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$0.06/1hr174h88.91%96.23%
- 2Old World$0.06/1hr62h84.44%82.51%
- 3Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.10/1hr48h87.07%89.49%
- 4Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 5Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.14/1hr220h95.26%95.61%
- 6Supreme Commander 2$0.14/1hr94h86.89%88.21%
- 7Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.14/1hr92h91.99%96.72%
- 8Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.16/1hr123h90.14%93.17%
- 9ENDLESS Space 2$0.17/1hr59h83.87%83.30%
- 10Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition$0.19/1hr161h87.34%87.58%
- 11Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.20/1hr99h93.39%95.64%
- 12Empires of the Undergrowth$0.21/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 13Total War: ATTILA$0.22/1hr89h83.00%82.42%
- 14Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 15Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms$0.26/1hr76h86.65%88.43%
- 16HUMANKIND$0.27/1hr47h73.27%69.14%
- 17Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.28/1hr106h90.87%91.71%
- 18Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$0.29/1hr35h87.87%91.04%
- 19Ultimate General: Civil War$0.29/1hr103h86.87%88.83%
- 20Terra Invicta$0.29/1hr137h82.72%80.25%
- 21Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.29/1hr69h89.51%90.64%
- 22Age of History 3$0.32/1hr31h85.06%84.99%
- 23Norland$0.33/1hr45h83.36%81.63%
- 24STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.33/1hr60h95.37%97.73%
- 25Sailing Era$0.34/1hr74h82.98%78.66%
- 26Terraforming Mars$0.35/1hr57h79.04%70.57%
- 27Dummynation$0.35/1hr30h85.85%87.90%
- 28Phoenix Point$0.37/1hr68h80.48%73.14%
- 29Songs of Syx$0.37/1hr67h89.55%94.25%
- 30Heart of the Machine$0.40/1hr22h86.29%91.51%
- 31Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.44/1hr90h82.51%82.23%
- 32A Total War Saga: TROY$0.45/1hr45h81.43%71.63%
- 33Dune: Imperium$0.45/1hr51h87.88%94.01%
- 34Galactic Civilizations IV$0.46/1hr87h82.51%72.26%
- 35City Bus Manager$0.48/1hr62h86.89%90.77%
- 36Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.48/1hr31h84.45%82.43%
- 37Xenonauts 2$0.50/1hr40h83.79%81.41%
- 38Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.51/1hr69h74.38%60.87%
- 39Master of Orion$0.51/1hr49h81.55%77.13%
- 40Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.53/1hr38h89.94%91.67%
- 41Age of History II$0.53/1hr11h89.02%89.78%
- 42Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.62/1hr48h84.72%84.40%
- 43Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.62/1hr64h87.30%92.46%
- 44Sid Meier's Civilization IV$0.64/1hr31h87.57%92.44%
- 45Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.64/1hr47h80.51%77.12%
- 46Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.66/1hr60h68.02%60.61%
- 47Armello$0.67/1hr37h83.12%81.84%
- 48ENDLESS Legend$0.69/1hr44h84.07%83.49%
- 49Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.70/1hr36h89.46%95.92%
- 50Manor Lords$0.70/1hr37h84.21%84.10%
- 51A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.72/1hr28h76.44%70.57%
- 52Imperator: Rome$0.75/1hr11h70.32%64.86%
- 53Fantasy Map Simulator$0.75/1hr11h86.39%89.17%
- 54Breachway$0.79/1hr13h83.93%75.72%
- 55NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.83/1hr36h83.93%81.10%
- 56Prehistoric Kingdom$0.87/1hr34h87.54%90.14%
- 57Dune: Spice Wars$1.03/1hr34h81.68%79.11%
- 58Iron Harvest$1.15/1hr26h77.43%72.59%
- 59Spirit Island$1.19/1hr21h86.15%91.85%
- 60Songs of Silence$1.27/1hr11h84.65%80.59%
- 61Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$1.40/1hr29h82.91%81.70%
- 62Victoria II$1.43/1hr14h88.67%90.38%
- 63Steel Division 2$1.57/1hr25h82.36%79.42%
- 64Total Conflict: Resistance$1.77/1hr17h81.67%74.01%
- 65Carrier Command 2$1.80/1hr17h84.63%81.60%
- 66Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$1.98/1hr10h84.91%84.55%
- 67The Great War: Western Front$2.07/1hr17h80.94%66.27%
- 68ZEPHON$3.21/1hr12h85.33%83.04%
- 69Age of Wonders III$3.54/1hr8h81.68%78.98%
- 70Europa Universalis III Complete$3.81/1hr4h84.50%81.16%
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.