Anno 1800 Beginner Guide: Your First 5 Hours
From your first warehouse to your first investor. Population tier progression, expedition prep, and the 7 mistakes every new player makes.
Anno 1800 drops you onto an island with a warehouse, 10 farmers, and zero instructions. The campaign teaches some basics, but it skips the most important concepts. This guide covers your first 5 hours — what to build, what to avoid, and the 7 mistakes every new player makes.
🛖 Population Tiers: The Foundation
Anno's progression is gated by population tiers. Each tier unlocks new buildings and production chains. You can't skip tiers. Every tier must be satisfied before the next one appears.
| Tier | Unlock at | Basic Needs | Key Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌾 Farmers (农民) | Start | Fish, Work Clothes | Warehouse, Marketplace |
| 🔧 Workers (工人) | 100 farmers | Sausage, Soap, Bread | Shipyard, Steel |
| 🎨 Artisans (工匠) | 1 worker house | Canned Food, Fur Coats | New World, Rum |
| ⚙️ Engineers (工程师) | 1 artisan house | Spectacles, Coffee | Electricity, Steam Ships |
| 💎 Investors (投资人) | 1 engineer house | Chocolate, Champagne, Cigars | World's Fair, Banks |
The 1-House Trick
🛑 The 7 Deadly Beginner Mistakes
300 farmers generate the same tax as 300 investors? No. Farmer tax = 3 coins/house. Investor tax = 750 coins/house. Upgrade, don't sprawl.
The most important keybind in the game. Shows every good's supply vs demand in real time. Red bar = you have a problem. Check every 15 minutes.
Place a warehouse FIRST, then build around it. 17-tile maximum road distance. If delivery carts take too long, build a second warehouse — they're cheap.
When Isabel Sarmento sends you to the New World — GO IMMEDIATELY. Rum, cotton, coffee, and gold all come from there. Delay = your artisans starve.
When you upgrade 50 farmers to workers, ALL 50 workers immediately demand sausage, soap, and bread. Build the production chain FIRST, then upgrade houses.
Stone roads double cart speed. Place them between every warehouse and its production cluster. The stone cost is negligible compared to the efficiency gain.
Your trading post auto-selling excess is a trap. Keep a buffer of every good — minimum 20-30 tons. A single fire or riot can wipe out a production chain.
⛵ The New World: Your First Expedition
The New World (Manola) is not optional. Artisans and above require goods that ONLY grow in the New World. Your first expedition ship arrives around the 2-hour mark.
Build 4 timber camps + 2 planks → 2 shipyards. Then plant 6 sugar cane + 2 rum distilleries. Send rum back to Old World on a clipper.
8 coffee plantations on Manola. Coffee grows on the western half. Don't waste irrigation on eastern slopes — the fertility is lower.
Replace your Old World sheep farms with cotton plantations in the New World. 1 cotton = 1 wool in the fur coat recipe, but cotton grows 2× faster.
FAQ
How many farmers do I need before upgrading?+
~200 farmers total. 1 fishery, 1 work clothes chain, 1 schnapps chain. That's enough to support your first 50 workers comfortably.
When should I go to the New World?+
The moment the expedition unlocks (~2 hours in). Delaying costs you rum and cotton — artisans will stall.
What's the single best early-game tip?+
Ctrl+Q. Learn it. Love it. Every 15 minutes, open the production stats screen and look for red bars. Red = shortage = angry residents = riots.