Age of Mythology can turn divine favor into military power, but its stranger details go well beyond putting a Minotaur beside ordinary troops. Here are ten documented facts about the original PC game and its later Extended Edition, with the versions kept separate.
The numbered gameplay details below follow the original Microsoft manual. The screenshots show the released 2014 Age of Mythology: Extended Edition, not Retold. Our comments about why the details matter are editorial interpretation.
Featured image: a bright attack effect among Egyptian buildings and monuments in Age of Mythology: Extended Edition. Full publisher gameplay screenshot. Used with permission from Microsoft.
1. Zeus gets a bigger favor wallet
The original manual gives most civilizations a 100-favor ceiling, while Zeus's Greeks can hold 200. That changes how much divine spending power can be banked. A shared resource name does not mean every god gives you the same account.
2. Favor has three different jobs attached to earning it
Original Greeks pray, Egyptians build monuments, and Norse forces earn favor through combat. Norse hunting gatherers can also contribute; Norse myth units do not. The same desired monster therefore sits behind quite different economic habits.
3. Ra's rain helps farms across the whole map
The original Rain power boosts every villager's farming, according to the manual. That makes it a particularly good example of why a power's description deserves attention: a global effect can be more generous than its owner intended.
4. A peace treaty can arrive as a god power
Hermes grants Ceasefire, a global pause in combat. The original manual puts forced peace in the same divine toolbox as destructive powers. Sometimes the dramatic intervention is making everybody stop.
5. The Colossus can eat resources to repair itself
The original Hephaestus entry describes a giant construct that heals by consuming resources. Repair becomes a decision about supplies, not just whether you can keep the unit out of danger.
6. Aphrodite can turn the opposition into pigs
Curse transforms enemy units into swine in the original game. It is a wonderfully literal change of battlefield role, and a useful reminder that the supernatural roster does more than add larger damage numbers.
7. One creature grows more heads by fighting
The original Hydra gains heads during battle. Its development is tied to action rather than just a production queue. That gives the creature a very different identity from a soldier who simply arrives with better equipment.
8. Its million-copy milestone has a precise reporting window
Microsoft's March 11, 2003 announcement reported more than one million worldwide retail sales. Its footnote specifies November 1, 2002 through March 1, 2003. That is a dated publisher report, not a present lifetime total or a count of surviving physical copies.
9. Extended Edition includes a third named campaign
The publisher's Steam listing includes the Golden Gift campaign alongside Age of Mythology and The Titans. A package comparison that mentions only the base game and expansion misses a named campaign. Check the exact product before assuming an older box contains the same bundle.
10. Extended Edition now carries its own end-of-updates notice
Its current Steam page explicitly says it will not receive further updates following Retold's 2024 release. Extended Edition and Retold are separate editions, not interchangeable names for one automatically updated purchase. That distinction matters more to a buyer than another line about prettier water.
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Evidence and image credits
Facts 1-7 use Microsoft's original Age of Mythology PC manual, especially the favor and pantheon sections. They describe that historical ruleset, not a promise about current Retold balance. Fact 8 uses Microsoft's dated retail-sales report; facts 9-10 use the current publisher Steam listing, checked November 9, 2026.
All three complete gameplay screenshots come from the Xbox Game Studios Extended Edition Steam gallery, with original proportions and no cropped portions or added artwork. Used under Microsoft's screenshot guidelines. Used with permission from Microsoft. Zypher XP is independent; no endorsement is implied.
