“We developed and added to Anno 1800 for a very long time, and along this journey, we learned a lot,” he said. “And one thing, for example, was that previous Annos (including Anno 1800) were quite linear, and this is something we want to change. We want to make the game more modular, more open. and add more choices for the players. Because in previous Annos, sometimes players run into a hard wall.”
He offered an example from Anno 1800, which compelled players to enter a new biome after a certain point to progress the main campaign. That decision forced a “multiplier of complexity” onto players. In Anno 117: Pax Romana, players can choose to embrace that added complexity or stick to the biome they’ve been cultivating so far without worrying about softlocking the campaign.