Best Value 4X Games Under $20
The 4X games on Steam games under $20 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.
- 1Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.02/1hr48h87.07%89.49%
- 2Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.03/1hr226h95.27%95.60%
- 3Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword$0.03/1hr174h88.91%96.23%
- 4Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.05/1hr123h90.14%93.17%
- 5Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.05/1hr99h93.39%95.64%
- 6Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.06/1hr105h86.22%86.17%
- 7Europa Universalis IV$0.06/1hr86h83.29%83.16%
- 8Old World$0.06/1hr62h84.44%82.51%
- 9Stellaris$0.07/1hr221h85.87%85.76%
- 10Crusader Kings III$0.11/1hr142h88.04%88.24%
- 11Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 12STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.12/1hr60h95.37%97.73%
- 13Sid Meier's Civilization IV$0.13/1hr31h87.57%92.44%
- 14Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$0.14/1hr29h82.91%81.70%
- 15Terra Invicta$0.15/1hr137h82.72%80.25%
- 16A Total War Saga: TROY$0.15/1hr45h81.43%71.63%
- 17Galactic Civilizations IV$0.16/1hr87h82.51%72.26%
- 18Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.16/1hr47h80.51%77.12%
- 19Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.17/1hr60h68.02%60.61%
- 20ENDLESS Space 2$0.17/1hr59h83.87%83.30%
- 21ENDLESS Legend$0.17/1hr44h84.07%83.49%
- 22Knights of Honor II: Sovereign$0.21/1hr54h82.34%77.23%
- 23Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 24Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 25Conquest of Elysium 5$0.24/1hr50h86.00%90.12%
- 26Empires of the Undergrowth$0.25/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 27HUMANKIND$0.27/1hr47h73.27%69.14%
- 28Anno 2205$0.27/1hr22h79.32%70.11%
- 29Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.28/1hr36h89.46%95.92%
- 30Homeworld Remastered Collection$0.35/1hr15h86.77%87.89%
- 31The Battle of Polytopia$0.40/1hr19h88.85%93.96%
- 32Farthest Frontier$0.41/1hr43h85.79%86.02%
- 33Dune: Spice Wars$0.41/1hr34h81.68%79.11%
- 34NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.41/1hr36h83.93%81.10%
- 35Songs of Conquest$0.44/1hr17h85.43%85.61%
- 36Heart of the Machine$0.47/1hr22h86.29%91.51%
- 37Xenonauts 2$0.50/1hr40h83.79%81.41%
- 38Breachway$0.79/1hr13h83.93%75.72%
- 39Age of Wonders III$0.88/1hr8h81.68%78.98%
- 40Europa Universalis III Complete$1.14/1hr4h84.50%81.16%
- 41Songs of Silence$1.27/1hr11h84.65%80.59%
- 42ZEPHON$1.28/1hr12h85.33%83.04%
- 43Age of Wonders: Planetfall$1.98/1hr4h82.85%79.36%
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.