The game map consists of a large series of islands, each containing different natural resources. The production chains start with the gathering of natural resource. These demands can be as simple as having a particular building (such as a marketplace) nearby, to demanding a good that requires a complex production chain to supply. You construct homes for your citizens, cater to their needs, and once their needs are met they promote to higher level citizens that pay more taxes (and demand more expensive goods).
The bulk of the game involves peaceful economic growth and colonization. Much like the previous Anno games, Anno 2070 remains a real-time strategy/simulation game. The Ecos are futurist and green, while the Tycoons focus on rapid expansion and heavy industry. The one major departure in this game includes a split between two factions, the Ecos and the Tycoons. Despite this, gameplay remains much the same, with a familiar interface, the same concept of production chains starting with raw goods, processed into trade goods that your citizens desire. Departing from the historical settings of the previous games, Anno 2070 takes place in a future where the planet has been ravaged by unchecked pollution and climate change, and focuses on industry in place of the simple processed goods of the previous games. Anno 2070 is the latest in the popular Anno franchise, a series of historical colonial and economic simulations.