Anno 1800

Anno 1800 returns to the roots of the real-time colony-builder series and delivers intimidatingly complex gameplay that's as marvelous as it is beautiful.

Anno 1800 is a beautiful and comprehensive yet strangely cold Industrial Age city builder.

Anno 1800 is a rich and sumptuous city-builder, easily the grandest and deepest Anno to date. Its early game is a wonderfully relaxing experience, while the later stages will have you scratching your mutton-chops and happily stretching your braces in equal measure.

Anno 1800 could have been any one of a hundred shades of mediocre, and I would have had a much lighter, breezier time talking about it. But whether I end up adding it to my list of perennial must-plays, or retiring it in despair at the whimsical capering of Captain Bumeggs, it’s an undisputed heavyweight, and an experience I’d recommend to anyone.

This leaves us with Anno 1800, a refined city-building game with a delectably savory approach to logistics optimization, a lovely core aesthetic, and a time-devouring rhythm. For me, that's worth the cost of a historical anachronism or two.

Anno 1800 Console Edition is an excellent translation of a deep, satisfying PC strategy experience to console. With engaging mechanics and an insane amount of replay value (not to mention multiplayer), anyone looking for a more arcade-kind of management sim will find a happy home here.

Despite the constant stress of trying to balance my reach against the happiness and budget of my city, I found a beautiful experience in Anno 1800. It has a real soul to it, as it demands the player care about not only the raw efficiency of a city layout, but the health and wellbeing of a population that wants more out of life.

Anno 1800 is a visually stunning, incredibly compelling management-strategy game. One thing of particular note is just how great and addictive the gameplay loop is, hooking you in as you watch your cities develop and expand, made all the better as you unlock and build a wide variety of buildings. There are slight issues though, with an unintuitive UI and trade system, which due to the way resources are spread around the game can be irritating. Simply put, Anno 1800 is an incredibly addictive and engaging game, with a few flaws, but nothing that stops it from being a great entry in the series.

Anno 1800 is one of the most addictive city builders that I've played on console, full of gameplay intricacies that create an intoxicating experience. With so many moving parts, it suffers a bit from the typical PC-to-console control issues that plague the genre, but I doubt that will stop you from spending hours building an empire.

Anno 1800 brings the Industrial Revolution to Xbox Series with a solid port of the PC game. Get ready to rule the New and the Old world.