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What are the best 4X games on Steam?

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Things To Consider

4X is a type of strategy game where you control an empire and "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

This question is limited to 4X games that are available on Steam.

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20 Games Considered

20 Options ConsideredPriceSteam RatingGenre
Civilization V
Very Positive4X
Endless Legend
Very Positive4X
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Very PositiveRTS
Crusader Kings 2
Very PositiveGrand Strategy
Distant Worlds: Universe
Mostly Positive4X
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Civilization V

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thermoplastics
Top Pro

Large assortment of win conditions that allow the player to experiment

•••
The included win states of the game are diplomatic, scientific, cultural and time. Diplomatic allows the user is done through cooperating with other city states, forming trade routes for caravans. This allows the player to amass a large amount of money through cooperation, which tends to be an ea...
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Among the most beginner friendly 4X games

•••
Civ V is among the most beginner friendly 4X games. It doesn't overwhelm you with options right from the get go, but slowly eases you in. The tech tree, resource and production management, movement, policy decisions, diplomacy and all the UIs for them are pretty easy to wrap your head around....
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Customization through policies

•••
Policies are used as a tool to gain a variety of customizations that benefit ones society. There is a branching tree of policies that will allow the user to pick certain aspects that will suit them best such as adding law or religion to ones society which will give gains in certain aspects.
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Endless scenarios and replayability

•••
Civilization V has a large assortment of nation leaders to choose from that have an even bigger assortment of scenarios that are able to play out for said leaders. Each game can be quite unique in this way as each leader allows for a different nation to be controlled.
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Beautiful graphics

•••
From the players cities and armies to the lush landscape, Civilization is quite a beautiful game for those with systems powerful enough to push the graphics to the limit. Even when on lower graphical settings the game looks lush and well animated.
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Fantastic tactical combat

•••
Civilization V has a great combat system that feels very tactical over previous versions as there is no stacking of troops, but with the new hexagonal grid players can surround enemies as well as allow for better tactics when planning attacks.
Ryan
Slant Bot
Top Con

Late game becomes a slog of ordering each unit individually

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Not a lot of depth for a 4X game

•••
As everything in the game is very streamlined it may leave 4X veterans wanting for more aspects of the game that can be controlled, influenced and managed and in more ways.
Andris Pelcbergs
Slant Bot
Top Con

No Steam workshop support on Linux

•••
The Linux port currently does not support steam workshop, and as the mac port made by the same developers has not received workshop support despite having been out for several years, it is unlikely that it ever will. Though there are unofficial workarounds to get the mods working.
Ryan
Top Con

Poor pathing

•••
Civ 5 restricts you to having one unit per tile, but has an AI unable to handle that restriction well due to poor pathing for units. Also due to poor pathing late game becomes a slog of ordering each unit individually.
Slant Bot
Top Con

No stats on other Civ attitudes

•••
Unlike past Civilization games there are no longer stats on the attitudes of the players surrounding Civilizations. This allowed one to see how each other nation felt about the player, but now that it is gone one has to guess, which is definitely not as helpful.
Slant Bot
Top Con

Most victories won by timed or military victory

•••
It can be pretty difficult to win by diplomacy or culture which does add some challenge to the game but it can get tiresome if one keeps winning by only military or timed victories.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:4X
Co-Op:2 to 21 Player Online / LAN
Controller Support:Steam Controller Officallly supported
See 11 more Pros & ConsSee 11 more Pros & Cons

Endless Legend

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Rashaad
thermoplastics
Ryan Smith
Top Pro

Choice of faction meaningfully impacts gameplay

•••
Each faction has strengths and weaknesses, but the best part is swapping out traits before the game starts. You have 80 points to spend, and traits are more or less expensive depending on how powerful they are. Each trait gives you something other factions probably won't have, so spend those po...
Theodore Lief Gannon
Top Pro

Region-based territory system shakes up the expansion game

•••
The map is divided into pre-generated regions. Settling a region claims all of it (even if it's not explored). That city can't have districts outside its region, and only one city can be settled per region. This curtails city-spamming and aggressive city placement, and creates interesting d...
Endi Sukaj
Darren Xie
Top Pro

