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$0.03/1hr301h88.73%96.24%
- 2Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance$0.03/1hr76h91.88%96.73%
- 3Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete$0.04/1hr130h86.91%89.44%
- 4X4: Foundations$0.07/1hr145h81.17%79.90%
- 5Supreme Commander 2$0.08/1hr34h86.79%88.22%
- 6Hexarchy$0.09/1hr21h84.52%81.92%
- 7Age of History II$0.13/1hr33h89.03%89.84%
- 8ENDLESS Legend$0.13/1hr23h83.98%83.48%
- 9Terra Invicta$0.17/1hr118h82.71%80.41%
- 10Terraforming Mars$0.17/1hr41h78.90%70.54%
- 11Sid Meier's Civilization V$0.18/1hr166h95.12%95.60%
- 12Victoria II$0.21/1hr95h89.74%92.14%
- 13Airships: Conquer the Skies$0.24/1hr53h89.29%95.91%
- 14Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.28/1hr72h90.04%93.16%
- 15Sailing Era$0.30/1hr83h82.78%78.47%
- 16Iron Harvest$0.31/1hr15h77.37%72.63%
- 17Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition$0.31/1hr81h93.34%95.66%
- 18Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition$0.32/1hr79h89.46%90.65%
- 19Phoenix Point$0.33/1hr76h80.02%73.12%
- 20Total War: SHOGUN 2$0.35/1hr86h90.91%91.80%
- 21Legend of Heroes: Three Kingdoms$0.36/1hr56h86.56%88.57%
- 22Age of History 3$0.36/1hr28h84.98%85.00%
- 23STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack$0.39/1hr52h95.32%97.73%
- 24Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit$0.39/1hr103h87.12%92.44%
- 25Knights of Honor II: Sovereign$0.39/1hr29h81.84%77.18%
- 26Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$0.39/1hr102h82.49%82.23%
- 27Imperator: Rome$0.40/1hr100h70.84%65.59%
- 28ENDLESS Space 2$0.40/1hr100h83.82%83.34%
- 29Fantasy Map Simulator$0.44/1hr14h86.18%89.10%
- 30Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.45/1hr33h84.27%82.41%
- 31Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.46/1hr88h89.52%91.23%
- 32Songs of Syx$0.47/1hr54h89.45%94.43%
- 33Planetary Annihilation: TITANS$0.50/1hr60h84.62%84.40%
- 34Panzer Corps 2$0.50/1hr79h84.87%84.70%
- 35Ultimate General: Civil War$0.58/1hr52h86.77%88.91%
- 36Total War: ROME REMASTERED$0.59/1hr51h80.36%77.00%
- 37Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts$0.60/1hr59h74.29%60.88%
- 38Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth$0.60/1hr67h67.93%60.58%
- 39Dummynation$0.62/1hr19h85.63%87.80%
- 40Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition$0.66/1hr38h89.86%91.65%
- 41Armello$0.67/1hr37h83.02%81.82%
- 42NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Awakening$0.70/1hr56h82.67%74.29%
- 43Galactic Civilizations IV$0.72/1hr56h82.41%72.46%
- 44Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII$0.72/1hr25h73.28%57.95%
- 45Manor Lords$0.72/1hr55h84.24%84.17%
- 46Dune: Imperium$0.77/1hr30h87.68%94.02%
- 47NEBULOUS: Fleet Command$0.81/1hr37h83.77%81.11%
- 48ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE$0.82/1hr44h75.03%49.76%
- 49Old World$0.85/1hr47h83.91%82.38%
- 50Buggos$0.87/1hr12h85.51%87.96%
- 51Norland$0.90/1hr33h83.25%81.60%
- 52Breachway$0.90/1hr22h83.75%75.71%
- 53Empires of the Undergrowth$0.91/1hr33h91.08%94.38%
- 54Steel Division 2$0.92/1hr43h82.27%79.49%
- 55City Bus Manager$0.93/1hr32h86.23%90.78%
- 56Total Conflict: Resistance$0.93/1hr32h81.22%74.20%
- 57Xenonauts 2$0.96/1hr42h83.69%81.50%
- 58Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew$1.02/1hr39h87.35%91.06%
- 59A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA$1.07/1hr37h76.38%70.61%
- 60Spirit Island$1.12/1hr22h85.92%91.82%
- 61Creeper World 4$1.21/1hr21h88.14%94.92%
- 62Unity of Command II$1.22/1hr25h83.97%79.56%
- 63Sid Meier's Civilization IV$1.26/1hr16h86.93%92.40%
- 64Cataclismo$1.27/1hr24h86.19%89.13%
- 65Heart of the Machine$1.28/1hr23h86.08%91.53%
- 66Dune: Spice Wars$1.30/1hr27h81.62%79.17%
- 67Total War: PHARAOH$1.38/1hr29h77.27%63.08%
- 68ZEPHON$1.39/1hr29h84.69%83.34%
- 69Prehistoric Kingdom$1.40/1hr21h86.90%89.87%
- 70Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War$1.53/1hr26h82.82%81.68%
- 71Carrier Command 2$1.58/1hr19h84.02%81.55%
- 72A Total War Saga: TROY$1.76/1hr23h81.28%71.53%
- 73Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2$2.12/1hr9h84.74%84.48%
- 74The Great War: Western Front$2.21/1hr16h80.35%66.34%
- 75Songs of Silence$2.67/1hr11h84.05%80.79%
- 76Age of Wonders III$3.57/1hr8h82.24%80.14%
- 77Democracy 4$3.74/1hr8h83.71%81.78%
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.