I am going to be traveling for a while and away from my PC. Any suggestions for 4x's that play well on deck (ideally without complicated custom control schemes, but either way)? For reference, my recent favorites have been Shadow Empire and Age of Wonders 4.

I play a variety of different games, but often think of myself as a grand strategy and 4x gamer. I tend to pick up a variety of games when they go on sale. Except over recent years I've ended up playing a vast amount of EU4. According to my Steam profile it accounted for 47% of my total playtime last year. Add in some Age of Wonders 4, Songs of Conquest and Symphony of War, and all the none-4x stuff I play, and there wasn't much space for anything else.

So I've decided - over the next year I'm going to hit the backlog, and try to play at least a small amount of a whole load of games. These aren't the only 4X and strategy games I own, but it's still a pretty long list. Any thoughts? Will there be enough time over the next year to at least try all these out?

• AI War 2
• The Battle of Polytopia
• Chaos Galaxy 2
• Conquest of Elysium 5
• Distant Worlds 2
• Fantasy General 2
• Field of Glory: Empires
• Gal Civ 3
• Hexarchy
• Imperiums: Greek Wars
• Interstellar Space Genesis
• Master of Magic
• Northgard
• Oldworld
• Oriental Empires
• Ozymandias
• Shadow Empire
• Warhammer 40k Gladius
• 军团战棋 Legion War

Im considering gifting a buddy of mine a 4X game so we can play together in multiplayer. He already owns a few, but I’m looking for something new.

I talked with my buddy, and we’re currently considering three games: Dominions 6, Songs of Silence, and Millennia.

I’ve played a bit of Dominions 6, and he thinks it looks very charming. It’s not even that difficult to play but is super deep with a massive amount of options, as far as I know. My main concern is how well it works in co-op or against the AI in multiplayer games.

My buddy likes the alternate history aspect of Millennia. While the game is ugly, I did enjoy the little bit I played of it.

Finally, there’s Songs of Silence. I picked it up, but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet and no idea how well it works in multiplayer games.

I have started playing Old World and I'm really enjoying the "city sites" system, where there are a limited amount of city sites to settle on, most of which you have to wrestle from barbarians and tribes. I think it adds an additional challenge and layer of strategy as you make macro decisions as to which site is best to settle instead of micromanaging where to settle cities down to the tile for incremental yields. There are other games where you can only have one city per "region" instead (some you can settle anywhere in a region, others placement is predetermined) like Endless Legend and Age of Wonders 4 which I also enjoy as it simplifies expansion while still making settling an important decision as each region will have its own set of bonuses and debuffs.

Do you prefer freeform city placement or regions/city sites? I would love to hear others thoughts on this as I rarely hear this dichotomy discussed, at least not as much as the "wide vs tall" debate.

https://preview.redd.it/7v0huj6jtz7e1.png?width=1068&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a091ab1996091d1848583f232c1a6409b9f8ad6

88 Games released or will release 2024, such a high number for the second year in a row! There has been so many great 4x games this year: Zephon, Songs of Conquest, Nexus 5X, Sins of a Solar Empire II, Millenia and Ara: History Untold, just to name a few. But also many of our favourite 4x games got free updates and new DLCs, like the machine age DLC for Stellaris, what showed us that Paradoxon is still able to produce good content for its old games. So lets look hopefully at 2025 as it will bring us many new 4x games and Sid Meier's Civilization VII will just be one of them, so enjoy Christmas with all the awe-inspiring games created the last years and look hopefully in the 4x future!

Hi, I need to socialize in a group online and these games help me do that. I like to coin some to try to help and stay relevant but I'm having trouble finding a new game I like that I can afford better.

Evony the King's Return I played 4 years almost, but it is overwhelmed with bots now. Total Battle I like the "golden pass" as almost a $20 subscription, but once I add a couple of other things I'd like, it adds up fast.

State of Survival I am looking at, but I'm not a fan of the map, it looks more dated to me than Evony's world map. I thought of Kingdoms Ice and Fire, not sure if that one is less expensive.

Any recommendation on these group-type, clan, games that are less than $50 a month. I know you can play for free but I like to coin some and that's my maximum budget.

Thank you all. I hope you can find me a good social outlet, I play with these people for months or years and even join on their discords. Appreciated. :)

It's <30€ now and I was wondering. I never really played the series, but I love Civ 5 (1800 hours) and games like Homm3, Alpha Centauri etc.

Do you need the DLC?

I have had a problem getting into Stellaris because the opening experience isn't very friendly. I have had a lot more experience with 4X since then, though, and I probably wouldn't be as intimidated anymore.

Should I pick up the Starter Pack while it's on sale? Will that make getting into it a littler "friendlier" so to speak? Just wondering if there are any additional tutorials or anything like that that make the Starter Pack a better choice than just having another go at Vanilla.