Beautiful art style

•••
Endless Legend represents a unique art style in the 4x genre, and it stands up graphically even after a few years. The game looks and feels very pretty, and the official art for the game is nothing short of stunning.
Ryan Smith
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Highly customizable

•••
Some specific traits are unique to each faction. Most, however, can be traded for when customizing a faction, with a point-buy limitation to balance it. The world generation options are all knobs to turn one way or another as you like. Very fun option to fiddle with that can make every game a new e...
Andris Pelcbergs
Darren Xie
Top Pro

Amazing soundtrack

•••
The music for the game is very well composed and is great to listen to. Not to mention, it's also free.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Nearly all of the races are viable

•••
Bryan
Top Pro

Interesting races, leaders and character design

•••
Ryan
T-R
Ryan Smith
Top Pro

Excellent depth

•••
If you like exploring a game's mechanics, this one will give you a lot to chew on. The battle mechanics in particular are a serious improvement compared to Civ V's take on war, with units able to stack together into armies instead of spreading out over one tile each.
thermoplastics
Ryan Smith
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Engrossing fantasy setting

•••
If you've played Civ V, you know how much history they put into it. With Endless Legend, there's as much fantasy as Civ's history. Faction quest-lines give you a feel for the people you're leading, and the minor factions are all interesting enough to read the flavor text for.
Andris Pelcbergs
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Good diplomacy system

•••
Bryan
Top Pro

Combat system is more skill based than RNG based

•••
Bryan
Top Pro

Approachable without sacrificing depth

•••
It's pretty easy to learn and get into as turn based strategy but still complex enough to give those looking for depth their fix.
Bryan
Top Pro

Feeling of power

•••
When you arrive in the late-game, you, along with other empires have become very powerful and will be able to amass many resources in a much shorter amount of time. Although this doesn't give you an advantage over anyone else, it is still pleasurable to have a feeling of such power.
Bryan
Top Pro

Everything is described in the lore

•••
From how Dust (the in-game currency) can buyout construction to the biological functions that provide an advantage (or even disadvantage), the game is careful to fully explain gameplay mechanics with lore aspects, leaving few to no plotholes.
Bryan
Top Pro

Autosaves every turn

•••
Although the game is prone to errors, some that crash the game albeit rarely, the game autosaves at the beginning of every turn, so that should the game crash, a recent instance of the game may be loaded and strategies replicated, or entirely new strategies to be used if one wishes.
Bryan
Top Pro

DLC is great and isn't a ripoff

•••
Unlike other games that have pieces of the game completely removed to be used as a bargaining chip for DLC, the game feels complete without DLC. Although the offered DLC is fun and adds many more aspects to the game, such as espionage and control of the seasons. You don't feel like you're m...
Bryan
Top Pro

Art is masterful

•••
Ryan
Bryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Steep learning curve

•••
Even for a 4X game, Endless Legend consists of lots and lots of deep systems that can make approaching it difficult. Though it's worth noting that there are mods that remove or tone down the complexity of the game making it more accessible.
Bryan
Top Con

Confusing tutorial

•••
This is a game that takes experience to learn rather than reading or learning in a similar fashion. Although the tutorial has you doing things, it does not explain the various ways you can do things, nor ensure you actually understand what it is you're actually doing. It is better to have someo...
Endi Sukaj
Darren Xie
Top Con

Weak technology interaction

•••
When researching a powerful technology, the game does not give any feedback to your growth in power other than statistics. For example, Dust Alchemy is a very good mid-game tech that drastically increases your currency gained per turn, but all you get from it is a higher number on your screen. The...
Monika
commissar
Top Con

Race concepts are difficult to latch onto/have specific roads to victory

•••
It does not make use of standard fantasy races such as elves and dwarves but creates an entirely new set. On the one hand, this is great since they are fresh ideas, but on the other, it comes off feeling alien and difficult to connect to. Additionally, each race has more or less one path to victo...
Bryan
Endi Sukaj
Darren Xie
Top Con

Very few multiplayer games

•••
The most games you'll play of Endless Legend will be by yourself or with friends; it's highly unlikely you'll find an open lobby at all times. The overall online life of the game is low. When and If you find rooms, they are mostly private games and no one can join without an invite. Ove...
thermoplastics
Ryan Smith
Top Con

