Dawn of Discovery Memories in the Anno 1800 Solo Campaign
Build a bustling island with different technologies and resources as the population grows and expands in Anno 1800.
Long ago, I dabbled in some of the Anno video games, including Dawn of Discovery on the Wii back when that was… The cool, new thing. That doesn’t date me at all. Ha ha! So when Anno 1800 came out, I was mildly intrigued. Then, I heard about the official solo campaign and have had it sitting around for some time. Off to build an island at my solo table!
Game Overview
Game Name: Anno 1800
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: Martin Wallace
Artist: Fiore GmbH
Publisher: KOSMOS
Solo Mode: Official Solo Variant (Unofficially Translated)
An island takes shape as new production facilities are built and the inhabitants expand. A tech tree provides vital information about the resources, yet it’s all easy to learn across a solo campaign of 10 scenarios. Various challenges and goals lie ahead on the quest to build up the island!
First Play
June 26, 2023
Complexity
4
Latest Play
June 27, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
14
Play Time
20 Minutes
High Score
61
Game Area
38" x 24"
Low Score
15
Lots and Lots of Tiles
I was immediately saddened by the lack of an insert for all of these tiles. Although not the end of the world, setup can take a lot longer when everything isn’t organized!
There is a lot going on here with all sorts of decisions and a solo timer deck. Random elements are limited to a certain degree, and the focus is on optimizing moves.
Fortunately, the solo campaign is a wonderful way to ease into all of the mechanics with a storyline to follow!
Much like the video games, these scenarios are designed to layer on the mechanics without being overwhelming.
A Modest New Island
The general aspects are around different kinds of inhabitants and resource production… So many resources!
To start off, I only had farmers and workers. An island starts with pre-printed production, although these can be covered with new construction. It’s part of the strategy!
Only a certain type of inhabitant may work at a building, though, and they are limited to the icons… Which will typically offer 2 spots per building. Not too tricky!
Yet there are many other considerations, even just looking at the first scenario. Definitely not a lightweight game.
Fulfilling Preferences
With lots of actions available and new buildings to construct, I already felt like I might get lost. But good news: The first scenario is focused on the inhabitants!
Population cards coincide with the cubes to give a little more flavor. In actuality, I ignored these portraits after a bit and purely focused on the icons… They’re important!
One action is to spend resources to play a population card. If the requirements are met, that card is all set.
Abilities make these fun to activate, although those are left out during the first scenario… Tutorial mode!
No Official Release?
At this point, the German version of the solo rules has been out for quite some time. For the English version, there are some unofficial translations to use.
These aren’t perfect, yet I didn’t find this printout to be all that confusing. Only a few word choices felt out of place, but I picked up on what I was doing most of the time.
Note that there is a choice between the solo campaign and full solo mode. The campaign seems to be best to begin.
As I’ll talk about some more, it’s a wonderful introduction to the game with interconnected scenarios and a story.
Upgrading and Living
The tech tree is pretty basic with the first scenario, yet building over other locations is a necessity. I replaced the artisan production sites with buildings for workers.
In this way, I managed to play all of my population cards before time ran out. It came a little closer than I expected it to, though. These scenarios are known for being tricky!
There is even an optional difficulty level boost to play with less time cards. Maybe I’ll get there one day. Maybe. Ha!
Upgrading my farmers into workers later on in this play helped out a lot, and was a fun strategy to discover.
My Island Inhabitants
First tier cards represent farmers and workers. Note that I had 7 cubes, so these were the people themselves!
The swap action, which allows up to 3 population cards to be traded in and redrawn, helped out immensely. I found a lot more synergies with the required resources.
However, it’s not possible to just keep swapping cards… Every action takes up time, and the early scenarios can be pretty tight without wasting any available actions.
I did it, though! This was a great introduction to the system and mechanics… But I wasn’t done just yet.
Another Excellent Learning Campaign
Not a lot of solo games use a set of connected tutorials or scenarios to introduce all of the concepts… Most rely on a rulebook, and then it’s off to the races! Not that this is a bad thing, yet this is a case where I can absolutely appreciate the way the 10 scenario solo campaign slowly introduces concepts. The rulebook had me balking just a bit.
I’m also someone who enjoys moving into a game rather slowly. Time is always limited, but I would much rather make sure I know what’s going on than rush through the experience. Had I been thrown in with every option available, this likely would have been a frustrating session. I made enough mistakes with less than half of the content. Ha ha!
Hopefully, all of the solo rules will make it into an official English version sometime soon. The story reminds me of some of the video game storylines, and although nothing is particularly connected, having objectives and different scenarios make everything more interesting. Plus, it looks like I still have a little ways to go to see everything!
Say No to Dynamite
Fresh off the fun of my initial victory, I zoomed into the next scenario. Various objectives needed to be completed, and I was way too sure I knew what I was doing. Nope!
I made the silly mistake of building a required dynamite factory early on. The resource didn’t do anything for me, so that ate up a precious building space. Rookie mistake!
Population card abilities were now in play, but I made it far too important to upgrade them all very early.
I ended up with too few artisans and too many engineers. Alas, the second scenario ended in a loss for me. Reset!
Chaining Abilities
My big mistake was in only evaluating the requirements for population cards, rather than looking at the abilities.
Many of those I completed offered free upgrades for my farmers and workers. This wasn’t a viable strategy, as those higher tiers couldn’t do all that much yet.
I should have looked at other population cards that awarded more inhabitants and, effectively, additional population cards to work on for even more bonuses.
Yet even with some randomness in the card draw, I really liked how gameplay was about careful planning.
The Right Way to Win
With a few corrections and a much better plan in place, my second attempt at this scenario turned out to be a success!
It was very important to time the festival action correctly, which is when everyone becomes available again. This takes up time, so doing it sub-optimally can be disastrous.
Note that this dynamite facility wasn’t installed until the very end, and my last turn involved upgrading some artisans into the required engineers. Much better!
I know it may not seem that amazing, yet learning by playing in this way is something I enjoy a lot.
Into the Old World
Things definitely took off with the third scenario! I had the ability to pick up more valuable population cards, along with the ability to build ships, explore, and trade.
However, all of this wasn’t too much! I felt like I was still easing into the full mechanics and had some choices.
As expected, I faltered a bit with getting a little too excited about the expansions for the island. Just too tempting!
It was tricky to work out the best way to make trades for the population cards, too. Clever to leave out some resources to make trading an important element.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-6
Solo Mode: Official Solo Variant (Unofficially Translated)
Play Details: Scenarios 1-3 at the Standard Difficulty Level
Outcome: 21, 15, 30, 43, 34, 61 (3 Wins & 3 Losses)
I did it! There seems to be a pattern here… Scenario 2 took me 2 plays to win and scenario 3 took me 3 plays to win. Ha! I had a lot of fun making better combinations with the population cards, especially when I managed to keep gaining workers. These early scenarios were far from easy, and I’m excited to play through the full solo campaign. I’m ready to find out what will be added to the game next!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
+ Pros (Positives)
- Progressively more advanced scenarios offer an excellent way to learn how to play with the solo campaign.
- Randomness comes from drawing cards, yet gameplay is mainly rooted in strategic planning during limited turns.
- At least for the first few scenarios, gameplay moves very quickly with clear choices and objectives.
- Decisions are meaningful, particularly with the limited number of building spaces and tons of available tiles.
- Each play progresses through a technology tree that means the lower level options become obsolete at some point.
- Most of the building artwork blends into the background, yet the iconography is usually very easy to see.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The cardboard quality is quite disappointing, feeling unusually thin and warping far too easily at this price point.
- No insert is provided, which can make setup and cleanup quite a chore with all of the unique building tiles to sort.
- Although the character artwork is fun, it’s clearly taken from a video game with identical facial structures.
- Some of the resource icons are too similar in appearance, even up close, which adds some unnecessary confusion.
Victory Conditions
Complete All Objectives
- Overall Goal Progress 75%
Goals and Milestones
Complete scenario 1 at the standard difficulty level.
Complete scenario 2 at the standard difficulty level.
Complete scenario 3 at the standard difficulty level.
Complete scenario 4 at the standard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Have you had a chance to play the solo campaign for Anno 1800? What do you like about the game? I’m thoroughly enjoying myself and looking forward to the next scenario! It will be interesting to see how everything plays out when all of the components are in use. Just need to work on my strategy and ease up on unnecessary dynamite. Ha ha!
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