Best Value Grand Strategy Games Under $40
The Grand Strategy 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%
- 5Victoria 3$0.09/1hr164h72.42%70.34%
- 6Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.12/1hr36h84.31%82.44%
- 7Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$0.15/1hr26h82.85%81.70%
- 8Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.16/1hr84h91.87%96.70%
- 9Age of History II$0.17/1hr35h89.02%89.83%
- 10Unity of Command II$0.18/1hr25h84.04%79.72%
- 11Panzer Corps 2$0.19/1hr86h84.90%84.72%
- 12Victoria II$0.19/1hr107h89.75%92.14%
- 13Sailing Era$0.19/1hr59h82.81%78.48%
- 14Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.19/1hr52h67.94%60.56%
- 15Terra Invicta$0.22/1hr183h82.83%80.57%
- 16Legend of Heroes: Three Kingdoms$0.22/1hr90h86.58%88.58%
- 17Age of History 3$0.22/1hr29h85.04%85.08%
- 18Distant Worlds 2$0.24/1hr73h81.40%71.30%
- 19Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.26/1hr95h93.34%95.66%
- 20Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.32/1hr63h90.06%93.17%
- 21NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.36/1hr42h83.84%81.24%
- 22Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.39/1hr102h82.49%82.23%
- 23STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.40/1hr50h95.32%97.73%
- 24Dune: Imperium$0.41/1hr36h87.70%94.06%
- 25Phoenix Point$0.42/1hr60h80.05%73.14%
- 26ENDLESS Space 2$0.42/1hr95h83.84%83.34%
- 27Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.42/1hr59h89.30%95.90%
- 28Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.43/1hr70h90.92%91.80%
- 29Supreme Commander 2$0.44/1hr30h86.81%88.23%
- 30Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.44/1hr90h87.14%92.44%
- 31Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.46/1hr76h74.35%60.94%
- 32Heart of the Machine$0.47/1hr26h86.12%91.61%
- 33ENDLESS Legend$0.49/1hr61h84.00%83.49%
- 34Creeper World 4$0.49/1hr51h88.17%94.95%
- 35Songs of Syx$0.50/1hr50h89.48%94.49%
- 36Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.52/1hr48h89.48%90.67%
- 37Dummynation$0.56/1hr21h85.65%87.76%
- 38Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.57/1hr52h84.62%84.37%
- 39Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.57/1hr70h89.51%91.21%
- 40Hearts of Iron III$0.58/1hr17h81.63%76.10%
- 41Sid Meier's Civilization VII$0.59/1hr59h53.77%48.36%
- 42Terraforming Mars$0.61/1hr33h78.92%70.53%
- 43Ultimate General: Civil War$0.66/1hr45h86.79%88.92%
- 44Fantasy Map Simulator$0.66/1hr12h86.19%89.06%
- 45SpellForce: Conquest of Eo$0.69/1hr44h83.97%80.17%
- 46Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.69/1hr43h80.36%76.96%
- 47Imperator: Rome$0.72/1hr55h70.85%65.58%
- 48City Bus Manager$0.73/1hr25h86.27%90.87%
- 49ZEPHON$0.82/1hr22h84.73%83.41%
- 50Armello$0.82/1hr30h83.04%81.84%
- 51Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.83/1hr30h89.85%91.63%
- 52Galactic Civilizations IV$0.87/1hr46h82.52%72.69%
- 53Steel Division 2$0.88/1hr46h82.29%79.48%
- 54Empires of the Undergrowth$0.91/1hr33h91.08%94.37%
- 55Manor Lords$0.94/1hr43h84.26%84.18%
- 56Spirit Island$0.94/1hr27h85.93%91.73%
- 57Buggos$0.95/1hr11h85.34%87.90%
- 58Shadow Empire$1.00/1hr40h84.81%83.92%
- 59Xenonauts 2$1.02/1hr39h83.72%81.48%
- 60Old World$1.02/1hr39h83.91%82.32%
- 61Norland$1.05/1hr29h83.24%81.55%
- 62Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$1.05/1hr38h87.40%91.14%
- 63A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$1.07/1hr37h76.37%70.57%
- 64Prehistoric Kingdom$1.24/1hr24h86.88%89.80%
- 65Total Conflict: Resistance$1.26/1hr18h81.25%74.18%
- 66Cataclismo$1.27/1hr24h86.23%89.17%
- 67Breachway$1.40/1hr14h83.79%75.66%
- 68Carrier Command 2$1.53/1hr20h84.04%81.54%
- 69Dune: Spice Wars$1.65/1hr21h81.67%79.21%
- 70A Total War Saga: TROY$1.77/1hr23h81.35%71.58%
- 71Iron Harvest$2.08/1hr14h77.41%72.65%
- 72The Great War: Western Front$2.08/1hr17h80.40%66.37%
- 73Songs of Silence$2.23/1hr13h84.08%80.78%
- 74Hexarchy$2.24/1hr9h84.55%81.88%
- 75Total War: PHARAOH$2.56/1hr16h77.32%63.12%
- 76Democracy 4$2.68/1hr11h83.74%81.79%
- 77Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$3.14/1hr6h84.77%84.49%
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.