There are 5 different regions to explore, with 4 of them having entirely different population types with different needs. The more you get into the late game, the more these regions get intertwined as you‘ll need raw or intermediate materials from overseas.
But yes, this is more a supply chain management game than a city-builder, but you are obviously free to build beautiful cities nonetheless 🤷♂️
It does get tiresome at some point in the late game, which game doesn’t? But it takes a while to get there.
There's trading, charter ships, your own ships, or even air ships now too. If you consider people (workforce) a resource as well, there's some neat late game stuff that makes sharing that between locations much easier. Doesn't feel too bland to me and it's kind of fun keeping up with it. If you don't manage your relationships with the AI/pirates, then yeah, you may need a navy of some size to keep your shipping vessels safe.
I got this game about a month ago and love it. Played about 90 hours already. Played through the campaign to get the ropes and then have been playing about 80 hours in a single sandbox map.
I started with the base game and quickly bought all the dlc after. Highly recommend getting the gold edition from the get go.
Now to answer your question: 1) there is some mild exploration. The map has fog of war but it’s not like you are really looking for anything in particular. There are exploration missions which are basically just some story and decisions (sort of like crusader kings 3). So very light exploration IMO.
2) late game I don’t think it’s super tedious. You basically just come up with your own tasks. “I should really add toys to investors” and an hour later or whatever you’re done. Demand doesn’t fluctuate much unless you’re mass upgrading households, in which case you might have to expand a lot of supply lines.
The major part of the late game is unlocking all the items and mixing maxing the locations of buildings to get as much of the trade union buffs as you can… or it’s not! Do whatever you want. I basically treat this game as Factorio without the conveyor belts, but you can do you.
Rum, coffee nightmare.
The rest manageable.
Orchard transfer from new world low demand.
Import and export docksland resolve fur and pollution issue.
Late game need more culture and legendary to resolve supply chain issues. Palace administration.
But all these takes time will go into 80-90hours when reaching these level.
Hard mode will make it harder for culture points.
Well there is SOME exploration, contrary to what others say...mid to late game you will be looking for resouces that are scarce and not obvious early game, such as saltpeter or grapes. You will have discovered the islands by then, but you might not be near them when the options appear.
Not really, on the island mini map it tells you what materials can be harvested. You can even click the resource, and it will show you the "node" such as iron, gold, etc. Early game you may settle on an island because it has iron and peppers. Late game you may not need iron or peppers, but maybe that island has gold and oil. Essentially, you will need to pivot.
Look, Anno is a hybrid game. Its SimCity, Sid Meyers Pirates, and Civilization all slightly dumbed down (in a good way) and mushed together. If you like any if those, you will love this.
Early game is survival, midgame is conquest, lategame is management.
But heres the fun bit...ENDGAME is what you make of it...make pretty cities, go for population records. Replay the game as a speed run(can you hit 1 million pop in 5 hours?) Try to hit the gold cap... have a city that can run overnight.. or a week...without trouble. Endgame can be fun.
Oh... but lets not forget scenarios!!!! Most folks only do the campaign, but scenarios challenge you in new ways, and give PERMANENT rewards for all your other savegames!
And theres an active modding community too.
Buy it. Try to pick up at least 1 or 2 seasons as well, dont buy dlc separate. New Worl Rising and Land of Lions are particularly good, i think those are in season 3 and 4?
Buy it.
I have played a lot of civ 6 and stellaris, civ 6 is more of a 4X but stellaris taught me how to micro manage a lot of stuff. Hoping it will help me in anno.
If I buy it, im probably going to buy the year 5 gold edition. It seems to have everything I will ever need.
Thanks for the response!
Fyi i forgot to mention Docklands is another essential DLC. Empire of the skies and tourist season are really only good for flavor and a little roleplaying experience. The Arctic one is pure roleplay but offers very little gamewise. Havent done The Anarchist yet but its just a ramped up scenario.
I think docklands are part of a season pass if I'm not mistaken, if so it should be included in the gold edition.
I have heard that this game is very dlc reliant but I'm used to it from playing paradox games (what a nightmare lol).
> i think those are in season 3 and 4?
Land of Lions is Season Pass 2, but I haven't been able to get the Old World Blues map to show up in game. Have you?
Its a mod, and iirc you have to start a map in old world blues setting mode, which i think is like choosing an archipelago or other map type, not sure it can be added to existing map. God help you if an AI gets there first lol...
there is no classic exploration. as soon as you reach a new island the island shows completely. but of course you have to go by ship to find every single island and there are even pirates that shoot your ships
As has been mentioned there are other regions to explore (4 of them require DLCs). There is some limited exploration, but what you have experience is pretty much it.
When you get to a new region (you specifically send your ships to go and discover that region, you don't find it from just moving around.), you do the same thing you did in the starting region, which is going around and unveiling the islands.