All my life I have been playing games of other genre so wanted to look into strategy games and mainly in 4x part of it. Well i am not a complete beginner as I have played about 30 hours of Civ 6 (know gist of genre), didn't really enjoy the combat part of it. So wanted to get some suggestions as there is a sale going on in steam.

Some games I have in mind

1. Dune spice wars

2)Age of Wonders Planetfall

3)Stellaris

4)Humankind

5)Zephon

Oh I have Warhammer: Gladius relics of war never really tried it (Totally new to warhammer universe)

Please feel free to suggest some other games not on the list

Recently I've asked about 4x / GS games with good multiplayer but it seems it's more like a "find a game I like, then go to discord" situation.

Now that it's almost winter sales, I wanna pick one up in my 2 week holiday and start playing - probably also online.

What are the general concescus here about these ones?

• Dune: Spice Wars
• Songs of Conquest
• Civilization - Beyond Earth
• Age Of Wonders - Planetfall
• Age Of Wonders 3 (?) - Age Of Wonders 4 would be lightyears better but my PC is a potato...not sure if I would like 3
• Total War - Warhammer I or II or III? I can play Skaven so I'm interested but not sure I would like it....don't wanna disappoint myself just because I want to go full ratfolk.
• Warhammer 40k - Gladius?
• Silence of the Siren
• Galactic Civilizations IV?

Basically I want something with the typical isometric city/world view stuff like in Civilization, but in fantasy / sci-fi setting - except maybe Gal Civ IV, which seems interesting at first sight :D

Also I have a limited budget even for winter sale, so if it doesn't have 10+ DLCs that's not a problem :D - But don't let that stop you from recommending something good

I'll probably wanna try to find people on discord for multiplayer later but I myself am a noob, so if it has a good enough multi community that's more-or-less beginner friendly, its even better.

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I think there is a "dark fantasy" 4X with demonic / angelic kingdoms which were recommended around here at some point, which one was it?

I have 2 and have played it a lot, albeit badly, and played a little of 3 but struggled to get to grips with it and how the game changed after an expansion. 4 looks like a lot of fun.

What are you thoughts on those games? Love one but not the others? Love them all for different reasons? Only play one? Please let me know!

I know, most 4X / GS games tend to have LONG sessions and it's not that viable for "quick" online matches.

Is there any, that's actually active - enough people play it so it's accessible to both beginner and more experienced players - and can be played "quickly"? Fantasy or sci-fi.

Ofc this would mean the game itself is simplified compared to bigger titles to make it viable for short matches.

Dune Spice Wars seemed to be a good choice for this but as far as I see, it has not matchmaking so I would have to stalk lobbies until I find a server with a free seat...

I've always had a bug out to find the best survival, RPG, 4x game.
Kenshi has been one of my faves but the map is too static (and buggy, shockingly) for my taste.

Rimworld had been kinda nice but always fell short... dwarf was better in nearly every aspect except rimworld tend to be more stable and higher tech. (in dwarf, you'd usually end up have a fps death end your really good games).

Warlock 2 is amazing, truly, and I keep wanting to finish it... but it suffers in that you tend to out pace the ai somewhere about mid game... leading to random critters becoming more of a challenge (shadow realms are STRONG) and containment being your main objective more than anything else.

Majesty kingdom was fun on occasion, set up a nice place where your heroes auto res or get auto created, make enemy spawners respawn, and you basically have an ant farm thats fun to check in on occasionally.

civ has fallen way, WAY, way off point. civ 5 is absolute garbage and civ 6 is only marginally better. they ruined the game trying to make it more pvp compatible and thats just sad.

I'd really love some warlock 2 spiritual successors.
and to avoid these suggestions, yes I've played fallen enchantress, eador, and AOW planet fall (4 is bad, AOW3 and AOW planetfall were nice). I like mount and blade bannerlords but it tends to require a lot of involvement... I've played humanity, many endless games, stellaris, and more.

Looking about for space-based 4X games (GalCiv is out, mind), I heard about Stellaris. Asking about it on my Discord, the one person to respond so far said they had reservations about dealing with the AI:

"[T]he computer tends to get a lot of benefits to make up for it's mediocre AI. Which can mean overwhelming attacks way sooner than you're likely at all prepared for." They also referred to the CPU as "spammy" in a way that can interfere with "slow-burn" exploration.

However, they also said this was two years ago. So there's a question of if this is still the case. And what any work-arounds they may have missed might be. One suspect I have is whether Stellaris was really designed with the above slow-burn in mind.

What I'm looking for is a 4X game that's also a "political leader simulator".

So just like I can win the game with force, I can win / manage the gameplay by mainly - or only - with political decisions, intriques, turning my empire into a utopia or a distopia on the way, affecting the gameplay, technologies as well - or in case of a space game, eg. the splash arts / 3D models of the planets...etc.

I know most 4X games has diplomacy / social technologies to a degree but I don't know if there is a game that has that "real depth".

