Updated at: 22-04-2022 - By: Leo Hall

In turn-based strategy games like Civilization, you begin with the simplest of beginnings and shepherd your people through time, constructing cities, enriching your empire by adopting technological or cultural achievements, and frequently engaging in conflict with other civilizations. As a historically-informed sandbox game, few others have attempted to cover the depth of Civilization’s subject matter.

Kingdoms Reborn

Windows is the operating system of choice.

Steam Early Access for Kingdoms Reborn, a medieval city-building game inspired by Banished, Anno, and Civilization was published in March 2015.

In addition to a sophisticated skill system and updated trees, this game offers the most difficult resource management challenge.

Procedural generation is used to create the game’s vast open world, which contains seven separate biomes, each with their own unique vegetation and animals.

Sigma Theory: Global Cold War

Windows, Linux, and the Macintosh are all available as platforms.

You’ll be in charge of the nation as it contends with other nations for the most advanced technologies as you try to keep diplomacy stable.

As a result, you’ll need to employ spies and perhaps forge alliances with the countries you’re seeking to defeat.

There is a constant “pull-and-push” aspect to the gameplay, which keeps things interesting and dynamic.

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War

Window’s XP and Linux’s 2.6

While several Warhammer entries stand themselves, Gladius is getting closer to Civ in terms of uniqueness because to its 4X format.

The fighting mechanism of the Warhammer games will be decreased, as well as the streamlined collecting of resources.

The major problem is that diplomacy is tough to achieve in the game; in many cases, you’ll be forced to take action or even begin bloodshed.

Endless Legend

Windows and Macintosh

In terms of challenging 4X games, Amplitude is nearly unrivaled, especially when it comes to Endless Legend.

As one of a number of competing groups, you must infiltrate the kingdom and raise an army before the present rulers figure out what you’re up to.

Prior to the start of the game, you decide on your strategy, which may or may not be compatible with other participants.

Stellaris

Linux and Macintosh are also supported platforms.

In the area of strategy, Paradox Interactive is a well-known name. It has released as many 4X games as Firaxis, the publisher of Civilization.

However, Stellaris, a grand strategy game set in space, has been the most popular to date.

While most 4X games are focused on combat and diplomacy, the grand strategy game allows for a variety of play types.

Europa Universalis IV

Windows, Linux, and the Macintosh are all available as platforms.

In many ways, Europa Universalis IV resembles Civilization VI in that it encourages players to plan ahead in order to prevent their adversary from gaining an advantage.

In order to redress historical imbalances, you’ll need to be a tireless worker to keep other nations under control while supplying your own people with the essentials.

The duration of the course allows you to become familiar with the AI’s mechanisms and devise strategies for defeating it.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall

Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

However, the Age of Wonders series has always been an excellent alternative to 4X, shifting its focus away from historical events and into a fantasy universe.

Because opponents have different strengths and weaknesses, they must be dealt with accordingly.

To put it another way, Planetfall stands out because of its use of XCOM’s ground battles as inspiration for its combat.

Scythe

Windows and Macintosh

Tabletop game Scythe is a turn-based strategy game that takes players to a different 1920s Europe devastated by World War I.

This endeavor to capture territory and seize control of “The Factory” has been placed in your hands, and you must lead the five separate factions.

Massive mechs that are paving the way for the future of society have been constructed by the famous city-state.

Gloomhaven

Windows is the operating system of choice.

We included Gloomhaven for people who enjoy dungeon crawling and role-playing games, despite the fact that it is the most dissimilar to Civ and Civ in terms of physicality and digital format.

There are demons, bandits, zombies, and other creatures swarming a fantasy-themed world, forcing people to flee to their houses for safety.

You are now the head of the guild. Open trade routes and eliminate monsters to re-unite the planet and make a lot of money.

OLD WORLD

With its recent early access release, Old World is a 4X game that takes Civ as its inspiration and seeks to push the boundaries further than any of its competitors. Soren Johnson, the lead creator of Civilization IV, and his studio Mohawk Games came up with the idea for the game. The ancient civilizations of Rome, Carthage, and Assyria populate the Old World.

AGE OF WONDERS 3

Age of Wonders: Planetfall, the third game in the long-running turn-based wargame series, is included on our 4X game guide, but it is closer to the Civilization foundations, with a fresh twist on fantasy, than the previous two games. This Civ empire management game contains everything you’d expect, such as a military, tech branches, and spells in the form of heroes and soldiers. Age of Wonders 3’s core feature is a distinct warfare mode in which armies engage in more detailed combat.

FREECIV

When discussing games like Civilization, it’s impossible to avoid mentioning the best knockoff, Freeciv. It’s a no-brainer since it’s free and open-source since 1996, when it was first built. Like Civilization II and XPilot, its design is based on a classic shooter game that’s been around for a long time now.

THE BATTLE FOR POLYTOPIA

Compared to the full-blown Civilization 4X game, this is a nice light-weight variant. The original Polytopia was a web-based strategy game, but it’s now a 4X game with 12 distinct civilizations, a slew of randomly generated terrain, and everything else you’d expect.

Endless Legend

While outer space is lovely, perhaps you’d prefer to immerse yourself in the technological marvels of the present era. It’s time for Endless Legend, a game in the Endless series, which also includes the games Endless Space I and II. Endless Legend, like Stellaris, includes factions that need you to be uncompromising in your gaming. The factions have their own set of norms and conduct. Endless Legend’s battles are fought without the player’s involvement. In the beginning, you lay down a strategy and then watch it take shape, with only a limited number of ways to change it.

Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri

Inclusion on the list of something Civilization designers imagined as a futuristic version of their game might be considered cheating. Alpha Centauri, on the other hand, is considerably more than that. An inhospitable environment must be terraformed to create a society capable of doing anything. As opposed to being “Civ but with spaceships,” Alpha Centauri’s vision for the future and the issues humanity will face were ahead of their time. It’s a fantastic achievement for a strategy game in terms of narrative.

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War

Gladius is the only turn-based game in the 40k universe that seeks to combine a four-fold strategy system. Combat is a lot of fun, and you’ll see it a lot in games that emphasize it. However, obtaining resources is a breeze, and diplomatic relations aren’t going to be tough to establish. If you’ve never played 4X before and aren’t sure how to play the various systems, Gladius may not sound like the best place to start. However, it does have a lot going for it, making it an excellent entry-level game. For fans of X for eXterminate, this is the perfect game.

Conclusion:

As long as you’ve played Civ long enough to have conquered every difficulty, or you’re simply looking for some additional stimulation, these 10 games are good options. There are historical and futuristic topics, as well as extraterrestrial environments, covered by these books. There’s no doubt that you’ll return to strategy games with a renewed sense of excitement.