Multiplayer is glitchy and sometimes unplayable

•••
Playing with friends can be difficult. Desyncing means you have to reload the game (it autosaves every turn so that's good). For a time it would desync after ever turn, so you had to play the game 1 turn at a time.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:4X
See 22 more Pros & ConsSee 22 more Pros & Cons

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

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Bryan
Top Pro

Great modding scene

•••
While it doesn't support Steam Workshop, Sins specializes in having many great large total conversion mods, focused on major Sci-fi IPs. There's also a decent variety of smaller mods from font to planets to gameplay redesigns.
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Diplomacy used in a smart way

•••
Different factions will send you quests that may effect your relationship with other factions meaning you will have to choose who best to make a friend or make an enemy when taking these missions. This bit of strategy can greatly change the outcome of a game depending on how well you have chosen w...
Bryan
Top Pro

Large scale space combat

•••
Sins games range from 7-130+ planets and hundreds of ships per player, all in real time, giving the game a fairly unique scale. Battles can wage on multiple worlds simultaneously and thanks to Sins UI and unit AI you can successfully manage fighting major battles, keeping your economy and ship prod...
Ryan
Top Pro

Many ways to play and win the game

•••
T-R
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Leisurely real time combat

•••
The large scale of the game controlling fleets in may solar systems allows for a leisurely pace to play, which makes for worthwhile way of controlling ones ships across multiple places. This makes for less stress in the game due to how intuitive and evenly paced this 4X game is.
Bryan
Top Pro

Very distinct races

•••
The game has three main races - Vasari, Advent and TEC and they offer completely different playstyles. TEC have the best economy, Advent's strength lies in their abilities and how they can be synergised and Vasari focuses on their tech - the incredible Orkulus starbase and Warp Stabilization.
Bryan
Top Pro

5v5 PvP team games are great

•••
The games are suspenseful. Over the course of a couple of hours your teams choice of strategy, ability to coordinate and maneuver the battlefield are tested in an intense environment.
Slant Bot
Top Con

Very long games

•••
A game can last upwards of 4 hours for the medium/larger games. This can be a detriment for those that do not have the time to sit down and play a four hour game.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:RTS
Co-Op:Yes
See 7 more Pros & ConsSee 7 more Pros & Cons

Crusader Kings 2

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Ray
Top Pro

Freedom to play how you like

•••
The game allows for one to make their own choices with there being many "win" conditions in that you can choose to progress how you like. Want to take over all of Europe, that is possible, want to create a successful lineage of family that keeps to themselves, this is also possible.
Ray
Top Pro

Massive online multiplayer

•••
Crusader Kings II has a whopping 32 player online multiplayer mode. Something not often found in games of this sort which can make for a very intense and strategic gameplay session.
Ray
Top Con

Extremely complicated

•••
Crusader King II is a very complicated game that seems overly complex at first and may take a while to really learn as there are quite a lot of things to not only balance in the game but also figure out how to do either through in game tutorials or reading online.
Ray
Top Con

No naval battles

•••
No naval battles, which reduces the advantages of being an Island nation.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:Grand Strategy
See 3 more Pros & ConsSee 3 more Pros & Cons

Distant Worlds: Universe

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Slant Bot
Top Pro

In-depth problem solving

•••
Unlike games like Civ where solving a problem is a few clicks away, Distant Worlds has many layers of abstraction that will make problem solving a lot more difficult and more like a real living world. There may be many elements needed in order to solve a problem that the player will have to figure...
Bryan
Top Pro

Many aspects of the game can be automated

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Makes you feel like the empire you're managing is alive

•••
Because the game has a private sector that the player can't control, that independently responds to situations and opportunities, it makes you feel like you're managing a living organism instead of giving instructions to a set of systems. A resort you've built might prompt the entrepren...
Slant Bot
Top Pro

The universe is huge

•••
With the possibility to simulate thousands of stars and tens of thousands of planets in realtime, the universe in Distant Worlds is truely vast.
Andris Pelcbergs
Nicholas Dye
Top Pro

In-depth economy and resource management

•••
The game keeps details that are often abstracted away. For example, when you want to build something you have to make sure that the resources are actually within reach of that structure. Because eXploit can be so much more than planting your flag over a single unit of iron or satramene gas.
Bryan
Top Pro

