Best Value RTS Games Under $40
The RTS 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.
- 1Kenshi$0.09/1hr138h94.72%95.56%
- 2Company of Heroes 2$0.09/1hr54h79.53%79.04%
- 3Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2$0.10/1hr41h79.45%74.40%
- 4Company of Heroes$0.12/1hr34h91.03%94.28%
- 5Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.12/1hr36h84.31%82.44%
- 6Survivalist: Invisible Strain$0.13/1hr51h85.55%86.85%
- 7Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun$0.15/1hr26h93.74%96.02%
- 8Tropico 4$0.15/1hr39h88.76%91.74%
- 9Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.16/1hr84h91.87%96.70%
- 10Natural Selection 2$0.16/1hr30h85.06%85.13%
- 11Mechabellum$0.18/1hr83h84.16%83.73%
- 12Victoria II$0.19/1hr107h89.75%92.14%
- 13Sailing Era$0.19/1hr59h82.81%78.48%
- 14Warpips$0.19/1hr13h85.75%87.24%
- 15Dyson Sphere Program$0.20/1hr81h96.24%97.47%
- 16Frostpunk$0.21/1hr22h92.20%92.73%
- 17Rusted Warfare - RTS$0.21/1hr23h89.83%96.37%
- 18Terra Invicta$0.22/1hr183h82.83%80.57%
- 19From the Depths$0.22/1hr113h87.38%89.26%
- 20Age of History 3$0.22/1hr29h85.04%85.08%
- 21Distant Worlds 2$0.24/1hr73h81.40%71.30%
- 22Mindustry$0.26/1hr39h92.86%95.72%
- 23Planetbase$0.26/1hr57h82.30%79.73%
- 24Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.26/1hr95h93.34%95.66%
- 25Bad North: Jotunn Edition$0.28/1hr11h89.81%93.24%
- 26DG2: Defense Grid 2$0.28/1hr36h85.36%86.49%
- 27Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.28/1hr71h94.87%95.83%
- 28Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.32/1hr63h90.06%93.17%
- 29Aliens: Dark Descent$0.33/1hr36h86.71%87.65%
- 30Wargame: Red Dragon$0.33/1hr90h87.32%88.51%
- 31Dungeons 3$0.34/1hr18h90.97%94.18%
- 32Anno 1800$0.35/1hr42h82.20%81.33%
- 33Kingdoms and Castles$0.36/1hr28h91.47%93.55%
- 34Stronghold HD (2012)$0.37/1hr16h90.37%95.54%
- 35Tropico 5$0.37/1hr22h81.24%78.64%
- 36Company of Heroes 3$0.38/1hr63h62.57%56.89%
- 37Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront$0.39/1hr89h85.12%85.16%
- 38Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.39/1hr102h82.49%82.23%
- 39Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.39/1hr89h94.41%94.93%
- 40STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.40/1hr50h95.32%97.73%
- 41Farthest Frontier$0.41/1hr51h85.80%86.13%
- 42Banished$0.42/1hr48h89.40%90.42%
- 43Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.42/1hr24h93.48%97.53%
- 44ENDLESS Space 2$0.42/1hr95h83.84%83.34%
- 45Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.42/1hr59h89.30%95.90%
- 46They Are Billions$0.43/1hr70h85.12%85.14%
- 47Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.43/1hr70h90.92%91.80%
- 48Kingdoms Reborn$0.43/1hr46h87.68%90.47%
- 49Supreme Commander 2$0.44/1hr30h86.81%88.23%
- 50Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III$0.44/1hr18h59.27%48.44%
- 51Clanfolk$0.44/1hr68h86.88%91.65%
- 52Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.46/1hr76h74.35%60.94%
- 53Going Medieval$0.46/1hr65h87.81%89.14%
- 54Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition$0.46/1hr16h88.49%93.31%
- 55Colony Survival$0.47/1hr53h88.34%92.10%
- 56Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense$0.47/1hr21h91.02%96.72%
- 57Tower Dominion$0.47/1hr37h85.22%85.69%
- 58Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation$0.48/1hr52h92.82%94.22%
- 59Gladiator Guild Manager$0.48/1hr10h83.88%81.18%
- 60Foundation$0.49/1hr48h86.07%86.53%
- 61Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Anniversary Edition (Classic)$0.49/1hr20h86.54%87.66%
- 62Creeper World 4$0.49/1hr51h88.17%94.95%
- 63Last Train Home$0.51/1hr26h85.72%87.11%
- 64Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.52/1hr48h89.48%90.67%
- 65Border Pioneer$0.52/1hr22h85.24%86.66%
- 66The Crust$0.53/1hr56h82.77%76.77%
- 67Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition$0.55/1hr27h85.54%87.60%
- 68Dummynation$0.56/1hr21h85.65%87.76%
- 69Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.57/1hr52h84.62%84.37%
- 70Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.57/1hr70h89.51%91.21%
- 71Hearts of Iron III$0.58/1hr17h81.63%76.10%
- 72Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.58/1hr68h85.64%85.71%
- 73Infection Free Zone$0.59/1hr41h82.14%80.58%
- 74Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.59/1hr34h90.90%94.66%
- 75Dawn of Man$0.61/1hr41h86.14%86.80%
- 76Against the Storm$0.61/1hr49h92.47%94.49%
- 77Cossacks 3$0.62/1hr32h83.33%82.30%
- 78Age of Mythology: Extended Edition$0.62/1hr49h91.45%93.24%
- 79Call to Arms$0.62/1hr24h81.01%79.36%
- 80Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr55h85.25%85.29%
- 81Fly Corp$0.65/1hr14h84.97%84.94%
- 82Ultimate General: Civil War$0.66/1hr45h86.79%88.92%
- 83Command & Conquer Remastered Collection$0.68/1hr29h89.40%90.67%
- 84Halo: Spartan Strike$0.69/1hr4h84.24%79.86%
- 85Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.69/1hr43h80.36%76.96%
- 86Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.70/1hr29h84.56%84.29%
- 87Outpost: Infinity Siege$0.71/1hr35h73.68%65.37%
- 88The Wandering Village$0.76/1hr20h88.15%91.95%
- 89Age of Mythology: Retold$0.77/1hr39h88.77%90.40%
- 90Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition (Classic)$0.77/1hr13h90.21%94.62%
- 91UBOAT$0.77/1hr39h84.44%84.23%
- 92Door Kickers 2: Task Force North$0.78/1hr32h91.33%96.06%
- 93Pioneers of Pagonia$0.78/1hr27h83.71%81.38%
- 94Age of Darkness: Final Stand$0.79/1hr36h79.61%74.53%
- 95Starship Troopers: Terran Command$0.79/1hr21h86.24%87.30%
- 96Sudden Strike 4$0.81/1hr25h81.90%78.19%
- 97SpellForce 3 Reforced$0.81/1hr49h81.37%76.80%
- 98Men of War: Assault Squad 2$0.83/1hr36h90.11%91.21%
- 99Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.83/1hr30h89.85%91.63%
- 100Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.85/1hr18h85.73%86.46%
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.