, a crowning achievement of technology, resources, and construction time for civilizations who build one. Examples of historic ancient Wonders that have become icons for their civilization are the Egyptian Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the Athenian Acropolis.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Trivia

• The East Asian Wonder, the Temple of Heaven, is anachronistic for the time period, as it was built in the Middle Ages.
• The Ziggurat of Ur was built by the Sumerians in real history, but that civilization in the game has the Pyramid of Khufu as their Wonder instead. While the Sumerians were changed to use Mesopotamian architecture in Return of Rome, the Mesopotamian Wonder has been changed to a different structure before this.
• In the original game, the East Asian and Egyptian Wonders look different in their icons because they are from the beta. Also, the Mesopotamian Wonder in the beta is the Temple instead of the Wonder.
• The Pyramid of Khufu, Temple of Heaven, and Colosseum reappear in Age of Empires II, as the Great Pyramid, Chinese Wonder, and Amphitheatre, respectively. There is a separate Colosseum building as well.
• While not matching any monument that ever existed, the Greek Wonder was likely inspired by the Colossus of Rhodes, which is approximated to not have appeared like a hoplite or a swordsman, but as a torchbearer.
• By in-game appearance, the Great Pyramid is the fourth tallest Wonder in the game. In reality, it was the tallest man-made structure from its completion in about 2470 BC until the early 1300s AD, where it was overtaken by Gothic cathedrals of France and England.

Gallery

Wonders from the original Age of Empires

The Wonders in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

The Egyptian Wonder, the Great Pyramid of Khufu

The Greek Wonder

The Mesopotamian Wonder in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, the Etemenanki

The East Asian Wonder, the Temple of Heaven

The Roman Wonder, the Colosseum

A Greek Wonder being destroyed in the Wonder scenario

A Roman Wonder being destroyed by Armored Elephants in the Battle of Tunis

The Mesopotamian Wonder as seen in Ctesiphon, the Sassanid capital during the Ransom at Ctesiphon campaign

A Roman Wonder in the Definitive Edition

A Greek Wonder in the Definitive Edition

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