Control your tribe with the mouse. Make them build houses, docks, farms, and temples. Advance your civilization through time by learning new skills. The game allows for the player to advance through the ages: stone age, tool age, bronze age. If the player would rather get away from the historical aspect, the game offers a random terrain generator and a custom scenario builder.

The game has four resources: food, obtained by hunting, farming, or fishing; wood, which has to be logged by hand; stone, which has to be mined; and gold, which can either be mined or obtained through trade with other players

As a real-time war game, Age naturally revolves around gathering resources and producing units.