Age of Mythology: Extended Edition

A god power sounds like a great way to keep your workout interesting, but Age of Mythology: Extended Edition asks you to point and click at a lot of little people while they’re doing things in several places at once. I’d try it on a bike before a treadmill, and I’d keep the game on an easy setting.

Gameplay

The part I like most is that you’re not just building an army and sending it somewhere, because you’re also deciding how many villagers to send after food, wood, and gold, when to move into the next age, and whether that weird myth unit you just unlocked is actually going to help. It gives you a steady stream of small decisions, which is great if you want a game to take up your attention, and not so great if you’re hoping to mostly watch the screen and let your legs do the work.

Choosing a god gives each match a bit of its own flavor, and the myth units and god powers are the reason I’d pick this over a more ordinary history themed strategy game. There’s a nice feeling to building up a normal little town and then having a minotaur show up to make the argument more complicated. I can’t tell you that I’d keep every part of my plan straight while exercising, though.

The campaign gives you a reason to move from one mission to the next, and I think that works better for a workout than treating every match like a big test of your strategy skills. You can play at your own pace, and there’s no human opponent waiting for you to make one tiny mistake so they can turn it into their whole evening. Skirmishes are there if you’d rather set up a match and get right into managing a town, but I’d start with the campaign or an easy skirmish and not worry about proving anything to the computer.

There’s a fair amount to keep track of, and I’d expect to have stretches where I’m staring at the map trying to remember whether I needed more villagers or more troops. That’s not a bad thing when you’re sitting at a desk, but on a treadmill the planning can turn into looking down at the controls, looking up at the game, and realizing your town has been doing its own thing for a while. I have enough trouble remembering why I walked into a room without a whole economy waiting for me.

The fights help keep the game from feeling like one long visit to the village supply store, but they can also ask for more attention than I’d want to give while running. You’re moving units around, reacting to attacks, and making decisions about powers, so I wouldn’t expect every battle to be comfortable at exercise pace. For me, this is a good game with some slow thinking and busy stretches mixed together, not a game that keeps you moving through constant action.

Category Score: 2 out of 3

Treadmill and Bike Compatibility

I’d put this on a bike, where my hands can stay on the controls without me worrying about keeping my balance, and I’d choose a low intensity ride. You’ll be using a mouse and keyboard to select units and move around the map, and the game doesn’t have native controller support. That alone makes it a harder fit for exercising than the strategy itself does.

On a treadmill, even a simple command can mean reaching for the mouse while your body is bouncing along, and then trying to make a careful selection while the game keeps moving. I can picture myself sending villagers to the wrong patch of trees and then acting like that was a bold economic strategy. I’d skip a brisk run, and I wouldn’t start with a difficult mission where a couple of seconds of distraction could leave you with a very small army.

A bike is more forgiving, but you still need somewhere stable to put your mouse and keyboard, and some missions will take more focus than others. I’d turn the difficulty down, take the campaign at an easy pace, and pause between missions if I needed to sort myself out. I don’t know that I’d want to play this during a hard workout, because you can’t really half pay attention to a fight and expect your town to stay organized.

If you’re happy with a gentle ride and you already have a desk setup that works near your bike, it’s doable. For a treadmill, I’d probably save it for a day when you’re walking slowly rather than trying to keep up with a busy match. The game is patient enough to let you think, but using the controls while moving is still the part I’d plan around.

Category Score: 1 out of 3

Computer Requirements

This is an older game, and the listed minimum requirements include integrated graphics, so you don’t need a recent gaming computer to give it a try. I’d check that your system can handle the game and has a compatible graphics setup, but this isn’t the kind of strategy game that should send you shopping for a new machine.

Category Score: 3 out of 3

Conclusion and Score

Worth playing if you like strategy games and have a bike setup where mouse and keyboard feel manageable. I’d skip it for running at any real pace, but an easy ride and a forgiving match could work.

Overall Score: 2 out of 3