12
Anno 1602
US Name: 1602 A.D.
System: PC
Genre: City-Building
Year: 1998
Rank last year: 13 (^ 1)
The third game in a 1998-streak on the list is Anno 1602, one of the defining pieces of the city-building genre. Even though one of it's successors (Anno 1404, #32) made a valiant effort, the original game in the series is still the best. The game takes the player to the year 1602, at the start of the colonial era, to colonize islands and build a thriving city while providing your population with wealth and goods.
The series in popular in Europe, especially in it's native Germany, but also here in the Netherlands. I'd like to think this first game has something to do with that. It's never stated in the game, but it's probably based on my country's 'Golden Age' (late 16th century to around 1700). 1602 is the year the Dutch East India Company was formed and the maritime and trading theme is obviously what our country was all about. On top of that, the architecture of the buildings has a very 'Dutch' look.
It's not why this game is so high on the list though. As there were three games at the start of this list which ran for the title 'first game I ever played', there are also three games that could run for the title 'game I played most'. Obviously all those are somewhere in the top. This game is one of those, because I played it so much, it's combined playtime probably exceeds the lifespan of a regular pet animal. It was released in 1998, a long sixteen years ago, yet I still play this game, to this day.
