City-building strategy game Anno Online enters open beta today

"Rome wasn't built in a day," some might sniff, but guess what? Nobody cares about Rome. I'm totally going to build PCGamerLand in a day. Maybe even before dinnertime. That's something that's very possible to do, now that Anno Online's entered its English-language open beta.

The free-to-play strategy game combines the elements of population-building and resource-management found in the long-running Anno series, this time taking them to internet browsers; in our preview we felt that "Anno could well build a bridge between less and more demanding players." In other words: don't diss this for being a browser game just yet.

If you played during the closed beta, don't worry about your account getting wiped—you'll get to keep everything, and you'll even receive a decorative statue as a gift on top of that. Continue playing during the open beta's first week, and you'll also receive a premium ship that's faster than the run-of-the-mill seafaring vessels available.

Everybody can sign up for beta participation now at the Anno Online registration page . If you need me, I'll be building shacks and rearing happy piglets in the beginnings of PCGamerLand.