Building comparison
head to head
Age of EmpiresvsThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Age of Empires
Optimization · Mind & Math
The original historical RTS of advancing ages, booming economies, and rushing armies.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Optimization · Mind & Math
Tolkien RTS where build orders and army counters decide the war for Middle-earth.
Age of Empires leans Optimization (Mind & Math); The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans Optimization (Mind & Math).
Age of EmpiresThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
APM and micro under pressure
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Micro and multitasking under real-time pressure
Reads6 vs 6
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires
Scouting and countering human strategies
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Multiplayer rewards predicting opponent army choices
Variance4 vs 3
Age of Empires leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
Fog of war and map resources
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Scouting hides enemy composition until revealed
Optimization8 vs 7
Age of Empires leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
Build orders and eco timing dominate
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Build orders and counter units are largely solvable
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.
Related comparisons
Age of Empires vs Age of MythologyAge of Mythology vs The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthAge of Empires vs Age of Empires IIIAge of Empires III vs The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthAge of Empires vs Heroes of the StormHeroes of the Storm vs The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth