The Aggressor Anno 1800
About the game
The game “Anno 1800” was made and published by “Ubisoft” in 2019.
It belongs to the genre of “Economy Strategy”. It is part of the series ”Anno".
It features both single-player and multi-player mode.
The game is classified by the database as one with a “Dynamic Aggressor,” a “Historical Setting,” and an “Active Player Role."
About the Aggressor Categories
Aggressor Type: Dynamic
- This game features the “Dynamic Aggressor.” This means that the game allows for a flexible engagement with the Aggressor role, i.e. that actors within it change whether or not they are perceived as an aggressor. This type of game often features a way in which aggression is measured by a game-internal parameter and makes aggression a conscious decision that players can choose.
Setting Type: Historical
- This game has a historical setting. It is placed here by adhering to a point in time, persons or events of history, or a place recognisable by the player audience. It does not mean that the history simulated works deterministically to play out exactly like its real-life equivalent but that a historical world in the broadest sense is created.
Player Agency: Active
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In this game, the player's agency towards the Aggressor(s) is enabled by the game and they are able to take actions. This can include resisting the Aggressor or acting as one themselves.
Individual Assessment
“Anno 1800” is, as all “Anno” series titles, somewhere on the intersection between Economy Management and Global Strategy adhering to “4X,” as the focus on economy is definitely paramount, yet it depends on an expansion of the nation-state player empire. As war and aggression are not the presupposed state of affairs, this does allow for some dynamic play with the Aggressor role. The historical setting referenced is broadly resembling the 19th century Victorian Age with its colonialism and expansionism, yet curiously without many more gruesome aspects of it. Most interestingly, the aggressive expansion in the game, aside from military, includes buying up your competitor's islands which leads to everything structure on them being completely destroyed.
