Anno 1800 is free to play until December 18 and now it has co-op

Build the night away

I can’t let us tumble into 2020 without remembering Anno 1800 – especially while it’s temporarily free. Ubisoft is hosting a free-play event from December 11 at 5:00am PT to December 18 at 9:00am PT.

During that time, the free version of Anno 1800 will be accessible from Uplay and the Epic Games Store with “the first three residential tiers in sandbox mode as well as all free Game Updates, which means multiplayer and co-op for everyone (alongside previously released content like the day and night mode.”

What’s that about co-op? It’s a new mode as of Update 6. Four teams of up to four players compete.

The only downside with the free weekend is that if you end up buying Anno 1800, your save files won’t transfer. On the flip side, that’s okay – there always comes a point in these games where you’ll want to start fresh and do things more efficiently after stumbling through the empire-raising process.

Should you try this out? Yes. Sincerely. It’s a great game, one you can appreciate as a fan of the city-building series or even as someone who lacks that starting point. If you’re the type of person who enjoys establishing seafaring trade routes or plotting districts and neighborhoods, you’ll be in heaven.

Anno 1800 Free Week [Anno Union]