Up to eight players can play in multiplayer matches, with artificial intelligence being able to fill slots at the server host's choice. However, Thrones and Patriots has campaigns which offer more turn-based strategy features than the original and the ability to make decisions outside of combat.
Gameplay still remains similar to Rise of Nations, with its wide span of ages and players still manage and expand their nations at the macro and micro levels. Thrones and Patriots expanded on a variety of features in the original game, such as new monuments (called ' Wonders'), nations, governments, and campaigns. Rise of Nations: Extended Edition was released on Steam on Jand includes both the original game and Thrones and Patriots with updated graphics and Steamworks integration for multiplayer. It was ported to and released for Mac OS X in November 2004. Thrones and Patriots had its premiere release for Microsoft Windows on Apin North America. The game is the second in a series of Rise of Nations games by Big Huge Games. Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is the official expansion pack to the real-time strategy video game Rise of Nations.
