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.
- 1RollerCoaster Tycoon: Deluxe$0.05/1hr33h89.33%94.31%
- 2Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.06/1hr34h93.72%97.48%
- 3Kingdom Two Crowns$0.09/1hr22h89.18%90.18%
- 4Stronghold HD (2012)$0.10/1hr12h90.76%95.53%
- 5RimWorld$0.10/1hr292h97.47%97.85%
- 6Kenshi$0.10/1hr118h94.77%95.59%
- 7Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.10/1hr48h87.07%89.49%
- 8Against the Storm$0.11/1hr82h92.49%94.44%
- 9Space Haven$0.11/1hr89h85.49%85.76%
- 10Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 11Tropico 4$0.14/1hr32h88.83%91.69%
- 12Dyson Sphere Program$0.15/1hr129h96.21%97.42%
- 13RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack$0.16/1hr15h86.83%89.64%
- 14The Lost Village$0.17/1hr72h81.84%71.20%
- 15Factorio$0.17/1hr203h97.14%97.52%
- 16Planetbase$0.18/1hr41h82.42%79.78%
- 17The Guild II Renaissance$0.18/1hr55h84.68%83.51%
- 18Endzone - A World Apart$0.19/1hr11h80.93%76.70%
- 19Stronghold 2: Steam Edition$0.19/1hr19h86.88%88.79%
- 20Smalland: Survive the Wilds$0.20/1hr35h83.35%81.61%
- 21Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.20/1hr99h94.89%95.83%
- 22Empires of the Undergrowth$0.21/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 23Settlement Survival$0.23/1hr22h85.12%85.04%
- 24Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 25Tropico 5$0.23/1hr30h81.33%78.67%
- 26Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 27Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr147h94.55%94.91%
- 28Stronghold Crusader 2$0.24/1hr16h76.98%72.45%
- 29Per Aspera$0.24/1hr31h81.79%75.91%
- 30Timberborn$0.25/1hr98h93.89%95.97%
- 31HUMANKIND$0.27/1hr47h73.27%69.14%
- 32Captain of Industry$0.27/1hr92h87.94%90.31%
- 33Tropico 6$0.27/1hr37h87.08%87.73%
- 34OpenTTD$0.29/1hr19h91.13%94.62%
- 35Cities: Skylines$0.29/1hr103h92.71%92.87%
- 36Project Hospital$0.31/1hr33h86.98%88.89%
- 37Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.31/1hr131h85.64%85.68%
- 38Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.32/1hr63h91.01%94.68%
- 39Ratopia$0.32/1hr69h86.02%87.74%
- 40Kingdoms Reborn$0.32/1hr63h87.75%90.38%
- 41Clanfolk$0.32/1hr47h86.39%91.61%
- 42Occupy Mars: The Game$0.33/1hr91h81.24%69.78%
- 43Norland$0.33/1hr45h83.36%81.63%
- 44Dawn of Man$0.34/1hr37h86.22%86.80%
- 45Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition$0.35/1hr101h85.84%85.96%
- 46Going Medieval$0.35/1hr86h87.83%89.07%
- 47Songs of Syx$0.37/1hr67h89.55%94.25%
- 48They Are Billions$0.38/1hr80h85.13%85.12%
- 49Sengoku Dynasty$0.38/1hr35h80.59%74.75%
- 50Fabledom$0.39/1hr19h85.18%85.17%
- 51Heart of the Machine$0.40/1hr22h86.29%91.51%
- 52Bellwright$0.41/1hr73h81.77%80.20%
- 53Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.42/1hr26h90.44%94.23%
- 54Colony Survival$0.42/1hr59h88.47%92.11%
- 55The Infected$0.43/1hr17h84.73%84.09%
- 56Dwarf Fortress$0.43/1hr70h92.44%94.74%
- 57Gladiator Guild Manager$0.43/1hr11h83.99%81.07%
- 58Banished$0.44/1hr46h89.45%90.43%
- 59Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.48/1hr31h84.45%82.43%
- 60Kingdom Eighties$0.49/1hr7h82.72%75.34%
- 61Craft The World$0.49/1hr38h87.43%88.40%
- 62Kingdoms and Castles$0.50/1hr40h91.54%93.57%
- 63Airport CEO$0.50/1hr50h84.21%83.05%
- 64ContractVille$0.51/1hr19h82.94%80.85%
- 65Mini Motorways$0.52/1hr19h93.05%96.26%
- 66Havendock$0.53/1hr11h84.02%79.26%
- 67TheoTown$0.53/1hr19h87.65%94.69%
- 68Flotsam$0.56/1hr22h83.67%81.11%
- 69Two Point Museum$0.57/1hr53h91.04%95.38%
- 70TerraScape$0.57/1hr13h86.30%88.61%
- 71The Wandering Village$0.58/1hr26h88.62%91.97%
- 72Nordhold$0.58/1hr17h85.53%86.56%
- 73Foundation$0.59/1hr60h86.23%86.66%
- 74Mad Games Tycoon 2$0.59/1hr42h88.99%93.86%
- 75SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition$0.60/1hr33h83.72%82.25%
- 76Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr31h84.63%84.29%
- 77Infection Free Zone$0.64/1hr39h82.25%80.67%
- 78Let's School$0.68/1hr29h88.40%92.70%
- 79Manor Lords$0.70/1hr37h84.21%84.10%
- 80Townscaper$0.70/1hr3h92.09%95.28%
- 81下一站江湖Ⅱ$0.71/1hr35h78.85%72.17%
- 82Tavern Master$0.72/1hr21h89.14%92.12%
- 83MMORPG Tycoon 2$0.72/1hr35h84.79%86.45%
- 84A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.72/1hr28h76.44%70.57%
- 85Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.74/1hr20h85.87%86.53%
- 86Cossacks 3$0.74/1hr27h83.39%82.28%
- 87Thronefall$0.77/1hr17h92.88%96.13%
- 88Farthest Frontier$0.82/1hr43h85.79%86.02%
- 89Diplomacy is Not an Option$0.83/1hr36h85.39%85.55%
- 90Ostriv$0.83/1hr30h89.46%95.03%
- 91Parkitect$0.91/1hr33h89.22%94.18%
- 92Pharaoh: A New Era$0.94/1hr24h81.61%74.99%
- 93Gourdlets$0.96/1hr5h85.72%92.33%
- 94Pioneers of Pagonia$0.96/1hr36h83.85%81.42%
- 95Two Point Campus$0.98/1hr31h86.38%87.84%
- 96Frostpunk$1.00/1hr30h92.23%92.74%
- 97The Universim$1.03/1hr29h82.23%79.46%
- 98Sapiens$1.07/1hr23h84.08%80.54%
- 99Dorfromantik$1.07/1hr13h93.51%96.32%
- 100Train Simulator Classic$1.08/1hr28h75.14%71.73%
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.