Anno 1404 is an erector set with a lot of guidelines. Perhaps what is striking about most construction games is about the level of imposition forced upon the player, rather than at the player’s discretion. One of the uniquely joyous things about construction is in the discovery of the roles the construct plays. Anno 1404, like many games about constructing things, is simulated largely as a linear building tutorial. In some sense, there is something lost in Legos when told how to construct something. The initial design is interesting maybe, but what’s fun or challenging is when the player is allowed to expand beyond the original intent.
To build a skyscraper is a monumental feat for modern architecture, to plan for urbanity, an equal challenge awaits. Yet emulation does not quite represent the game, and real people cannot be whimmed as marionettes to act. Thus the virtual god complex is never in doubt here, but the only interesting thing a virtual god can experience is the unknown, and in Anno 1404, everything is generally known. Prices do not vary, you know what people need and how much, and it’s impossible to ever try and get a sense of the AI as something that is challenging you.
The practice of meaning here is addled. In this sense, Anno 1404 is rather more toy than game, because the goals are too extant. The challenge and practice of Solitaire and the reason for its preservation is that the game can never be truly known. Risk, reward, chance, much of this is gone, not even due to a poor AI, but due to a lack of fluctuation in the space where one might encounter mystery.
Anno 1404 lacks mystery. For every symbol and sign that exists within the game, few threads are woven into them, for every new change, more facts to consume. Though a game rich in beauty and mathematical complexity, the endeavor of this game is, in many ways, less worthy a pursuit than Solitaire. While one could spend hours toiling with such complexity, other than for the sake of wasting time, such toil seems unrewarding, and is similarly unrelenting, each new piece less rewarding than the last.
To say that the game is not playable is a lie. It is a mechanically fit, perfectly sound game. But the soul of the game comes from its design, and the designers of this game seem to have spent many sleepless nights decoding a mathematical web that is ultimately overstated. In the end, I found myself falling asleep, and while conscious, I was creating grocery lists.
Recommended: No