Best Value City Builder Games Under $40
The City Builder 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.
- 1Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.06/1hr95h86.13%86.15%
- 2Transport Fever 2$0.07/1hr60h89.15%90.32%
- 3RimWorld$0.08/1hr369h97.36%97.85%
- 4Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.09/1hr43h87.19%89.48%
- 5RollerCoaster Tycoon: Deluxe$0.16/1hr38h89.41%94.31%
- 6Dyson Sphere Program$0.16/1hr123h96.23%97.42%
- 7The Guild II Renaissance$0.17/1hr58h84.80%83.52%
- 8The Lost Village$0.17/1hr69h82.06%71.39%
- 9Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.19/1hr184h94.42%94.92%
- 10Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.19/1hr105h94.90%95.83%
- 11Factorio$0.20/1hr171h97.02%97.51%
- 12Frostpunk$0.21/1hr29h92.24%92.74%
- 13Settlement Survival$0.22/1hr24h85.20%85.04%
- 14Timberborn$0.25/1hr99h93.91%95.97%
- 15Parkitect$0.25/1hr47h89.36%94.20%
- 16Tropico 4$0.26/1hr59h88.93%91.69%
- 17Per Aspera$0.26/1hr29h81.88%75.91%
- 18Captain of Industry$0.27/1hr92h88.03%90.29%
- 19Planetbase$0.29/1hr53h82.52%79.75%
- 20Kenshi$0.29/1hr104h94.78%95.59%
- 21Gladiator Guild Manager$0.30/1hr16h84.16%81.09%
- 22They Are Billions$0.30/1hr98h85.16%85.13%
- 23Ratopia$0.31/1hr72h86.13%87.75%
- 24Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.31/1hr48h84.14%82.39%
- 25Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.32/1hr125h85.66%85.69%
- 26Occupy Mars: The Game$0.34/1hr88h81.59%69.74%
- 27Dwarf Fortress$0.35/1hr86h92.48%94.75%
- 28Parkasaurus$0.36/1hr7h86.78%93.16%
- 29Against the Storm$0.37/1hr81h92.52%94.43%
- 30Songs of Syx$0.38/1hr65h89.34%94.28%
- 31Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.38/1hr29h90.27%94.26%
- 32Banished$0.39/1hr52h89.48%90.43%
- 33Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.41/1hr24h93.60%97.48%
- 34Cardboard Town$0.41/1hr10h84.38%79.91%
- 35Space Haven$0.41/1hr60h85.55%85.75%
- 36Tropico 5$0.42/1hr48h81.42%78.65%
- 37IXION$0.42/1hr25h81.18%78.79%
- 38Kingdoms Reborn$0.42/1hr47h87.86%90.37%
- 39Colony Survival$0.43/1hr58h88.58%92.10%
- 40Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.44/1hr46h91.10%94.68%
- 41OpenTTD$0.44/1hr22h91.18%94.63%
- 42Border Pioneer$0.46/1hr16h85.60%86.57%
- 43Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition$0.47/1hr74h85.85%85.95%
- 44Stronghold 2: Steam Edition$0.48/1hr31h86.65%88.79%
- 45Heart of the Machine$0.48/1hr22h86.47%91.47%
- 46Going Medieval$0.48/1hr62h87.92%89.09%
- 47Craft The World$0.49/1hr38h87.30%88.41%
- 48下一站江湖Ⅱ$0.50/1hr40h78.93%72.17%
- 49Bellwright$0.50/1hr60h81.82%80.19%
- 50Stronghold HD (2012)$0.51/1hr12h90.58%95.53%
- 51Dawn of Man$0.52/1hr48h86.34%86.80%
- 52Clanfolk$0.52/1hr57h87.18%91.72%
- 53Airport CEO$0.53/1hr47h84.35%83.07%
- 54Dorfromantik$0.55/1hr17h93.55%96.33%
- 55TheoTown$0.55/1hr18h88.37%94.67%
- 56ContractVille$0.56/1hr18h83.62%80.88%
- 57Kingdoms and Castles$0.58/1hr35h91.58%93.57%
- 58Foundation$0.58/1hr61h86.27%86.65%
- 59Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.58/1hr69h89.62%91.19%
- 60Mad Games Tycoon 2$0.60/1hr42h89.08%93.87%
- 61SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition$0.61/1hr33h83.84%82.24%
- 62Prison Architect$0.63/1hr48h88.76%89.22%
- 63Sengoku Dynasty$0.63/1hr44h80.70%74.79%
- 64Mini Motorways$0.66/1hr15h93.09%96.27%
- 65Farthest Frontier$0.66/1hr53h85.86%86.03%
- 66Two Point Museum$0.68/1hr44h91.11%95.41%
- 67Infection Free Zone$0.69/1hr35h82.32%80.66%
- 68RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack$0.71/1hr14h86.92%89.63%
- 69Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.71/1hr28h84.72%84.27%
- 70Norland$0.71/1hr42h83.16%81.61%
- 71Cities: Skylines$0.74/1hr40h92.62%92.87%
- 72Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.75/1hr46h85.26%85.25%
- 73inZOI$0.77/1hr42h79.18%77.31%
- 74Pharaoh: A New Era$0.77/1hr30h81.69%74.92%
- 75Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.78/1hr19h85.97%86.50%
- 76Citadelum$0.83/1hr15h85.21%84.04%
- 77Surviving the Aftermath$0.84/1hr36h80.78%70.84%
- 78Tavern Master$0.84/1hr18h89.22%92.14%
- 79Ostriv$0.84/1hr30h89.54%95.03%
- 80Let's School$0.84/1hr24h88.48%92.70%
- 81Cataclismo$0.86/1hr35h86.42%88.74%
- 82A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.89/1hr23h76.54%70.58%
- 83Diplomacy is Not an Option$0.89/1hr34h85.51%85.59%
- 84Kingdom Two Crowns$0.90/1hr22h89.21%90.17%
- 85Cossacks 3$0.91/1hr22h83.46%82.25%
- 86SUMMERHOUSE$0.91/1hr4h87.26%92.97%
- 87TerraScape$0.92/1hr16h85.99%88.59%
- 88Empires of the Undergrowth$0.92/1hr33h91.26%94.36%
- 89Frostpunk 2$0.92/1hr24h77.64%74.80%
- 90The Crust$0.93/1hr22h82.87%76.71%
- 91The Tenants$0.94/1hr21h82.53%78.82%
- 92Thronefall$0.95/1hr14h92.92%96.13%
- 93Manor Lords$0.97/1hr41h84.24%84.12%
- 94Project Hospital$0.99/1hr25h87.05%88.89%
- 95The Universim$1.00/1hr30h82.36%79.50%
- 96Train Simulator Classic$1.02/1hr29h75.18%71.73%
- 97Go-Go Town!$1.02/1hr22h87.08%93.40%
- 98Smalland: Survive the Wilds$1.07/1hr33h83.42%81.60%
- 99Sapiens$1.07/1hr23h84.48%80.56%
- 100Flotsam$1.12/1hr22h83.99%81.08%
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.