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$0.04/1hr136h86.06%86.09%
- 2Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.08/1hr63h86.94%89.47%
- 3Kenshi$0.09/1hr138h94.72%95.56%
- 4Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.12/1hr36h84.31%82.44%
- 5High Sea Saga DX$0.12/1hr58h84.84%82.17%
- 6Factorio$0.13/1hr274h96.99%97.51%
- 7RimWorld$0.13/1hr269h97.35%97.86%
- 8Transport Fever 2$0.15/1hr54h89.06%90.33%
- 9Tropico 4$0.15/1hr39h88.76%91.74%
- 10The Guild II Renaissance$0.19/1hr53h84.54%83.49%
- 11Dyson Sphere Program$0.20/1hr81h96.24%97.47%
- 12Frostpunk$0.21/1hr22h92.20%92.73%
- 13Factory Town Idle$0.21/1hr24h85.63%90.84%
- 14Let's School$0.22/1hr32h88.27%92.73%
- 15Per Aspera$0.23/1hr32h81.67%75.91%
- 16Endzone - A World Apart$0.23/1hr11h80.88%76.75%
- 17Ratopia$0.24/1hr54h85.89%87.80%
- 18Space Haven$0.25/1hr60h85.41%85.80%
- 19Planetbase$0.26/1hr57h82.30%79.73%
- 20Train Simulator Classic$0.27/1hr22h75.02%71.62%
- 21Captain of Industry$0.27/1hr89h87.76%90.22%
- 22Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.28/1hr71h94.87%95.83%
- 23RollerCoaster Tycoon: Deluxe$0.28/1hr21h89.19%94.31%
- 24Dwarf Fortress$0.29/1hr102h92.41%94.79%
- 25Stonehearth$0.30/1hr66h79.49%75.28%
- 26Jurassic World Evolution$0.32/1hr39h87.05%87.43%
- 27Timberborn$0.32/1hr77h93.81%95.98%
- 28OpenTTD$0.33/1hr31h91.08%94.71%
- 29Tropico 6$0.33/1hr36h87.00%87.69%
- 30Anno 1800$0.35/1hr42h82.20%81.33%
- 31Kingdoms and Castles$0.36/1hr28h91.47%93.55%
- 32Stronghold HD (2012)$0.37/1hr16h90.37%95.54%
- 33Tropico 5$0.37/1hr22h81.24%78.64%
- 34Bellwright$0.38/1hr78h81.81%80.30%
- 35Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.39/1hr89h94.41%94.93%
- 36Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.40/1hr28h90.35%94.29%
- 37ContractVille$0.41/1hr24h83.46%80.96%
- 38Farthest Frontier$0.41/1hr51h85.80%86.13%
- 39Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom$0.42/1hr29h84.21%83.52%
- 40Banished$0.42/1hr48h89.40%90.42%
- 41RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack$0.42/1hr24h86.69%89.61%
- 42The Sushi Spinnery$0.42/1hr16h85.30%92.69%
- 43Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.42/1hr24h93.48%97.53%
- 44Cities: Skylines$0.43/1hr70h92.62%92.88%
- 45They Are Billions$0.43/1hr70h85.12%85.14%
- 46Pharaoh: A New Era$0.43/1hr23h81.51%74.95%
- 47Kingdoms Reborn$0.43/1hr46h87.68%90.47%
- 48Fabledom$0.44/1hr19h85.05%85.15%
- 49Clanfolk$0.44/1hr68h86.88%91.65%
- 50Dorfromantik$0.45/1hr20h93.47%96.35%
- 51Going Medieval$0.46/1hr65h87.81%89.14%
- 52Project Hospital$0.47/1hr54h86.89%88.95%
- 53Colony Survival$0.47/1hr53h88.34%92.10%
- 54Heart of the Machine$0.47/1hr26h86.12%91.61%
- 55Gourdlets$0.47/1hr6h86.32%92.48%
- 56Gladiator Guild Manager$0.48/1hr10h83.88%81.18%
- 57Foundation$0.49/1hr48h86.07%86.53%
- 58Songs of Syx$0.50/1hr50h89.48%94.49%
- 59Flotsam$0.51/1hr24h83.70%80.87%
- 60Border Pioneer$0.52/1hr22h85.24%86.66%
- 61The Crust$0.53/1hr56h82.77%76.77%
- 62ISLANDERS$0.53/1hr9h90.90%94.43%
- 63Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition$0.55/1hr27h85.54%87.60%
- 64Mad Games Tycoon 2$0.56/1hr44h88.84%93.84%
- 65Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.57/1hr70h89.51%91.21%
- 66Craft The World$0.58/1hr33h87.11%88.36%
- 67Occupy Mars: The Game$0.58/1hr51h81.43%70.05%
- 68Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.58/1hr68h85.64%85.71%
- 69Sid Meier's Civilization VII$0.59/1hr59h53.77%48.36%
- 70Infection Free Zone$0.59/1hr41h82.14%80.58%
- 71下一站江湖Ⅱ$0.59/1hr42h78.71%71.96%
- 72Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.59/1hr34h90.90%94.66%
- 73Two Point Museum$0.60/1hr50h90.82%95.34%
- 74Dawn of Man$0.61/1hr41h86.14%86.80%
- 75Against the Storm$0.61/1hr49h92.47%94.49%
- 76TheoTown$0.61/1hr16h88.04%94.53%
- 77Cossacks 3$0.62/1hr32h83.33%82.30%
- 78Prison Architect$0.62/1hr49h88.75%89.26%
- 79Mini Motorways$0.63/1hr16h92.97%96.27%
- 80Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr55h85.25%85.29%
- 81Sengoku Dynasty$0.69/1hr40h80.54%74.78%
- 82Jurassic World Evolution 2$0.69/1hr30h89.39%90.33%
- 83Planet Coaster 2$0.69/1hr37h78.37%73.67%
- 84Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.70/1hr29h84.56%84.29%
- 85Airport CEO$0.70/1hr36h84.13%83.11%
- 86Ostriv$0.71/1hr35h89.29%94.99%
- 87Townscaper$0.71/1hr3h92.03%95.30%
- 88The Wandering Village$0.76/1hr20h88.15%91.95%
- 89Factory Town$0.78/1hr26h86.73%90.66%
- 90Pioneers of Pagonia$0.78/1hr27h83.71%81.38%
- 91Cardboard Town$0.82/1hr5h84.05%79.97%
- 92Tavern Master$0.82/1hr18h89.05%92.14%
- 93Parkitect$0.83/1hr36h89.10%94.18%
- 94Cattails: Wildwood Story$0.83/1hr24h86.99%97.49%
- 95Kingdom Two Crowns$0.83/1hr24h89.15%90.22%
- 96Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.85/1hr18h85.73%86.46%
- 97TerraScape$0.87/1hr9h85.66%88.75%
- 98SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition$0.89/1hr23h83.61%82.21%
- 99Two Point Hospital$0.90/1hr33h90.40%91.95%
- 100Empires of the Undergrowth$0.91/1hr33h91.08%94.37%
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.