Detailed ship and base building

•••
Slant Bot
Top Con

Requires a time commitment

•••
This is not a game that one can jump into with no prior knowledge, there is a high learning curve that will take many trial sessions in order to get the hang of the full aspects of the game.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mostly Positive
Genre:4X
See 6 more Pros & ConsSee 6 more Pros & Cons

Age of Wonders III

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Slant Bot
Top Pro

Worthwhile leveling system

•••
throughout the game players troops are leveling as long as they are being used. This adds to each's pool of abilities. There are also points one can earn in battle that can be used to unlock new abilities. Both of these systems add up to a competent way to always be leveling and give a feeling...
T-R
Slant Bot
Top Pro

Intuitive tactical battles

•••
The tactical battles in the game play out in a way that feels different depending on what enemies are being fought , which makes for a good way to differentiate play compared to other 4X games. The battles also play out in a fast fashion that is easy to understand making for an experience that fee...
Slant Bot
Top Con

Some areas are too easy

•••
At certain points of the game decision need to be made, which would normally mean something is lost when choosing, but sadly things like buildings are too easy to build meaning there is no loss when choosing what to do, which makes the choices meaningless.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:4X
See 2 more Pros & ConsSee 2 more Pros & Cons

Stellaris

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Bryan
Top Pro

Emergent stories

•••
Oftentimes, if you play the game without min-maxing everything, you will find yourself with interesting stories to tell. While the coded events themselves may lose their touch after a while, the interactions with the various races nearby will often be different. You might find yourself in situatio...
thermoplastics
Sinnaj63
Top Pro

Great early game exploration

•••
The exploration, and the early game in general, is very interesting, with a plethora of events, not limited to Anomalies surveying player and AI science ships can encounter.
Alex
Sinnaj63
Top Pro

Constant updates

•••
Stellaris is steadily receiving updates, tweaking game balance and fixing bugs alongside with quality of life improvements and new content. Though some of the bigger updates content is often sold as DLC.
Bryan
Top Pro

Highly moddable

•••
The fact that Stellaris is so modifiable makes a huge difference to the game. There are so many ways to customize the game to your liking. If there's a design decision you dislike, you are always capable of changing it yourself (within certain limits), and you can make the game completely diff...
Bryan
Top Con

Lack of vanilla content, currently

•••
Unfortunately, the game is lacking a bit in certain types of content. There is a great number of events in the game, but not enough as it is. With how many events there are, it is likely that you will see many of these events occur over multiple games. For instance, finding Sol or Sanctuary once m...
Soloder
Top Con

High learning curve

•••
There is a lot to learn in this game that isn't explained very well and is sometimes hard to find. Edicts, policies, and civil rights for example.
commissar
Top Con

Needs more traits/ethics/flavor

•••
There are very few options to really make your species unique. There are mods that address this but they can break when patches are released. More added to vanilla would be great.
Kristaps
Bryan
Top Con

The AI is inconsistent

•••
While the AI in Stellaris works fine most of the time, it has its fair share of problems and oddities. One of the main problems is automation with the help of the AI. When your empire grows too large, you have to relegate some star systems to “sectors” that are controlled by the AI, automatically...
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:Hybrid: 4X / Grand Strategy
See 7 more Pros & ConsSee 7 more Pros & Cons

Pandora: First Contact

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Slant Bot
Top Pro

Upgrading is done well

•••
Upgrading ones units and operations is quite fun and intelligently done. As new equipment is developed the user has the choice to bring their units in, in order to equip them with the new equipment. Not only is this intuitive but it adds to the strategy of the game as the player must decide who and...
Slant Bot
Top Con

Gameplay is too simple

•••
Short of being a constant aggressor there is really no worthwhile way to win battles. While there are a few different victory conditions non of them really amount to anything as they will not be achieved unless dominating with ones military in the first place.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:4X
See 1 more ConSee 1 more Con

Endless Space

thermoplastics
Sinnaj63
Top Pro

Efficent Interface

•••
The Interface is quite good looking for a space 4X game and works well.
thermoplastics
Sinnaj63
Top Pro

Diverse playable factions creating a lot of variety

•••
The playable empires are really varied and often have quite different gameplay (though not as much as the factions in Endless Legends).
thermoplastics
Sinnaj63
Top Pro

