Anno 2205™

Anno 2205™

A bold new direction for the Anno Series, but it’s going to be a hard pill to swallow…

We’re now several patches in, I’ve decided my old review no longer applies because frankly the game that’s taking shape from the patches is something new and interesting. It’s still Anno to an extent, but there’s a massive raft of changes. So let’s deal with the TLDR first and foremost.

If you want a multiplayer anno experience, right now this is not the game for you. Go back to Anno 1404 Venice. I wouldn’t even recommend Anno 2070 because in my extensive experience of the Anno series, 1404 is the stronger entry, Anno 2070 is too crufty, and too overloaded with some really strange ideas that just don’t quite work. Venice is a far more consistent, challenging and interesting experience, and you’ll find it a far more -fun- game to play. As a multiplayer game, and indeed, as a versus AI, 1404 wins against 2070 for that purpose.

Real player with 203.1 hrs in game


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*** SUPER UPDATED ***

I liked this game. But then the Tundra DLC released and suddenly I could no longer play it. No big deal, I guess, I was pissy but that didn’t make the base game bad.

All my attempts at getting a refund or a fix were ignored, which made me more pissy.

Now they’ve released a DLC that season pass and Gold Edition buyers will have to purchase.

THIS IS NOT OKAY UBISOFT.

UPDATED

It’s hard to give a review for this game.

I’m a big fan of previous Anno games, and I’ve spent a lot of time with Anno 2070, doing little side missions, replaying the main content, continuous games… I never did multiplayer, admittedly, because I’m not a huge fan of acknowledging other people even exist, let alone let them invade my game.

Real player with 170.2 hrs in game

Anno 2205™ on Steam

Sliding Blocks

Sliding Blocks

FANTASTIC until it chokes at level 37 in master mode. Bummer.

Real player with 45.9 hrs in game


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In short: It’s a perfectly functional, if pretty cheaply-made puzzle game with zero variety, but a lot of content. I’m enjoying myself and the pricing is very fair.

In long: The game has one mechanic and one mechanic only: After 10 tutorial levels there will always be a 6x6 grid on which 2- and 3-tile blocks are arranged so they block the exit. Grabbing them with the mouse allows you to slide them along their length-axis. You need to cleverly slide them back and forth until you’ve moved the target block (always on the third row from the top) to the right edge of the grid so you can slide it out of the exit. There is an undo button which comes in very handy on later levels. There is no time limit (and indeed no time keeping even), but there is a target number of moves on each level which seems to be based on the optimal solution (as I’ve never managed to beat it). Based on your performance you’ll be awarded 1-3 stars, but the game is thankfully very generous in this evaluation. The following move-counts all gave me the full 3 stars: 11/10, 17/15 and 25/21 while 29/24 only awarded me 2 stars. With this leeway it’s fairly easy to 3-star every level.

Real player with 18.0 hrs in game

Sliding Blocks on Steam