Age Of Empires 2: The Age Of Kings

Cheat mode:
Press [Enter] to display the chat window and type one of following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: The codes can not be enabled in a multi-player game unless the host selects "Allow Cheats" check box when the game is set-up.

Effect	Code
1000 stone	rock on
1000 wood	lumberjack
1000 gold	robin hood
1000 food	cheese steak jimmy's
Full map	marco
No shadows	polo
Fast building2	aegis
Control animals	natural wonders
Instant victory	i r winner
Instant loss	resign
Suicide	wimpywimpywimpy
Tall, fast moving, useless villager1	i love the monkey head
Shelby Cobra car with twin machine guns3	how do you turn this on
Kill indicated opponent	torpedo<number>
Destroy all opponents	black death
Saboteur unit	to smithereens

1. This code may not be enabled in campaigns.
2. Note: This will effect all players.
3. The car will not appear unless there is a town center present.

Information in this section was contributed by Adam Franke.

Effect	Code
Build immutable structure	[Ctrl] + P
Alternate resource menu	[Ctrl] + T
Fast construction	[Ctrl] + Q
View ending sequence	[Ctrl] + C

Information in this section was contributed by Adam Franke.

Hint: More bases advantage:
To have a better chance of winning, you might want to build more than one base. Enlarge the base you start out with, making it completely fortified with at least two castles. Then, send a scout cavalry, or some other fast moving unit, to the opposite side of the map from your base. After you have checked the area and confirmed that it is safe, send a villager to build a castle at that location and fortify that base. This is very helpful if your enemy knows where one of your bases are located, especially during online play.

Hint: Free ally:
When you build a market, there is a chance that a rival tribe will ask you to send them a certain amount of wood, stone, gold, and food. When they do, click on "Diplomacy" or press [Alt] + D and click "Ally" on the name of that tribe. They will become an ally free of charge. However, when you do this you will no longer be able to align yourself with any other tribes. This is helpful if there are four tribes in the game.

Hint: Easy win:
For easy victory over the CPU under any difficulty setting, place eight to twelve villagers into three control groups. Then, have two control groups working on gold and one working on stone until all of the stone piles and gold piles are gone. Next, build at least two of every building and upgrade everything as fast as possible. If done quick enough you should be able to either swarm your enemy or surround him with castles.
Information in this section was contributed by Richard Hanson.

Hint: Saving your villagers:
Use the following trick to keep your villagers alive while hunting boars. If you are in the Castle Age, create some monks and place them near the villagers as the kill the boar. The monk will continue to replenish the villagers' health as they kill the boar.
Information in this section was contributed by cyberleftygurl.

If your villagers are building a castle or tower in enemy territory that takes time, send many villagers to build a small tower that can be constructed easily. After that is built, build your castle and if anyone attacks you, you can either go to the tower, or the tower can shoot at them and the enemy will not harm you.
Information in this section was contributed by cyberleftygurl.

Hint: Save resources:
When you are allies with others, do not build a market to avoid giving them resources.

Hint: Easy opponent elimination:
At the beginning of any random map game, at least one CPU opponent will become your ally if you give them 100 of the resource that they request. Remember the opponent that asked for the resources, as this will be important later. Wait at least until the castle age, then give that opponent the resources they asked for. At this point during the game, you should have either well over 4,000 of all resources or a large military (depending on your population limit). Either way, that payment should be no more than a small investment. Next, set your stance with them to ally. When you have a large enough army, switch your stance to either enemy or neutral and attack them. They should be almost completely eliminated before they switch their own stance to enemy.
Information in this section was contributed by Mr Foureyes.

Hint: Efficient boar hunting:
Gather all of the villagers that you want to hunt the boar with in between it and your town center (preferably closer to the town center). Next, send your scout cavalry to attack the boar. As soon as the animal begins to attack the scout, order him to flee behind the villagers, then command the villagers to shoot the boar. This saves valuable time and resources that otherwise would be wasted by building a mill beside the boar. It also makes the trip to the town center or mill much quicker. Another way to efficiently hunt boar is to attack it with military units until it is low on health, then finishing it off with villagers. Note: Boars hunted with military units will not be worth meat.
Information in this section was contributed by Mr Foureyes.

Hint: Explore enemy territory without being attacked:
Advance to the Feudal age, build a Market, then create a Trade Cart. Use the Trade Cart to safely explore your opponent's territory. If your opponent is neutral, they will not harm the Trade Cart. Another trick is to create several Trade Carts and place them evenly across your opponent's area to see everything they are doing, without having to spend several thousand gold to research Spies/Treason.