Age of Empires II comes with some classic cheat codes that are ingrained in our common memory. But how do you turn them on?
Resource Cheat Codes
| robin hood | 10000 gold |
| cheese steak jimmy’s | 10000 food |
| lumberjack | 10000 wood |
| rock on | 10000 stone |
| rowshep | 100000 of every resource |
| ninjalui | 100000 of every resource |
| ninjaconnor | 100000 of every resource |
- The “cheese steak jimmy’s” cheat is aptly named after a restaurant near Ensemble Studios where the crew used to go for lunch a lot.
- “Robin Hood” is named after the legendary archer from the 1300’s. He stole from the rich to give to the poor. His existence is still highly debated.
- The super-cheats are even more obscure and are all named after babies that were born during the development of Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
Unit Cheat Codes
Probably the most fun Age of Empires II Cheat Codes to play around with!
| how do you turn this on | Cobra Car |
| to smithereens | Saboteur |
| furious the monkey boy | Furious the Monkey Boy |
| i love the monkey head | VMDL |
| i don’t exist | Penguin |
| alpaca simulator | Alfred the Alpaca |
| catzor | Sharkatzor |
| photon man | Photon Man |
- Cobra Car is modeled after a Shelby Cobra. One of the original artists really liked this car.
- VMDL is named after “Villager Male Dave Lewis”. In the original game he was a low-res naked villager, which allegedly is based on a true story from an office party at Ensemble Studios.
- The Penguin is a tribute to the anonymous driving force behind the UserPatch project. They always wanted Antarctica to be a playable civilization in Age of Empires II, so this is the closest we’ll get.
- Alfred the Alpaca is named after the first mascot of the official Age of Empires community team.
- Photon Man was an original Age of Empires I cheat code that was made available during the “Age of Empires Anniversary event” in February 2020. The unit is still available in the Scenario Editor.
- Sharkatzor came to life after one of the Forgotten Empires artists needed a mental break after creating the architecture sets for the Ethiopians and Malians.
Various Cheats
| aegis | Instant building & resource gathering |
| marco | Reveal the map |
| polo | Remove the Fog of War |
| i r winner | Win the game |
| torpedo# | Destroy player # |
| wimpywimpywimpy | Destroy yourself |
| black death | Destroy all opponents |
| natural wonders | Control nature |
| woof woof | Replaces all birds by Stormy Dogs |
- Since Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, “aegis” now also makes your farmers gather faster.
- Stormy Dog is a tribute to a puppy saved from a storm drain by original Age of Empires developer, Matt Pritchard. The cheat code was implemented in the last four hours of development time for the original Age of Empires II.
Event Cheats
The following cheats are event-exclusive unlockables.
| tech tech one two free | All technologies are free | Unlocked during “Medieval Technology Event” |
| going above and beyond | All technologies can be researched 256 times | Unlocked during “Medieval Technology Event” |
