Anno Online

Anno Online is a browser game in which the player has to build up and manage a settlement on a newly discovered isle. In contrast to the previous installment Anno 2070, it returns to the medieval setting. The very basic mechanics are still the same: the player builds various buildings, including road networks, to serve the needs of the population and form production cycles. When the population rises and is pleased, they are upgraded to the next tier which results in new unlocked buildings and additional needs. Of course the player can not gather all resources in his own isle, so it is necessary to trade.

The most important difference to the main series is that every action takes real time. While basic actions (e.g. a worker exploits a resource and brings it to the next station in the production circle) are in the usual rhythm, more complex actions like building a ship or sending it out to trade may take hours or even days. To soften this a bit, buildings can be directly moved to another place. Each island is divided in several sections which have to be uncovered before they can be used for expansion. This is the most time-intensive task of the game, because the player has to gather a big load of several resources - which in itself is not a trivial thing to do - and afterwards wait in some cases over a week. While the game is a persistent world - the trade routes and production cycles continue to perform even when the player is logged out - there is almost no interaction with other players besides chatting and trading. Anno Online started out as a peaceful game without combat, but later received an update that introduced tactical ship battles.

It is also a free-to-play game which means there is a shop available. The currency are rubies which are either given out after level-ups (which are rewarded for a good performance and solving missions) or bought with real money. In the shop the player can buy a lot of items, which are all basically instant delivery of things which had to be produced/waited out in the game.