Anno 1800 Console Edition has finally graced console gamers with its mighty presence. It's one of the Anno series' most promising titles after several futuristic outings that had polarizing receptions. Despite the return to a more simple form since it takes place in the past, it's still an overwhelming Anno game where players are assaulted by socio-economic issues every minute or so.
If players want to reduce the frequency of those assaults or those challenges (maybe reducing their occurrence to once every couple of minutes), then a good start will help immensely. Some city-building tips are in order so that the player's pretty Victorian city doesn't collapse because of beer shortage, among other apocalyptic problems.
10 Be Picky With The Starting Island
Running out of beer (or other Needs or Happiness resources) can quickly cascade into a domino effect since people will literally leave the city or town. That's why it pays to prepare from the very start of the game by picking an island with these natural resources:
- Potato
- Grain
- Hops
- Iron
- Oil
Having all of those on one island means players don't have to rush island expansions and potentially stretch their building resources, or even accidentally make enemies. This kind of setup is almost self-sustaining and the only thing missing is Pepper, which is easily traded.
9 Use Grids For Housing
When it comes to housing, there are countless ways to decide the layout for neighborhoods, but it almost always boils down to efficiency, and 2x2 or 3x3 (housing plot grids) are the most efficient. Basically anything square beats most other layouts.
These squares are modular and flexible. Players can also place amenities like the Market in the middle of several squares to grant access to most houses. This eliminates the need for multiple amenity buildings since buildings are expensive to maintain.
8 Utilize Blueprint Mode For City Planning
In order to better plan out housing layouts, Blueprint mode is mandatory, unless players are fine wasting their time or money on relocations and demolishing. Blueprint mode works and is available even if players have the money or resources for the building (they will have to commit to the build afterward).
This allows players to place building plots and build roads around them instead of the other way around (which can be frustrating). It's also a quick way to determine whether there's enough room in an island space for dense housing or the typical square grid layouts.
7 Don't Upgrade All Houses
It might be tempting to improve everyone's lives in a socialist utopia where farmers and workers are well-compensated and have the same standard of living as white-collar citizens, but Anno 1800 disagrees. This is the Victorian era, after all. Some citizens in the players' city will need to remain poor peasants or workers.
It's all thanks to the way the game handles its workforce pool, since it's divided into social classes. It ensures that players will always need poorer social classes to do the dirty jobs in their town. Moreover, wealthier social classes in Anno 1800, starting with the Artisans, have higher demands or needs and are thus harder and more expensive to keep happy.
6 Constantly Check On The Production Chart
The secret to maintaining harmony in Anno 1800 like clockwork is to keep checking the Production or Statistics tab like a paranoid taskmaster. Because the Production chart (accessible through the radial menu) shows the supply and the demand for all the resources being produced on the island.
So much of the city management in Anno 1800 is trying to balance out the supply and the demand, mostly by keeping both numbers identical or by keeping the supply number higher than the demand. Otherwise, there will be a shortage of resources and people will leave the city.
5 Don't Be Afraid To Buy Resources
At certain points in Anno 1800, players will often run out of resources, particularly those needed for building such as Wood, Bricks, Steel Beams, Windows, etc. While it's good to be self-sufficient in Anno 1800, the island's resources and workers can only produce too much before the demand for building resources outweighs the production capacity.
So if players really need to pave those roads or build those ships, then they're better off just importing the much-needed resources from other factions. Their treasury will take a hit, but if the resources help streamline production or improve the financial status of citizens, then the payoff is worth it.
4 Build Only What's Needed
The primary expense in Anno 1800 is the maintenance cost of all the buildings — usually the industrial ones. Building too many of them can quickly turn a treasury red and halt the city's progress. Players are better off building only what's needed to keep their Production supply-demand ratio balanced or 1:1.
This way, players can keep their profits positive. Exceptions do apply for certain resources such as Soap or other things that can be traded or sold to NPC traders or even to other A.I. factions. But for everything else that won't sell, it's best to make only what's needed.
3 Buy Low & Sell High
Speaking of Soap, it's one of the most common strategies in Anno 1800 to become rich. The NPC trader that runs the prison island, Eli Bleakworth, will always buy Soap for his prison inmates (for bathing and maybe other soap-related activities in prison).
Apart from producing a surplus of Soap on their island, players can also hoard all the Soap from the other traders or even buy Soap from the A.I. factions for a lower price and then sell them all to Eli for a higher price. Those inmates sure use a lot of Soap. The same practice goes well for other in-demand resources from other NPC traders.
2 Wars Are Expensive
When playing with other A.I. factions, some of them might be too abrasive or aggressive with expansions, making them easy targets for war declarations. But more often than not, wars are financial traps for players, just as they are in real life. Ships get destroyed too easily, and Anno 1800's combat system isn't exactly that deep.
Players will mostly be throwing their wooden ships at their enemies' harbors, hoping to break through the mounted gun emplacements. As players can expect, this eats up a lot of Wood, Steel, Weapons, Sails, and manpower, especially if players have multiple shipyards. It's not worth the trouble just to claim those Peppers or Hops. Just trade for them.
1 Take It Slow
It's easy to feel overwhelmed or panicked in Anno 1800, but learning to embrace that is what separates the series' veterans from those who quit once their citizens start emigrating or once the treasury starts dipping negative. This is a game that's not meant to be rushed.
So to make things more manageable, players ought to refrain from rushing their houses to Artisans or higher or creating too many Steel factories to hasten the supply lines. Improvements and progress will eventually happen; plus, there's always a pause button for when society gets too hectic.
Anno 1800 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.