Best Value City Builder Games Under $40
The City Builder 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.
- 1Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.02/1hr48h87.07%89.49%
- 2RollerCoaster Tycoon: Deluxe$0.05/1hr33h89.33%94.31%
- 3The Guild II Renaissance$0.05/1hr55h84.68%83.51%
- 4Sid Meier’s Civilization VI$0.06/1hr105h86.22%86.17%
- 5Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.06/1hr34h93.72%97.48%
- 6Rise of Nations: Extended Edition$0.08/1hr63h91.01%94.68%
- 7The Lost Village$0.08/1hr72h81.84%71.20%
- 8Kingdom Two Crowns$0.09/1hr22h89.18%90.18%
- 9RimWorld$0.09/1hr298h97.47%97.85%
- 10Stronghold HD (2012)$0.10/1hr12h90.76%95.53%
- 11Two Point Campus$0.10/1hr31h86.38%87.84%
- 12Frostpunk$0.10/1hr30h92.23%92.74%
- 13Kenshi$0.10/1hr118h94.77%95.59%
- 14Against the Storm$0.11/1hr82h92.49%94.44%
- 15Space Haven$0.11/1hr89h85.49%85.76%
- 16Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 17Craft The World$0.12/1hr38h87.43%88.40%
- 18Dyson Sphere Program$0.12/1hr129h96.21%97.42%
- 19Airport CEO$0.13/1hr50h84.21%83.05%
- 20Tropico 4$0.14/1hr32h88.83%91.69%
- 21Tavern Master$0.14/1hr21h89.14%92.12%
- 22Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.15/1hr31h84.45%82.43%
- 23Banished$0.15/1hr46h89.45%90.43%
- 24SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition$0.15/1hr33h83.72%82.25%
- 25Cities: Skylines$0.16/1hr56h92.71%92.86%
- 26RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack$0.16/1hr15h86.83%89.64%
- 27Occupy Mars: The Game$0.17/1hr91h81.24%69.78%
- 28Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition$0.17/1hr139h94.56%94.91%
- 29ContractVille$0.17/1hr19h82.94%80.85%
- 30Transport Fever 2$0.18/1hr34h89.12%90.32%
- 31Planetbase$0.18/1hr41h82.42%79.78%
- 32Endzone - A World Apart$0.19/1hr11h80.93%76.70%
- 33Construction Simulator$0.19/1hr13h82.55%80.75%
- 34Stronghold 2: Steam Edition$0.19/1hr19h86.88%88.79%
- 35Smalland: Survive the Wilds$0.20/1hr35h83.35%81.61%
- 36Age of Empires II (Retired)$0.20/1hr99h94.89%95.83%
- 37Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition$0.21/1hr131h85.64%85.68%
- 38Knights of Honor II: Sovereign$0.21/1hr54h82.34%77.23%
- 39Train Simulator Classic$0.22/1hr28h75.14%71.73%
- 40Stronghold: Definitive Edition$0.22/1hr20h85.87%86.53%
- 41Factorio$0.22/1hr162h97.14%97.52%
- 42Settlement Survival$0.23/1hr22h85.12%85.04%
- 43Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 44Tropico 5$0.23/1hr30h81.33%78.67%
- 45Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 46Ratopia$0.24/1hr69h86.02%87.74%
- 47Let's School$0.24/1hr29h88.40%92.70%
- 48Stronghold Crusader 2$0.24/1hr16h76.98%72.45%
- 49Per Aspera$0.24/1hr31h81.79%75.91%
- 50Kingdoms and Castles$0.25/1hr40h91.54%93.57%
- 51Timberborn$0.25/1hr98h93.89%95.97%
- 52Empires of the Undergrowth$0.25/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 53Cossacks 3$0.25/1hr27h83.39%82.28%
- 54Kingdoms Reborn$0.25/1hr63h87.75%90.38%
- 55Going Medieval$0.26/1hr86h87.83%89.07%
- 56Planet Zoo$0.26/1hr51h90.45%90.98%
- 57HUMANKIND$0.27/1hr47h73.27%69.14%
- 58Captain of Industry$0.27/1hr92h87.94%90.31%
- 59Bellwright$0.27/1hr73h81.77%80.20%
- 60Anno 2205$0.27/1hr22h79.32%70.11%
- 61Songs of Syx$0.28/1hr67h89.55%94.25%
- 62OpenTTD$0.29/1hr19h91.13%94.62%
- 63A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$0.29/1hr28h76.44%70.57%
- 64Surviving the Aftermath$0.29/1hr26h80.54%70.47%
- 65Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.29/1hr26h90.44%94.23%
- 66Anno 1800$0.30/1hr51h82.27%81.37%
- 67Two Point Hospital$0.30/1hr25h90.46%91.97%
- 68Terra Nil$0.30/1hr21h86.26%87.48%
- 69Project Hospital$0.31/1hr33h86.98%88.89%
- 70Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition$0.31/1hr101h85.84%85.96%
- 71Colony Survival$0.32/1hr59h88.47%92.11%
- 72Clanfolk$0.32/1hr47h86.39%91.61%
- 73Tropico 6$0.32/1hr37h87.08%87.73%
- 74Diplomacy is Not an Option$0.33/1hr36h85.39%85.55%
- 75Norland$0.33/1hr45h83.36%81.63%
- 76Dawn of Man$0.34/1hr37h86.22%86.80%
- 77Dwarf Fortress$0.34/1hr70h92.44%94.74%
- 78Mad Games Tycoon 2$0.35/1hr42h88.99%93.86%
- 79IXION$0.36/1hr29h81.09%78.79%
- 80Parkitect$0.36/1hr33h89.22%94.18%
- 81They Are Billions$0.38/1hr80h85.13%85.12%
- 82Jurassic World Evolution$0.38/1hr30h87.09%87.44%
- 83Two Point Museum$0.38/1hr53h91.04%95.38%
- 84Fabledom$0.39/1hr19h85.18%85.17%
- 85Sengoku Dynasty$0.39/1hr35h80.59%74.75%
- 86TheoTown$0.40/1hr19h87.65%94.69%
- 87Pharaoh: A New Era$0.40/1hr24h81.61%74.99%
- 88Farthest Frontier$0.41/1hr43h85.79%86.02%
- 89Prison Architect$0.41/1hr18h87.54%87.86%
- 90Mini Motorways$0.42/1hr19h93.05%96.26%
- 91Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$0.43/1hr31h84.63%84.29%
- 92Railway Empire 2$0.43/1hr58h81.81%72.62%
- 93Cities: Skylines II$0.43/1hr81h58.52%55.66%
- 94Gladiator Guild Manager$0.43/1hr11h83.99%81.07%
- 95Infection Free Zone$0.45/1hr39h82.25%80.67%
- 96Thronefall$0.46/1hr17h92.88%96.13%
- 97Planet Coaster$0.46/1hr24h90.58%91.32%
- 98Heart of the Machine$0.47/1hr22h86.29%91.51%
- 99Gourdlets$0.48/1hr5h85.72%92.33%
- 100Kingdom Eighties$0.49/1hr7h82.72%75.34%
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.