Dynamic tax system

•••
Endless Space's unique tax system allows you to strategically decide between Income and Approval.
Laura Kyle
Sinnaj63
Top Con

Harsh learning curve

•••
The game has a bad tutorial and is therfore hard to learn; early on even the lowest difficulty can feel almost impossible to beat.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mostly Positive
Genre:4X
See 3 more Pros & ConsSee 3 more Pros & Cons

Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension

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Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Radically different factions taking inspiration from multiple sources

•••
Most of the factions draw their inspiration from historical empires or from mythological factions and creatures from different cultures. For example, Ermor is based on the Roman Empire, Ulm is a nation of barbarians which is heavily inspired from the Conan stories, Rlyeh is filled with abominatio...
Endi Sukaj
Marc Romagosa
Top Pro

Amazing scale and diversity

•••
The game starts out small. Your troops are people with weapons. Or monkeys with weapons or bats with weapons or whatever (the nations are pretty different from each other, inspired by the mythologies of different nations). By the end of the game, you could have armies of made of units that could...
Endi Sukaj
Andris Pelcbergs
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Excellent depth through in game lore and faction selections

•••
There are over 80 factions available in the game that can be played. Each has their own lore and story behind them, which will change as the ages (of which there are 3, early, middle, and late) progress through time spent in game. This depth in lore and story telling gives a sense of involvement th...
Endi Sukaj
Ryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Among the harshest learning curves in a 4X game

•••
There's dozens of spells and ways to customize units through stats. It takes a lot of time to get comfortable with all the gameplay mechanics and with the UI itself. The in-game help is also lacking or not available at the right time, forcing players to look elsewhere for help.
Endi Sukaj
Marc Romagosa
Top Con

Shallow empire-building

•••
As a pretender god, you're waging war and thus are fundamentally destructive. You can build forts, temples, and magic labs, and forts can be upgraded, but aside from magical things like global spells, or positive effects of your divine influence, you don't really affect positive change in y...
Endi Sukaj
Ryan
Slant Bot
Top Con

Outdated graphics and UI

•••
The UI and the graphics themselves are quite outdated. Which add to the overall complexity and high learning curve.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:Grand Strategy
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars

Endi Sukaj
Aces
Top Pro

Wonderful polish

•••
The game is very well designed from a UI standpoint. The layout is far better than any other Master of Orion game. There was some transparency problems in beta, but the design is well thought out. Strangely the voice over work is very good. Rare to see outside of some AAA games.
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Feels like a living, breathing world

•••
From the moment the player colonizes a planet, they can see people moving around that planet when managing resource production. While managing people is not as detailed as to micro-manage every person in a planet, the player can still put groups of them to work on a certain job (food production, re...
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Great voice acting

•••
While not directly related to gameplay, this is still one of the things that can push a game to new levels. The ensemble cast of voice actors for Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars is top notch, surpassing even most AAA games. Besides talent like Nolan North and Troy Baker, who are pretty popul...
Endi Sukaj
Top Con

Simplistic battle system

•••
The battle system is one of the things that made a departure from previous titles in the series. It's not turn-based anymore and it feels like it takes a backseat to diplomacy and deterrence.
Endi Sukaj
HardwareHero
Aces
Top Con

A lot of stuff didn't convert well from previous games

•••
Holdovers from previous installments of this game have become obsolete. A lot of the neat tech toys and racial abilities have been rendered useless or downright crippling with new game mechanics. Systems are very hard to hold as large empires are very hard to defend against without huge tech advanc...
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:4X
See 4 more Pros & ConsSee 4 more Pros & Cons

Galactic Civilizations III

Jonathan
John Keats
Top Pro

Deep strategy

•••
On top of building placements and star base placement and order of updates made to starbases, there is a lot of depth to this title. Everything from whom you butter up to keep from destroying you to whom you ally with. The types of ships you build and what technologies your research is invested in...
Endi Sukaj
John Keats
Top Pro

Fully customizable ships

•••
The game's ship designer is one of the most comprehensive and powerful ship designers in a 4X to date. Other than customizing the look of the ships you own, you can also customize the way they work. Functional customization allows players to customize their ships to suit their play style. Eith...
Endi Sukaj
Jonathan
John Keats
Top Pro

