Considering buying but I don't enjoy sandbox games?

[dan0812]

I can't get motivated to play sandbox games and need goals/structure.

If I only play the campaign in Anno what do I miss out on? For example, if you add DLC, are those items included in the campaign or do you have to start sandbox games to use them? Do you miss out on a bunch of maps/other stuff?

[TowerWizard]

The campaign turns into sandbox after the story is over. So, they both affect DLC the same way.

Which means, that if you don't like sandbox games, then you won't like this game, because the campaign is mostly just a sandbox game with a fixed start.

Also, of course, there are options you can pick when playing a sandbox game that is not included in the campaign. You can choose to play a map of your own choosing by adjusting variables, or get an exact map from a seed, choose to play with opponents or not, and so on.

[dan0812]

Thanks. I can see online the end of the campaign is "Attract to Bright Sands: 500 Engineers"

At that point, it becomes sandbox play and I assume I have seen everything the game has to offer, or is there anything specific do to after this except just keep expanding?

Once it is sandbox with no more goals, I would probably prefer to start the campaign over but I don't know if that is wasting what the game has to offer. I know some people would have no interest in the campaign.

[TowerWizard]

In sandbox games, you make your own goals, as you know. Anno 1800 has a lot of such goals. Maybe you want to build a city with 5000 investors. Maybe you want to eliminate all rivals. Each DLC adds new such goals. In one of the DLC you get to build a zoo, so maybe your goal is to have 50 different animals in that zoo.

I don't know what to tell you, other than you have a lot to do in Anno 1800 even after the campaign is over. If you start a sandbox, you can also set your own end goals, which when you do them, get a nice end game screen.

[Gregomoto]

Originally posted by dan0812:

Thanks. I can see online the end of the campaign is "Attract to Bright Sands: 500 Engineers"

At that point, it becomes sandbox play and I assume I have seen everything the game has to offer, or is there anything specific do to after this except just keep expanding?

Once it is sandbox with no more goals, I would probably prefer to start the campaign over but I don't know if that is wasting what the game has to offer. I know some people would have no interest in the campaign.

The game has a lot more to offer after the campaign, there is another pop tier after engineers, also there are other pop tiers in other regions, you’ll have with all DLC’s 5 regions to settle on. In terms of goals: you can fulfill the achievements, but if you need hard goals set by the game and not by you to enjoy a game than maybe this game is not your cup of coffee/tea.
(btw there are also a lot of mods available to even further extent the base game)

[Gregomoto]

Originally posted by TowerWizard:

In sandbox games, you make your own goals, as you know. Anno 1800 has a lot of such goals. Maybe you want to build a city with 5000 investors.

My current “goal” is to get 1M investors on Crown Falls, i’m at 875k, so still a long way to go^^

[Primigenia]

There are various scenarios, many dlcs have a story attached to it and the campaign is fairly good and long so you'll be ok and enjoy the game for dozens of hours, but sandbox is the real way to play in my opinion since it gives you freedom to build whatever you want however you want

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by dan0812:

Thanks. I can see online the end of the campaign is "Attract to Bright Sands: 500 Engineers"

At that point, it becomes sandbox play and I assume I have seen everything the game has to offer, or is there anything specific do to after this except just keep expanding?

There is an entire population level and a lot of additional content beyond 500 Engineers.
But as people said before - if you don't like sandbox games, you probably won't like this game, since even the campaign is just a sandbox with a story attached.
There's also scenarios, but those are few and not worth buying the game for by themselves.

[VoiD]

You can create matches with specific goals, like killing all other NPCs or reaching a certain economy level, basically, you can play it as a true sandbox, or as a competitive game against AI or other players. (Though I can't imagine you'd finish a match in less than a month)

[Burntwafflesx]

the campaign itself is just a tutorial and can be finished in one go. but if you like it you'll like the sandbox mode. it can be extremely challenging in later stages that the campaign just doesn't cover. it's eventful, the AIs and pirates harass you constantly and you'll have endless quests. I've played this game for 4 years. the dlcs are great

[dan0812]

I've played the game a bit now and really enjoy it. I assumed sandbox was going to give me freedom to do whatever but the game is really structured with progression which is more to my liking.

[TowerWizard]

Originally posted by dan0812:

I've played the game a bit now and really enjoy it. I assumed sandbox was going to give me freedom to do whatever but the game is really structured with progression which is more to my liking.

Thanks for the update! Glad you liked it!

Happy gaming :)