AoE2 map guides

The default open-map experience — sparse woodlines, exposed gold, minute-7 aggression viable.

The canonical closed map — pre-walled bases, no Dark Age pressure, Fast Castle / Imperial plans dominate.

The forest-maze closed map — dense woods enclose every base, narrow choke-lanes connect players, Fast Castle + trash war dominate.

Open-land map with impassable water holes (cenotes) scattered as terrain-denial obstacles — chokes and wall geometry emerge from the natural layout.

Large landmass dotted with 3-6 scattered medium lakes that force a supplementary water economy onto otherwise land-dominant play.

The pre-walled map — every player starts inside a complete stone-wall enclosure with gates; Dark Age pressure is impossible, and the game is a pure Castle/Imperial-age tech + siege war.

Hybrid land map with 4 inland lakes — full land connectivity between players plus 4 discrete fishing zones; rewards mixed land/water eco play.

Specialty gimmick map — one massive 40-80 tile gold pile at map center dominates mid-game; whoever controls it wins, whoever loses it starves.

The semi-closed compromise — pre-built stone walls protect the TC but gold and stone spawn outside, forcing methodical Feudal and explosive Castle Age plays.

The canonical pure-water map — each player on their own island, no land connection, navy decides everything.

Arabia's more extreme cousin — even sparser woodlines, even shorter distances, near-impossible to wall.

Hybrid inland-sea map with a huge central lake, coastal starts, and land bridges only at the map corners.

The meta-map — each match rolls into a different map archetype from a wide pool; the correct plan is 'play as if it's whatever it became'.

The open-steppe archetype — minimal trees, no walling, cavalry mobility dominates.

The no-TC hybrid map — 3 villagers, 1 scout, 1 stone pile; choose where to settle on a shared central shore.

Hybrid river map — winding waterways carve the map into peninsulas, forcing docks + transports while leaving narrow fords for pure-land play.

Open-land specialty map with 4-6 runestone monuments granting capture bonuses + 5 relics — 9-11 contested objectives layered on an Arabia-like landscape.

African savanna map — wide open plains, sparse central trees, abundant huntables including elephants.

Wide open steppe with sparse forest clumps — cavalry-dominant meta with marginal walling on home forest flanks.

Semi-closed hybrid — mountain valleys with 1-2 narrow passes between players; terrain enforces chokes, Castle Age pass control decides games.

The jungle map — dense tree cover everywhere, extra boars and deer scattered across the terrain, wood is infinite but gold/stone are forest-embedded.