But also it has the typical army management / battle stuff if I want to go with that way. - Or mixing these with backstabbing, conspiring with other civilizations...etc.

As far as I know Civilization games might be the best at this but I'm pretty much a sci-fi (and fantasy) lover and that game is too grounded for my taste. As much gameplay as I watched I don't like it.

The exploration aspect is beside expansion the most important one of the 4x's for most 4X games, due to exploitation and extermination often being less relevant in the early game. So It is the mechanic that makes you interested in the games world and lore and makes you curious by finding new anomalies and interesting events, but what exactly makes a game having a good exploration aspect?

Most of the times you have anomalies or ancient ruins you can scan, e.g in Stellaris or in Galactic Civilizations, which gives you resources (which is honestly not really exiting) or creates an event, where you can choose from different options. So the Question is, does the huge amount of possibilities and stories make exploration great or is it more the high randomness these anomalies or Tribal Villages in Civ6, bring with them, because you don't know if the reward will be useful or not or if it was a trap in reality and now your science ship gets crushed by evil pirates. What do you think, what makes exploration so much fun in 4X games?

I’m looking for a new strategy game to play eventually on weekends, got Vic3 installed on my machine but I can’t get myself into learning the bases, 4x games, on the other hand are way easier to get into for me. I’m monitoring AoW4 from the release because of the fantasy seeing and customization, but I heard it has bad Ai and gets repetitive pretty soon.

Zephon looks pretty interesting and tactical, I like the idea of a combat focused 4x games and the visuals look good.

What do you think is a better investment of time and effort for someone with limited time for gaming?

I recently made a post looking for free low-resource games, I just wanted to thank you for all the support, I will soon install the games you recommended to me

Hi all, with the holidays approaching I find myself with more time on my hands and really wish to sink in some hours into an immersive 4X game. Preferably it would be space/sci fi but it's not a requirement. Turn based would also be a bonus since I really could not find myself to enjoy Stellaris and besides that mostly ever played turn based. Extra bonus if it's enjoyable on the steam deck, but really not a requirements. Here is what I already have to give some overview about my preferences.

Heroes of might and magic 2 and 3 + master of Orion 2.

These were some of the first games (not just 4X) I ever played and I actually plays these games even today from time to time. All time favorites for sure (especially master of Orion 2 and heroes 2)

Civ 5 and 6. Those are the only civ games i played and while I love both I especially like 6.

Master of Orion reboot The game was promising but ultimately didn't come close to MoO2.

Songs of conquest Decent HoMM clone with innovative magic system

Age of wonders planetfall I only played a few hours and then stopped, haven't ever really gotten into the game. Never played any other age of wonders.

Spellforce conquest of eo Same situation as age of wonders.

Endless legend I own it but never played so far. Didn't even launch the game once (got it when it was free)

Stellaris I liked watching some YouTubers play it but when I played it I despised it and felt like watching an excel sheet do calculations.

Space empires V Own it but never even played once.

Soo as you can see I didn't play too many different titles in my life but I sunk countless hours into my favorites. Right now I am debating between playing something from my pile of shame or trying to get into galactic civilizations 4. Generally I don't like it when the game becomes too complicated and tedious, but I appreciate complexity and the possibility of trying different playstyles, custom races, etc.. I am only looking to play single player.

I am happy about any suggestions.

Was reading reviews on Steam and I'm hesitant to buy it. Looks beautiful and I'm sure I would get at least most of my money's worth but I'm hesitant. Some were saying the AI is crap and resorts to rushing units and stacking to add challenge to the game but sounds frustrating. What do you think? Also, if true, do the other aspects of the game offset it? If I do buy it, can it be enjoyed for the most part without DLC? I'm not into the Paradox money sink anymore. I like their games but have an uncertain opinion in regards to how they go about that aspect of their business. Thank you!

I used to love playing 4x games but I'm getting up there in years and my mind can't keep up with all the details involved with current 4x games. Is there any 4x games out there that don't require all the micromanaging of specifics throughout the game? I loved GalCiv3, Sins of the Solar Empire, games of that sort. I really wanted to be able to play Stellaris but I got in over my head very quickly with that.

Be gentle on this od guy. For a 62 year old, I do rather well in Call of Duty Black Ops 6, but want to slow my pace down.
Thanks.

I have dabbled with civ and total war in the past but nothing ever grabbed me. This last year civ 5 got its hooks into me randomly that soon after i got beyond earth and then civ 6( 200 hours so far which i like way more than civ v). I have tried stellaris in the past never clicked like the way civ did for me this year. A friend has been wanting me to try and get into stellaris again or try endless space 2(which i did get on sale but havent tried really except a few minutes).

Would gal civ 4 be a better start for me than endless space or stellaris as a space turn based civ like? Also what other civ likes should I try I keep seeing endless legend and age of wonders 4 thrown around(is this like civ but with magic and fantasy?)