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$0.03/1hr185h88.63%96.22%
- 2Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.03/1hr224h95.14%95.60%
- 3Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.06/1hr95h86.13%86.15%
- 4X4: Foundations$0.06/1hr156h81.29%79.94%
- 5Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.09/1hr43h87.19%89.48%
- 6Galactic Civilizations IV$0.11/1hr122h82.70%72.26%
- 7Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.15/1hr89h92.09%96.73%
- 8Supreme Commander 2$0.15/1hr86h86.99%88.21%
- 9Age of History II$0.15/1hr39h89.09%89.84%
- 10Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.17/1hr60h68.06%60.60%
- 11Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr82h93.42%95.64%
- 12Victoria II$0.25/1hr79h89.91%92.15%
- 13Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition$0.26/1hr118h87.35%87.58%
- 14Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms$0.26/1hr77h86.46%88.53%
- 15Sid Meier's Civilization IV$0.27/1hr15h86.82%92.39%
- 16Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.27/1hr69h89.20%95.88%
- 17Ultimate General: Civil War$0.29/1hr105h87.01%88.86%
- 18Phoenix Point$0.30/1hr84h79.92%73.15%
- 19Total War: ATTILA$0.30/1hr67h83.05%82.44%
- 20STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.30/1hr66h95.40%97.73%
- 21Sailing Era$0.31/1hr81h82.68%78.56%
- 22Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.31/1hr48h84.14%82.39%
- 23Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.34/1hr103h74.18%60.91%
- 24Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.34/1hr87h90.98%91.81%
- 25Age of History 3$0.35/1hr29h85.16%85.02%
- 26Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.37/1hr54h89.54%90.65%
- 27Terra Invicta$0.38/1hr106h82.54%80.28%
- 28Songs of Syx$0.38/1hr65h89.34%94.28%
- 29SpellForce: Conquest of Eo$0.43/1hr71h83.82%80.26%
- 30Terraforming Mars$0.43/1hr46h78.80%70.56%
- 31Heart of the Machine$0.48/1hr22h86.47%91.47%
- 32Dummynation$0.49/1hr25h86.01%87.84%
- 33Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.50/1hr80h82.54%82.25%
- 34Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.55/1hr37h90.23%93.18%
- 35Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.57/1hr71h87.01%92.46%
- 36Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.58/1hr69h89.62%91.19%
- 37Fantasy Map Simulator$0.58/1hr14h86.11%89.18%
- 38Creeper World 4$0.58/1hr43h88.46%94.92%
- 39Dune: Imperium$0.61/1hr38h88.04%94.05%
- 40Old World$0.62/1hr64h84.22%82.50%
- 41Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr31h89.98%91.67%
- 42Imperator: Rome$0.65/1hr62h70.97%65.63%
- 43A Total War Saga: TROY$0.65/1hr31h81.13%71.60%
- 44ENDLESS Legend$0.67/1hr45h83.93%83.49%
- 45City Bus Manager$0.69/1hr44h86.12%90.80%
- 46Norland$0.71/1hr42h83.16%81.61%
- 47ENDLESS Space 2$0.72/1hr55h83.93%83.31%
- 48Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.82/1hr36h84.82%84.41%
- 49NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.85/1hr35h84.08%81.09%
- 50Hexarchy$0.85/1hr24h84.92%81.92%
- 51Cataclismo$0.86/1hr35h86.42%88.74%
- 52A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.89/1hr23h76.54%70.58%
- 53Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.92/1hr33h80.60%77.10%
- 54Empires of the Undergrowth$0.92/1hr33h91.26%94.36%
- 55Dune: Spice Wars$0.92/1hr38h81.79%79.12%
- 56Manor Lords$0.97/1hr41h84.24%84.12%
- 57Prehistoric Kingdom$1.02/1hr29h86.89%90.02%
- 58ZEPHON$1.05/1hr38h84.52%83.18%
- 59Armello$1.05/1hr24h82.95%81.82%
- 60Xenonauts 2$1.06/1hr38h83.93%81.38%
- 61Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$1.06/1hr38h82.78%81.71%
- 62Total Conflict: Resistance$1.08/1hr28h81.09%74.20%
- 63Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$1.12/1hr36h87.26%91.05%
- 64Spirit Island$1.24/1hr20h86.34%91.82%
- 65Iron Harvest$1.27/1hr24h77.53%72.59%
- 66Carrier Command 2$1.52/1hr20h83.92%81.64%
- 67Age of Wonders III$1.56/1hr19h82.45%80.14%
- 68Steel Division 2$1.61/1hr25h82.48%79.42%
- 69Breachway$1.67/1hr12h83.58%75.66%
- 70Democracy 4$2.21/1hr14h83.60%81.77%
- 71Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$2.47/1hr8h84.66%84.50%
- 72Songs of Silence$2.58/1hr12h83.89%80.69%
- 73Sid Meier's Civilization VII$2.62/1hr13h52.60%47.30%
- 74The Great War: Western Front$3.01/1hr12h80.20%66.28%
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.