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.

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.
  1. 1Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword$0.02/1hr
  2. 2Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.04/1hr
  3. 3Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.05/1hr
  4. 4Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.08/1hr
  5. 5Victoria 3$0.08/1hr
  6. 6Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.14/1hr
  7. 7Unity of Command II$0.15/1hr
  8. 8Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$0.15/1hr
  9. 9Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.17/1hr
  10. 10Age of History II$0.17/1hr
  11. 11Sailing Era$0.17/1hr
  12. 12Victoria II$0.18/1hr
  13. 13Panzer Corps 2$0.19/1hr
  14. 14Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.19/1hr
  15. 15Legend of Heroes: Three Kingdoms$0.23/1hr
  16. 16Distant Worlds 2$0.23/1hr
  17. 17Age of History 3$0.24/1hr
  18. 18Terra Invicta$0.27/1hr
  19. 19Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.28/1hr
  20. 20Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.30/1hr
  21. 21Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.39/1hr
  22. 22STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.40/1hr
  23. 23ENDLESS Space 2$0.40/1hr
  24. 24Phoenix Point$0.41/1hr
  25. 25Dune: Imperium$0.41/1hr
  26. 26Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.42/1hr
  27. 27Hearts of Iron III$0.43/1hr
  28. 28Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.44/1hr
  29. 29Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.44/1hr
  30. 30Songs of Syx$0.45/1hr
  31. 31Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.45/1hr
  32. 32Supreme Commander 2$0.48/1hr
  33. 33ENDLESS Legend$0.49/1hr
  34. 34Dummynation$0.50/1hr
  35. 35Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.50/1hr
  36. 36Creeper World 4$0.50/1hr
  37. 37Heart of the Machine$0.51/1hr
  38. 38Terraforming Mars$0.59/1hr
  39. 39Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.61/1hr
  40. 40Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.63/1hr
  41. 41Sid Meier's Civilization VII$0.64/1hr
  42. 42Ultimate General: Civil War$0.64/1hr
  43. 43Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.69/1hr
  44. 44SpellForce: Conquest of Eo$0.69/1hr
  45. 45Fantasy Map Simulator$0.70/1hr
  46. 46City Bus Manager$0.72/1hr
  47. 47NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.72/1hr
  48. 48Armello$0.76/1hr
  49. 49Imperator: Rome$0.77/1hr
  50. 50Galactic Civilizations IV$0.79/1hr
  51. 51Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.83/1hr
  52. 52ZEPHON$0.84/1hr
  53. 53Shadow Empire$0.87/1hr
  54. 54Steel Division 2$0.90/1hr
  55. 55Manor Lords$0.94/1hr
  56. 56Spirit Island$0.94/1hr
  57. 57Buggos$0.95/1hr
  58. 58Empires of the Undergrowth$0.99/1hr
  59. 59Old World$1.02/1hr
  60. 60Prehistoric Kingdom$1.04/1hr
  61. 61Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$1.05/1hr
  62. 62Xenonauts 2$1.05/1hr
  63. 63Norland$1.07/1hr
  64. 64A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$1.07/1hr
  65. 65Total Conflict: Resistance$1.08/1hr
  66. 66Cataclismo$1.27/1hr
  67. 67Breachway$1.40/1hr
  68. 68Carrier Command 2$1.49/1hr
  69. 69Dune: Spice Wars$1.69/1hr
  70. 70A Total War Saga: TROY$1.77/1hr
  71. 71Iron Harvest$1.89/1hr
  72. 72The Great War: Western Front$2.08/1hr
  73. 73Songs of Silence$2.23/1hr
  74. 74Hexarchy$2.24/1hr
  75. 75Total War: PHARAOH$2.25/1hr
  76. 76Democracy 4$2.68/1hr
  77. 77Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$3.27/1hr

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.