This is a long-running series that many people have a lot of love for. While in recent times the series has looked to the modern age or future for its inspiration. Anno 1800 is taking things back to the series roots. As the name suggests the game is set during the 1800s and it is up to you to lead your civilization into glory.
How to Download Anno 1800
You can download Anno 1800 from Epic Games Stores. If you like city-building games, be sure to also check out and download Tropico 6, which is also available on consoles contrary to Anno 1800 being a PC-only game.
The Game Review
For me, Anno 1800 is one of the best and most engrossing civilization-building/management style games in many years. It is the kind of game that may be a little slow to get going and learning what all of the menus do and where they are can take some time. However, I will say that Anno 1800 is the kind of game that can easily steal 50 plus hours of your life in a single week.
Of course, keeping the people on your island happy is what any good leader wants to do. The way you do this though requires a lot of problem and puzzle-solving on your part. You see there are three main things that you are going to have to keep an eye on in Anno 1800.
Making sure your facilities and production lines are running as they should, trading with other places and town planning are key. You get these three things right and you should be on the right track. If you do not… things can get rather tricky. I am speaking from experience here as I made the mistake of trying to make my town layout a little “luxurious” well I ran out of space very quickly!
You will need to build homes for people so that they have a place to stay and relax while they are not working on one of your farms, factories or whatever it is you have going on. You also need to have good relationships with other areas. This is a lot of fun and you really have to be quite diplomatic when dealing with people so that you can use their resources for your own benefit.
Sometimes the other nations are not exactly what I would call friendly and will just barge in on your territory. Or perhaps they will not be willing to deal with you just the way you want. It is a very delicate balancing act and you can dedicate a lot of time to it when you get your own nation running fairly smoothly.
The major new gameplay mechanic to the series in Anno 1800 is expeditions. These do take a little time to unlock, but the yare a great addition. These see you send a crew out on the high seas and the steaks are very high. You can decide if they should stand and fight if an enemy ship approaches, or you can tell them to flee. There are a ton of decisions that need to be made and each one could be good… or very, very bad!
You can play a sandbox style mode in single or multiplayer and that as you would expect is great. What really took me by surprise though was the campaign. This is awesome and sees you having to move back to the “old world” after your dad is charged with treason. There is murder, secrets and much more in this story and I can hand on heart tell you that I was engrossed from begging to end.
Anno 1800 is a very challenging game and I am saying this as someone who played it on the easiest setting possible. There is a lot of trial and error here as well as learning as you go. It does not hold your hand, but I do feel that the gameplay is so much fun that it is all the more rewarding thanks to its difficulty.
Anno 1800 is a game that is not for everyone. Those who love strategy style games are going to get heavily invested in this. So, while it may start out rather slow, Anno 1880 is one of the most addictive games I have played this year and I am sure it will feature on many game of the year lists by the end of the year.