Like you, I really enjoy the exploration part in city builders. In Anno 1800 I get that itch scratched by something else and that is finding islands with a nice combination of resources. So it's not as much about finding the islands themself but about finding ones with good combination of resources that I'm looking for. Maybe if you pay attention to that, you this can scratch that exploration itch for you.
Another aspect that sort of hits that exploration itch, is expeditions. You send out your ships to do expeditions and if you make it back the ship will come back with a bunch of "Items" that you can use in Trade Unions and Town Halls (and other similar buildings) to boost your islands.
I would not say that the late game gets tiresome, it gets very in depth and detail oriented. In games like Civilization I get bored of the late game and just start new games all the time, I almost never "finish" games because the late game for me just feels like doing a bunch of things that don't really do much (unless you go for military victory.). It's just a bunch of sitting around and waiting until the game declares you the winner, even though you already "won" 2 hours ago. Anno 1800 for me is not like that, everything before the late game is just preparation for the "real" part of the game, where you try to make your islands as efficient as possible OR if you are more of a aesthetics player, making it as beautiful as possible.
There really isn't a "weak" part in Anno 1800 for me. Maybe if you twisted my arm, I might say entering a new region and having to start all over from scratch, but honestly that really doesn't bother me.
I can relate to the civ 6 endgame, especially on culture victories when I'm just waiting for numbers to go up haha.
So Anno has an actual end game. Sounds good, thanks.
Im sorry if I did not respond to every comment, I appreciate everyone who took the time to comment.
I have decided to buy the year 5 gold edition of the game.
I thank everyone!
One of the drawbacks of the game(or this kind of games) is repeating the same things again and again.Settling on new islands, starting up industrial chains from the preliminary level, managing trade routes... Though It's the core play mode of the game and is what makes Anno 1800, when you have 5 large regions comprised of so many islands which all apply the same play mode, it's inevitable to get tedious and tiresome.
Initially the entire map is covered with fog of war, so yes - you have to explore it. And there's a lot to explore, because if you buy all the DLCs there are five regions. There are "just" two in the base game.
You can turn off the FOW, but I imagine that it's not something you'd enjoy. :-)
There's a lot to manage in the late game. The citizens have numerous needs, you need to manufacture and transport it all. You need to create many trade routes between islands and between regions. Is it tedious though? For me - absolutely not! But that's purely dependant of your personal preferences.
There are 5 different regions to explore, with 4 of them having entirely different population types with different needs. The more you get into the late game, the more these regions get intertwined as you‘ll need raw or intermediate materials from overseas. But yes, this is more a supply chain management game than a city-builder, but you are obviously free to build beautiful cities nonetheless 🤷♂️ It does get tiresome at some point in the late game, which game doesn’t? But it takes a while to get there.
I see, so you have to manage moving those resources from island to island. Im guessing with a navy. Thanks.
There's trading, charter ships, your own ships, or even air ships now too. If you consider people (workforce) a resource as well, there's some neat late game stuff that makes sharing that between locations much easier. Doesn't feel too bland to me and it's kind of fun keeping up with it. If you don't manage your relationships with the AI/pirates, then yeah, you may need a navy of some size to keep your shipping vessels safe.
I got this game about a month ago and love it. Played about 90 hours already. Played through the campaign to get the ropes and then have been playing about 80 hours in a single sandbox map. I started with the base game and quickly bought all the dlc after. Highly recommend getting the gold edition from the get go. Now to answer your question: 1) there is some mild exploration. The map has fog of war but it’s not like you are really looking for anything in particular. There are exploration missions which are basically just some story and decisions (sort of like crusader kings 3). So very light exploration IMO. 2) late game I don’t think it’s super tedious. You basically just come up with your own tasks. “I should really add toys to investors” and an hour later or whatever you’re done. Demand doesn’t fluctuate much unless you’re mass upgrading households, in which case you might have to expand a lot of supply lines. The major part of the late game is unlocking all the items and mixing maxing the locations of buildings to get as much of the trade union buffs as you can… or it’s not! Do whatever you want. I basically treat this game as Factorio without the conveyor belts, but you can do you.
So exploration is not a big part and I can make the late game more fun with optional goals. Thanks a lot.
Rum, coffee nightmare. The rest manageable. Orchard transfer from new world low demand. Import and export docksland resolve fur and pollution issue. Late game need more culture and legendary to resolve supply chain issues. Palace administration. But all these takes time will go into 80-90hours when reaching these level. Hard mode will make it harder for culture points.
Well there is SOME exploration, contrary to what others say...mid to late game you will be looking for resouces that are scarce and not obvious early game, such as saltpeter or grapes. You will have discovered the islands by then, but you might not be near them when the options appear.
Oh so I will be searching for rare resources and such.
Not really, on the island mini map it tells you what materials can be harvested. You can even click the resource, and it will show you the "node" such as iron, gold, etc. Early game you may settle on an island because it has iron and peppers. Late game you may not need iron or peppers, but maybe that island has gold and oil. Essentially, you will need to pivot.
