Buy or play for free?

[Silver]

Was wondering if you could play the campaigns in the demo version.

Did a bit of research and it says you only get to pick 3 civs on a rotational basis in the demo, does this impact the campaigns?

[SWS]

Rotating roster has no impact on available campaigns.
Only the first Story Mode campaign (Act 1 of the "Blood, Ice, Steel" campaign) can be played in the free version. The other 2 acts, which are essentially sequels to that campaign, are not included.
Neither are the 2 War Chiefs and the 3 Asian Dynasties campaigns.

The free version does also have "The Art of War", which are individual challenges without story, mostly an extended tutorial.

If you intend to try it and aren't in a rush, you can download the free version. It will become the full version automatically if you ever decide to buy. :)

Btw if you ever are interested in any DLC, note that they don't have any aditional campaigns, just individual missions. Some people get confused about this.

[omnius]

Try the free version first to see if you like the basic concept of the game. You are limited to playing only some of the content available but it's enough to give you a good basic idea if you want to ante up later for the full version. after playing for free I ended up buying Civilization VI at 88% discount since it's hex and turn based without a limited timeline of history. AoE III is just too limited in its scope.

[Chaython]

It goes like $5 on sale, well worth it.
I've bought/own three copies of AOE3.
Love, hate relationship.