Allows 3D printing ships built in the game

•••
Galactic Civilizations 3 supports 3D printing. While most people don't own a 3D printer, you can at least prepare the print jobs and give them to someone that does to print your own space ships.
Jonathan
John Keats
Top Pro

Constant updates and DLC's

•••
The game was quite bland on release and subsequent DLC's and expansion have really breathed life into this game and brought on new features that have made the game in general more enjoyable. The free updates have also been well crafted and come regularly as does communication from the developer...
Endi Sukaj
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Interesting building-placement minigame

•••
Buildings can provide certain bonuses to other adjacent buildings. For example, putting two factories together nets a +70% bonus, instead of a +60% bonus that they would grant if they were far from each other. This forces the players to think about how best to position their buildings.
John Keats
Top Con

DLC's are expensive

•••
As much as new content is appreciated they are consistently released at 5 USD a pop at minimum. Some of these DLC's contain very small amounts of content and definitely seem overpriced. With the game being expansive and bland without this DLC, the entry price point for this game is quite high...
Jonathan
John Keats
Top Con

High learning curve

•••
To become proficient at this game you will need to sink quite a few hours into it. Most 4X's have a learning curve but Galactic Civilizations 3 seems to be up there. Not as bad as Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis, but still high enough to require a good solid time investment.
Jonathan
John Keats
Top Con

High system requirements for a 4X title

•••
Unless you plan to play on large maps and under, playing on huge or insane sized maps can become cumbersome because of performance issues you may experience. In addition to this the system requirements are misleading and should be updated to reflect what you really should have, which is 8Gb RAM at...
Jonathan
John Keats
Top Con

Endgame can be repetitive

•••
Once you are down to the last 200 or so turns and have your victory in sight, it can become a slog to power through turns to reach the end and this does mean it can become quite repetitive for some. It is at this stage that the game also loses a little strategic depth.
Specs
Genre:4X
See 8 more Pros & ConsSee 8 more Pros & Cons

Polaris Sector

Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Random events keep the game fresh and engaging

•••
The random events in this game keep the game from becoming stale and boring. You can be extremely powerful and feel like nothing can threaten your empire, but an external threat caused by a random event outside of your control can come and change everything.
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Interesting technology and research system

•••
Instead of using a linear path for research, this game uses a different approach for research and technology. There are two paths: Applied and Fundamental. Fundamental allows you to gain access to more branches of science and to gain more "exotic" technologies (I.E. Antimatter). Applied...
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Easy to efficiently colonize and manage planets

•••
The player can explore the galaxy and leave behind orders to the AI to colonize planets left behind and build whatever the player told it to focus on. This removes the need to micro-manage everything and makes the gameplay efficient and not time-consuming at all.
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Great AI

•••
The Artificial Intelligence in this game is one of the best out of all 4X games. It handles playing against the human player in a way that makes you feel like you are playing against another human opponent.
Endi Sukaj
Top Con

Diplomacy could use some work

•••
While the diplomacy system is present in this game and provides you with multiple choices of dialog and outcomes, it's pretty hard to determine how much you are gaining from a particular choice. For example, when making an economic treaty there's no way to find out how much you are gaining...
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
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Thea: The Awakening

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Yoshiyuki
Top Pro

Detailed ways to manage your settlements and party members

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Thea: The Awakening revolves around the fine details of building settlements in the world, collecting and managing resources, and keeping your party members well-stocked with what they need. Resource management is key, letting you build new pastures, and structures like defensive walls for your set...
Yoshiyuki
Top Pro

Your decisions matter for both side quests and combat

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You have plenty of freedom to choose whether to fight enemies or avoid them, as well as how side quests impact the world around you. As you explore, you'll run into dynamic events that give you a mini-story to read about the lay of the land, such as how it's been invaded by orcs or other cr...
Yoshiyuki
Top Pro

Typical combat is replaced with a unique card game

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Instead of fighting enemies in regular turn-based battles, you'll play a unique, numbers-based card game where you and your AI opponent take turns placing cards on the field. The idea is that you line up your attacker cards, like soldiers, with the goal of their attack power outnumbering the de...
Yoshiyuki
Top Pro

