Age of Wonders (originally entitled World of Wonders) is a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements. It was released by Triumph Studios, a Dutch game developer, in 1999. Age of Wonders is set in a high fantasy world with 12 playable races (4 of them are tagged as "good" – Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Highmen, 4 "neutral" – Humans, Azracs, Frostlings and Lizardmen and 4 "evil" – Orcs, Goblins, Dark Elves and the Undead). The player controls a certain fraction (race) in the game, and each fraction is represented by a leader. If this leader dies, the race is defeated as a separate fraction. The other units do not disappear, but continue on as "independents", a computer controlled group of renegade units, as well as wild animals. Independents can be recruited by fractions, if relations between them are good enough. The goal in the game is to kill all other leaders, or ally with them (if "Allied Victory" is enabled). Often epic battles take place, accompanied by music composed by Michiel van den Bos, which contributes immensely to the deep atmosphere of the game. The soundtrack is 97 minutes long, significantly more than in the case of many other computer games. Age of Wonders is also notable for extensive description of the units in the game, including many mythical creatures. No datadisks were released for the first game. It was, however, followed by a sequel, Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne, and a datadisk thereto, Shadow Magic. Age of Wonders II was received by the gaming community with some confusion, though.