Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery

ANNO 1701 is best described as a real-time city building sim set in the 16th and 17th centuries. The developer boldly claims “Anno 1701 is the most elaborate, high-budget game production ever to come out of German-speaking Europe.” No meek claim – backed up by the fact the franchise has apparently sold over four million copies worldwide.

The latest installment is the third in the series, and the first to appear on the DS. Players set up a colony on the island world of Anno and construct a stable economy with the eventual aim of defeating all other players. The game’s premise sticks closely to the original Anno 1503 and Anno 1602, and will also be familiar to anyone who played Sid Meier’s now ancient Colonization.

Eventually the settlement will grow and as well as keeping the population and other domestic matters ticking over, players can train troops and will have to employ clandestine operations such as sabotage, espionage as well as good old fashioned diplomacy in order to get one up on their island rivals.

For strategy fans there’s certainly enough to be absorbed with here, as the conscientious German developers knew only too well when programming the original. After particularly long sessions, in-game characters will say things like: “You’ve been playing for two hours without a break. Don't you want to stretch your legs for a bit?” Bless them.