Best Value 4X Games Under $40
The 4X games on Steam games under $40 that deliver the most playtime per dollar: median reviewer hours divided by current price.
All Indie Action Adventure Simulation RPG Strategy Co-op Open World Story Rich Casual Funny Survival Difficult Pixel Graphics PvP Horror Anime Puzzle Rogue-like Relaxing Turn-Based Strategy Local Co-Op Psychological Horror Hack and Slash Platformer MMO RTS Immersive Sim Post-apocalyptic Action Roguelike City Builder Life Sim Zombies Sports Racing Survival Horror Stealth Bullet Hell Dungeon Crawler Visual Novel JRPG Deckbuilding Grand Strategy Cyberpunk Tower Defense Clicker Fighting Open World Survival Craft Boomer Shooter Colony Sim Farming Sim Cozy Auto Battler Cooking Twin Stick Shooter Metroidvania 4X Souls-like Dating Sim MMORPG
By price
Price divided by median reviewer playtime — how much you pay per hour of gameplay. Lower is better. Reviewers tend to sink more hours in than the average owner, so treat this as an optimistic estimate. Free games are excluded because there's no price to divide by.
- 1Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword$0.06/1hr174h88.91%96.23%
- 2Old World$0.06/1hr62h84.44%82.51%
- 3Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.10/1hr48h87.07%89.49%
- 4Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 5Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.14/1hr220h95.26%95.61%
- 6Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.16/1hr123h90.14%93.17%
- 7ENDLESS Space 2$0.17/1hr59h83.87%83.30%
- 8Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.20/1hr99h93.39%95.64%
- 9Empires of the Undergrowth$0.21/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 10Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 11Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 12The Battle of Polytopia$0.24/1hr19h88.85%93.96%
- 13HUMANKIND$0.27/1hr47h73.27%69.14%
- 14Terra Invicta$0.29/1hr137h82.72%80.25%
- 15STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.33/1hr60h95.37%97.73%
- 16Homeworld Remastered Collection$0.35/1hr15h86.77%87.89%
- 17Heart of the Machine$0.40/1hr22h86.29%91.51%
- 18A Total War Saga: TROY$0.45/1hr45h81.43%71.63%
- 19Galactic Civilizations IV$0.46/1hr87h82.51%72.26%
- 20Xenonauts 2$0.50/1hr40h83.79%81.41%
- 21Master of Orion$0.51/1hr49h81.55%77.13%
- 22Conquest of Elysium 5$0.60/1hr50h86.00%90.12%
- 23Sid Meier's Civilization IV$0.64/1hr31h87.57%92.44%
- 24Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.64/1hr47h80.51%77.12%
- 25Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.66/1hr60h68.02%60.61%
- 26ENDLESS Legend$0.69/1hr44h84.07%83.49%
- 27Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.70/1hr36h89.46%95.92%
- 28Manor Lords$0.70/1hr37h84.21%84.10%
- 29Breachway$0.79/1hr13h83.93%75.72%
- 30Farthest Frontier$0.82/1hr43h85.79%86.02%
- 31NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.83/1hr36h83.93%81.10%
- 32Dune: Spice Wars$1.03/1hr34h81.68%79.11%
- 33Songs of Silence$1.27/1hr11h84.65%80.59%
- 34Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$1.40/1hr29h82.91%81.70%
- 35Songs of Conquest$1.76/1hr17h85.43%85.61%
- 36Anno 2205$1.83/1hr22h79.32%70.11%
- 37ZEPHON$3.21/1hr12h85.33%83.04%
- 38Age of Wonders III$3.54/1hr8h81.68%78.98%
- 39Europa Universalis III Complete$3.81/1hr4h84.50%81.16%
- 40Age of Wonders: Planetfall$7.93/1hr4h82.85%79.36%
How the math works: we sample each game’s Steam reviewers, take the median of their total recorded playtime (lifetime hours, not hours at the time of review), and divide it by the game’s current price in your selected currency. Reviewers usually sink more hours in than the average owner, so the numbers run generous. Free games aren’t listed because there’s no price to divide by, and a game needs playtime data from at least 20 reviewers before it qualifies. All prices are Steam’s own regional prices, never exchange-rate conversions.