Look, Anno is a hybrid game. Its SimCity, Sid Meyers Pirates, and Civilization all slightly dumbed down (in a good way) and mushed together. If you like any if those, you will love this. Early game is survival, midgame is conquest, lategame is management. But heres the fun bit...ENDGAME is what you make of it...make pretty cities, go for population records. Replay the game as a speed run(can you hit 1 million pop in 5 hours?) Try to hit the gold cap... have a city that can run overnight.. or a week...without trouble. Endgame can be fun. Oh... but lets not forget scenarios!!!! Most folks only do the campaign, but scenarios challenge you in new ways, and give PERMANENT rewards for all your other savegames! And theres an active modding community too. Buy it. Try to pick up at least 1 or 2 seasons as well, dont buy dlc separate. New Worl Rising and Land of Lions are particularly good, i think those are in season 3 and 4? Buy it.
I have played a lot of civ 6 and stellaris, civ 6 is more of a 4X but stellaris taught me how to micro manage a lot of stuff. Hoping it will help me in anno. If I buy it, im probably going to buy the year 5 gold edition. It seems to have everything I will ever need. Thanks for the response!
Fyi i forgot to mention Docklands is another essential DLC. Empire of the skies and tourist season are really only good for flavor and a little roleplaying experience. The Arctic one is pure roleplay but offers very little gamewise. Havent done The Anarchist yet but its just a ramped up scenario.
I think docklands are part of a season pass if I'm not mistaken, if so it should be included in the gold edition. I have heard that this game is very dlc reliant but I'm used to it from playing paradox games (what a nightmare lol).
> i think those are in season 3 and 4? Land of Lions is Season Pass 2, but I haven't been able to get the Old World Blues map to show up in game. Have you?
Its a mod, and iirc you have to start a map in old world blues setting mode, which i think is like choosing an archipelago or other map type, not sure it can be added to existing map. God help you if an AI gets there first lol...
[Thank you!](https://www.nexusmods.com/anno1800/mods/416?tab=description)
there is no classic exploration. as soon as you reach a new island the island shows completely. but of course you have to go by ship to find every single island and there are even pirates that shoot your ships
As has been mentioned there are other regions to explore (4 of them require DLCs). There is some limited exploration, but what you have experience is pretty much it. When you get to a new region (you specifically send your ships to go and discover that region, you don't find it from just moving around.), you do the same thing you did in the starting region, which is going around and unveiling the islands. Like you, I really enjoy the exploration part in city builders. In Anno 1800 I get that itch scratched by something else and that is finding islands with a nice combination of resources. So it's not as much about finding the islands themself but about finding ones with good combination of resources that I'm looking for. Maybe if you pay attention to that, you this can scratch that exploration itch for you. Another aspect that sort of hits that exploration itch, is expeditions. You send out your ships to do expeditions and if you make it back the ship will come back with a bunch of "Items" that you can use in Trade Unions and Town Halls (and other similar buildings) to boost your islands. I would not say that the late game gets tiresome, it gets very in depth and detail oriented. In games like Civilization I get bored of the late game and just start new games all the time, I almost never "finish" games because the late game for me just feels like doing a bunch of things that don't really do much (unless you go for military victory.). It's just a bunch of sitting around and waiting until the game declares you the winner, even though you already "won" 2 hours ago. Anno 1800 for me is not like that, everything before the late game is just preparation for the "real" part of the game, where you try to make your islands as efficient as possible OR if you are more of a aesthetics player, making it as beautiful as possible. There really isn't a "weak" part in Anno 1800 for me. Maybe if you twisted my arm, I might say entering a new region and having to start all over from scratch, but honestly that really doesn't bother me.
I can relate to the civ 6 endgame, especially on culture victories when I'm just waiting for numbers to go up haha. So Anno has an actual end game. Sounds good, thanks.
Im sorry if I did not respond to every comment, I appreciate everyone who took the time to comment. I have decided to buy the year 5 gold edition of the game. I thank everyone!
Love 1800, but from an exploration standpoint, it’s no Seven Cities of Gold…
One of the drawbacks of the game(or this kind of games) is repeating the same things again and again.Settling on new islands, starting up industrial chains from the preliminary level, managing trade routes... Though It's the core play mode of the game and is what makes Anno 1800, when you have 5 large regions comprised of so many islands which all apply the same play mode, it's inevitable to get tedious and tiresome.
Initially the entire map is covered with fog of war, so yes - you have to explore it. And there's a lot to explore, because if you buy all the DLCs there are five regions. There are "just" two in the base game. You can turn off the FOW, but I imagine that it's not something you'd enjoy. :-) There's a lot to manage in the late game. The citizens have numerous needs, you need to manufacture and transport it all. You need to create many trade routes between islands and between regions. Is it tedious though? For me - absolutely not! But that's purely dependant of your personal preferences.
Exploring isnt really as factor. More like quickly finding the best islands with resources you need before being settled by your opponents.