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$0.02/1hr394h89.06%96.23%
- 2Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.04/1hr203h95.14%95.60%
- 3Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.05/1hr127h86.07%86.09%
- 4Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.08/1hr63h87.20%89.47%
- 5Victoria 3$0.08/1hr180h72.49%70.35%
- 6Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.14/1hr32h84.66%82.45%
- 7Unity of Command II$0.15/1hr30h84.43%79.72%
- 8Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$0.15/1hr26h83.02%81.70%
- 9Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.17/1hr77h92.07%96.70%
- 10Age of History II$0.17/1hr35h89.10%89.83%
- 11Sailing Era$0.17/1hr64h83.13%78.48%
- 12Victoria II$0.18/1hr110h89.91%92.14%
- 13Panzer Corps 2$0.19/1hr86h85.24%84.72%
- 14Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.19/1hr52h68.08%60.56%
- 15Legend of Heroes: Three Kingdoms$0.23/1hr89h86.85%88.58%
- 16Distant Worlds 2$0.23/1hr77h81.75%71.29%
- 17Age of History 3$0.24/1hr27h85.20%85.07%
- 18Terra Invicta$0.27/1hr147h83.08%80.58%
- 19Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.28/1hr90h93.45%95.66%
- 20Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.30/1hr66h90.24%93.17%
- 21Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.39/1hr102h82.54%82.22%
- 22STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.40/1hr50h95.41%97.73%
- 23ENDLESS Space 2$0.40/1hr100h83.98%83.34%
- 24Phoenix Point$0.41/1hr61h80.33%73.13%
- 25Dune: Imperium$0.41/1hr36h87.70%94.06%
- 26Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.42/1hr59h89.59%95.90%
- 27Hearts of Iron III$0.43/1hr23h81.92%76.10%
- 28Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.44/1hr80h74.61%60.92%
- 29Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.44/1hr90h87.47%92.42%
- 30Songs of Syx$0.45/1hr55h89.72%94.47%
- 31Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.45/1hr66h90.98%91.80%
- 32Supreme Commander 2$0.48/1hr27h87.02%88.23%
- 33ENDLESS Legend$0.49/1hr61h84.16%83.48%
- 34Dummynation$0.50/1hr24h86.01%87.77%
- 35Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.50/1hr50h89.57%90.66%
- 36Creeper World 4$0.50/1hr50h88.48%94.94%
- 37Heart of the Machine$0.51/1hr24h86.51%91.61%
- 38Terraforming Mars$0.59/1hr34h79.19%70.51%
- 39Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.61/1hr65h89.64%91.21%
- 40Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.63/1hr48h84.81%84.38%
- 41Sid Meier's Civilization VII$0.64/1hr55h53.83%48.35%
- 42Ultimate General: Civil War$0.64/1hr47h87.05%88.92%
- 43Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.69/1hr44h80.56%76.96%
- 44SpellForce: Conquest of Eo$0.69/1hr43h84.35%80.17%
- 45Fantasy Map Simulator$0.70/1hr11h86.51%89.04%
- 46City Bus Manager$0.72/1hr25h86.65%90.89%
- 47NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.72/1hr41h84.17%81.24%
- 48Armello$0.76/1hr33h83.23%81.84%
- 49Imperator: Rome$0.77/1hr52h70.97%65.58%
- 50Galactic Civilizations IV$0.79/1hr51h82.90%72.73%
- 51Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.83/1hr30h89.98%91.63%
- 52ZEPHON$0.84/1hr22h85.13%83.37%
- 53Shadow Empire$0.87/1hr46h85.21%83.92%
- 54Steel Division 2$0.90/1hr45h82.54%79.48%
- 55Manor Lords$0.94/1hr43h84.31%84.18%
- 56Spirit Island$0.94/1hr27h85.93%91.73%
- 57Buggos$0.95/1hr11h85.34%87.90%
- 58Empires of the Undergrowth$0.99/1hr30h91.25%94.38%
- 59Old World$1.02/1hr39h84.20%82.33%
- 60Prehistoric Kingdom$1.04/1hr29h87.17%89.81%
- 61Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$1.05/1hr38h87.68%91.14%
- 62Xenonauts 2$1.05/1hr38h84.02%81.46%
- 63Norland$1.07/1hr28h83.48%81.55%
- 64A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$1.07/1hr37h76.37%70.57%
- 65Total Conflict: Resistance$1.08/1hr21h81.56%74.17%
- 66Cataclismo$1.27/1hr24h86.23%89.17%
- 67Breachway$1.40/1hr14h84.20%75.66%
- 68Carrier Command 2$1.49/1hr20h84.39%81.54%
- 69Dune: Spice Wars$1.69/1hr21h81.87%79.21%
- 70A Total War Saga: TROY$1.77/1hr23h81.69%71.58%
- 71Iron Harvest$1.89/1hr16h77.59%72.65%
- 72The Great War: Western Front$2.08/1hr17h80.76%66.37%
- 73Songs of Silence$2.23/1hr13h84.46%80.78%
- 74Hexarchy$2.24/1hr9h84.55%81.88%
- 75Total War: PHARAOH$2.25/1hr18h77.63%63.12%
- 76Democracy 4$2.68/1hr11h84.03%81.78%
- 77Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$3.27/1hr6h85.05%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.