Best Value RTS Games Under $10

The RTS games on Steam games under $10 that deliver the most playtime per dollar: median reviewer hours divided by current price.

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By price

Any priceUnder $5Under $10Under $20Under $40
Median reviewer playtime divided by price. Reviewers tend to sink more hours in than the average owner, so treat this as an optimistic estimate. Free games are excluded because there's no price to divide by.
  1. 1Hearts of Iron IV39 h/$
  2. 2Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition11 h/$
  3. 3Mechabellum9.9 h/$
  4. 4Survivalist: Invisible Strain8.9 h/$
  5. 5Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun6.7 h/$
  6. 6ENDLESS Space 26.4 h/$
  7. 7UBOAT6.3 h/$
  8. 8Mindustry5.7 h/$
  9. 9Rise of Nations: Extended Edition5.3 h/$
  10. 10Halo Wars: Definitive Edition5.1 h/$
  11. 11Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition4.7 h/$
  12. 12Age of Empires: Definitive Edition4.7 h/$
  13. 13Rusted Warfare - RTS4.4 h/$
  14. 14Brutal Legend4.0 h/$
  15. 15Warpips3.4 h/$
  16. 16Natural Selection 23.4 h/$
  17. 17Stronghold HD (2012)3.3 h/$
  18. 18Age of History 33.2 h/$
  19. 19Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)3.0 h/$
  20. 20112 Operator2.3 h/$
  21. 21Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense2.2 h/$
  22. 22Gladiator Guild Manager2.1 h/$
  23. 23DG2: Defense Grid 21.8 h/$
  24. 24Castle Story1.8 h/$

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.