Full voice acting

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Every line in the game is voice acted by authentic actors who fit right in with the dark fantasy setting. Because there's so much text to read, it helps a lot to have such great voice acting to supplement all of the information, all with excellent pronunciation and believable accents. For anyo...
Yoshiyuki
Top Con

Not for players who dislike micromanaging small details

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If you're not a fan of keeping track of little details like how many resources you have, weapons for your party members, and how many turns you need to build an enclosure around a settlement, then Thea: The Awakening might not be for you. There's a lot to manage and tons of busywork, which...
Yoshiyuki
Top Con

Tedious inventory management

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With so many resources and weapons to handle, you're unfortunately stuck with manually dragging and dropping required items through menus. There isn't a quicker, more efficient way to sort through what you need. It can get quickly get boring and ruin your time with the game.
Yoshiyuki
Top Con

Too many genres mixed into one game

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This is quite a niche game, with role-playing elements, settlement building and survival tactics, and a card game all wrapped together in one package. It can get confusing for someone who likes one of these genres and not the others, possibly discouraging them from trying the game out.
Specs
Steam Rating:Very Positive
Genre:Tactical Survival, Role-Playing
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Sword of the Stars

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Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Great art direction

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Includes systems that add story and philosophical elements to the game

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Through quest decisions, the affinity system and the victory condition you choose to pursue, the game asks what type of future would you build for humanity. The choices you make will impact both the gameplay and the outcome of the colony.
Endi Sukaj
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Unique take on science fiction

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While most science fiction games present one or two ways humanity could develop in the future, Beyond Earth presents six. Human-Alien Hybrids trying to adapt to their alien planet. Humans in Battlesuits and LEV weapons with a liking for terraforming. Societies filled with cyborgs and androids....
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

You are not locked to a linear tech progression

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Great music

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Endi Sukaj
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Engrossing early game

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The game starts by preparing your voyage through space by selecting crew, cargo, etc. Players have a lot of freedom in what to pick or whether to choose a certain strategy which will impact the rest of the game. How you respond to the environment during the early game may very well shape how the r...
Andris Pelcbergs
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Involved spy system

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The player can send a spy to an enemy city in order to learn what that city is building, what they are using for defenses, etc. This will take a few turns in order to set up, but once it is done, having an inside informant on what competing cities are doing can be big leg up. Once a spy network...
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Late game is slow

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Growing your colony in late game becomes a bit of a slog.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Wasted potential

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Beyond Earth had a variety of new interesting systems that, unfortunately, fell short of their potential. Units unlocked by the affinity system were only slightly different to what you would get otherwise so your decisions weren't as impactful, quests in reality worked as a choice of upgrade f...
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:4X
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Stars in Shadow

Chloe Montanez
ClassySatet
Top Pro

Proper turn-based tactical combat

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This is the first game since Master of Orion 2 to actually have proper turn-based tactical combat, wherein you have exact control over each and every one of your spaceships. This is the first game to get it right in 20 years.
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Specs
Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Planar Conquest

Last Days of Old Earth

Warlock 2: The Exiled

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Bryan
Top Con

Poor AI

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Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:4X
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100 Community Recommendations

Sinnaj63
Jim Boulter
Mdlkxzmcp
Eyezor
Nicholas Dye
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JPlay
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+47
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Soloder
Soloder
Contributor for 4 months
1
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115
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Stellaris
Recommended 4 months ago
I have played this game many many hours. Very complicated at first, however as you play game after game you learn to enjoy its many different options, updates coming out make it more interesting all the time, has some of the most interesting strategic and empire building options. This game is not for someone...
Pro
 Great early game exploration
Pro
 Emergent stories
Pro
 Highly moddable
Pro
 Constant updates
Con
 High learning curve
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commissar
commissar
Contributor for 3 months
11
Total 
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110
Total 
Karma
Stellaris
Recommended 3 months ago
Amazing game overall!
Pro
 Great early game exploration
Pro
 Emergent stories
Pro
 Highly moddable
Con
 Lack of vanilla content, currently
Pro
 Constant updates
Con
 High learning curve
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commissar
commissar
Contributor for 3 months
11
Total 
Recs.
110
Total 
Karma
Endless Legend
3 months ago
I tried to like it and tried multiple times but it just felt too abstract.
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