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.
- 1Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.06/1hr34h93.72%97.48%
- 2Stronghold HD (2012)$0.10/1hr12h90.76%95.53%
- 3Kenshi$0.10/1hr118h94.77%95.59%
- 4Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2$0.11/1hr36h79.47%74.30%
- 5Against the Storm$0.11/1hr82h92.49%94.44%
- 6Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 7Supreme Commander 2$0.14/1hr94h86.89%88.21%
- 8Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun$0.14/1hr29h93.79%96.03%
- 9Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.14/1hr92h91.99%96.72%
- 10Tropico 4$0.14/1hr32h88.83%91.69%
- 11Mechabellum$0.15/1hr103h84.20%83.70%
- 12Dyson Sphere Program$0.15/1hr129h96.21%97.42%
- 13Mindustry$0.16/1hr62h92.97%95.73%
- 14Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.16/1hr123h90.14%93.17%
- 15ENDLESS Space 2$0.17/1hr59h83.87%83.30%
- 16Planetbase$0.18/1hr41h82.42%79.78%
- 17Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition$0.19/1hr161h87.34%87.58%
- 18Rusted Warfare - RTS$0.19/1hr27h90.33%96.33%
- 19Stronghold 2: Steam Edition$0.19/1hr19h86.88%88.79%
- 20Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.20/1hr99h94.89%95.83%
- 21Warpips$0.20/1hr13h85.84%87.11%
- 22Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.20/1hr99h93.39%95.64%
- 23Empires of the Undergrowth$0.21/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 24Total War: ATTILA$0.22/1hr89h83.00%82.42%
- 25Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 26Tropico 5$0.23/1hr30h81.33%78.67%
- 27Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 28Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr147h94.55%94.91%
- 29Stronghold Crusader 2$0.24/1hr16h76.98%72.45%
- 30Company of Heroes$0.25/1hr60h91.08%94.22%
- 31From the Depths$0.25/1hr98h87.46%89.23%
- 32Bad North: Jotunn Edition$0.27/1hr11h89.94%93.26%
- 33Survivalist: Invisible Strain$0.28/1hr43h85.62%86.59%
- 34Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.28/1hr106h90.87%91.71%
- 35Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$0.29/1hr35h87.87%91.04%
- 36Ultimate General: Civil War$0.29/1hr103h86.87%88.83%
- 37Terra Invicta$0.29/1hr137h82.72%80.25%
- 38Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.29/1hr69h89.51%90.64%
- 39Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront$0.30/1hr116h85.21%85.22%
- 40Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.31/1hr131h85.64%85.68%
- 41Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation$0.31/1hr79h92.89%94.24%
- 42Company of Heroes 2$0.32/1hr63h79.54%79.05%
- 43Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.32/1hr63h91.01%94.68%
- 44Kingdoms Reborn$0.32/1hr63h87.75%90.38%
- 45Clanfolk$0.32/1hr47h86.39%91.61%
- 46Age of History 3$0.32/1hr31h85.06%84.99%
- 47Norland$0.33/1hr45h83.36%81.63%
- 48STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.33/1hr60h95.37%97.73%
- 49Sailing Era$0.34/1hr74h82.98%78.66%
- 50Dawn of Man$0.34/1hr37h86.22%86.80%
- 51Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition$0.35/1hr101h85.84%85.96%
- 52Going Medieval$0.35/1hr86h87.83%89.07%
- 53Homeworld Remastered Collection$0.35/1hr15h86.77%87.89%
- 54Dummynation$0.35/1hr30h85.85%87.90%
- 55Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense$0.36/1hr28h91.44%96.68%
- 56They Are Billions$0.38/1hr80h85.13%85.12%
- 57Tower Dominion$0.39/1hr45h85.34%85.62%
- 58Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak$0.39/1hr13h82.40%79.28%
- 59Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III$0.41/1hr19h59.25%48.40%
- 60Colony Survival$0.42/1hr59h88.47%92.11%
- 61Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Anniversary Edition (Classic)$0.43/1hr23h86.58%87.58%
- 62Gladiator Guild Manager$0.43/1hr11h83.99%81.07%
- 63Banished$0.44/1hr46h89.45%90.43%
- 64Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.44/1hr90h82.51%82.23%
- 65A Total War Saga: TROY$0.45/1hr45h81.43%71.63%
- 66Age of Mythology: Extended Edition$0.46/1hr65h91.51%93.26%
- 67Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.48/1hr31h84.45%82.43%
- 68Age of Mythology: Retold$0.48/1hr62h88.89%90.47%
- 69Kingdoms and Castles$0.50/1hr40h91.54%93.57%
- 70Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.51/1hr69h74.38%60.87%
- 71Master of Orion$0.51/1hr49h81.55%77.13%
- 72Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.53/1hr38h89.94%91.67%
- 73Call to Arms$0.54/1hr28h81.03%79.31%
- 74Men of War: Assault Squad 2$0.55/1hr54h90.16%91.23%
- 75The Wandering Village$0.58/1hr26h88.62%91.97%
- 76Foundation$0.59/1hr60h86.23%86.66%
- 77Castle Story$0.59/1hr17h75.16%65.19%
- 78Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.62/1hr48h84.72%84.40%
- 79Age of Darkness: Final Stand$0.62/1hr45h79.88%74.34%
- 80UBOAT$0.63/1hr48h84.36%84.06%
- 81Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.64/1hr31h84.63%84.29%
- 82Infection Free Zone$0.64/1hr39h82.25%80.67%
- 83Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.64/1hr47h80.51%77.12%
- 84Door Kickers 2: Task Force North$0.66/1hr38h91.43%96.02%
- 85Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance$0.66/1hr60h84.55%83.15%
- 86Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.70/1hr36h89.46%95.92%
- 87Manor Lords$0.70/1hr37h84.21%84.10%
- 88A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.72/1hr28h76.44%70.57%
- 89Fly Corp$0.72/1hr12h85.55%84.91%
- 90Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.74/1hr20h85.87%86.53%
- 91Cossacks 3$0.74/1hr27h83.39%82.28%
- 92Command & Conquer Remastered Collection$0.75/1hr27h89.44%90.66%
- 93Farthest Frontier$0.82/1hr43h85.79%86.02%
- 94Diplomacy is Not an Option$0.83/1hr36h85.39%85.55%
- 95Last Train Home$0.83/1hr48h85.28%87.12%
- 96Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition (Classic)$0.86/1hr12h90.31%94.60%
- 97Starship Troopers: Terran Command$0.87/1hr35h86.64%87.35%
- 98Prehistoric Kingdom$0.87/1hr34h87.54%90.14%
- 99WARNO$0.92/1hr44h81.81%79.73%
- 100Halo Wars: Definitive Edition$0.95/1hr21h88.24%91.44%
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.