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$0.02/1hr394h88.75%96.23%
- 2Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.04/1hr184h95.12%95.60%
- 3Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.04/1hr136h86.06%86.09%
- 4Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.08/1hr63h86.94%89.47%
- 5Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$0.15/1hr26h82.85%81.70%
- 6Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.19/1hr52h67.94%60.56%
- 7Terra Invicta$0.22/1hr183h82.83%80.57%
- 8The Battle of Polytopia$0.23/1hr20h88.32%93.95%
- 9Distant Worlds 2$0.24/1hr73h81.40%71.30%
- 10Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.26/1hr95h93.34%95.66%
- 11Songs of Conquest$0.27/1hr28h85.35%85.62%
- 12Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.32/1hr63h90.06%93.17%
- 13NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.36/1hr42h83.84%81.24%
- 14STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.40/1hr50h95.32%97.73%
- 15Farthest Frontier$0.41/1hr51h85.80%86.13%
- 16ENDLESS Space 2$0.42/1hr95h83.84%83.34%
- 17Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.42/1hr59h89.30%95.90%
- 18Hero's Hour$0.43/1hr17h82.99%79.51%
- 19Heart of the Machine$0.47/1hr26h86.12%91.61%
- 20ENDLESS Legend$0.49/1hr61h84.00%83.49%
- 21Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.57/1hr70h89.51%91.21%
- 22Sid Meier's Civilization VII$0.59/1hr59h53.77%48.36%
- 23Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr55h85.25%85.29%
- 24Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.69/1hr43h80.36%76.96%
- 25Conquest of Elysium 5$0.75/1hr40h85.75%89.86%
- 26ZEPHON$0.82/1hr22h84.73%83.41%
- 27Galactic Civilizations IV$0.87/1hr46h82.52%72.69%
- 28Empires of the Undergrowth$0.91/1hr33h91.08%94.37%
- 29Manor Lords$0.94/1hr43h84.26%84.18%
- 30Shadow Empire$1.00/1hr40h84.81%83.92%
- 31Xenonauts 2$1.02/1hr39h83.72%81.48%
- 32Old World$1.02/1hr39h83.91%82.32%
- 33Anno 2070$1.18/1hr17h71.26%60.44%
- 34Cataclismo$1.27/1hr24h86.23%89.17%
- 35Breachway$1.40/1hr14h83.79%75.66%
- 36Dune: Spice Wars$1.65/1hr21h81.67%79.21%
- 37A Total War Saga: TROY$1.77/1hr23h81.35%71.58%
- 38Homeworld Remastered Collection$1.80/1hr19h86.72%87.96%
- 39Songs of Silence$2.23/1hr13h84.08%80.78%
- 40Hexarchy$2.24/1hr9h84.55%81.88%
- 41Total War: PHARAOH$2.56/1hr16h77.32%63.12%
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.