TurnBasedLovers: Best 10 4X Strategy Games of All Time

[The_J]

TurnBasedLovers have published their list of the 10 best 4X strategy games out there. To no surprise, this list contains Civ6! The whole article contains a lot of classics, obviously, like Alpha Centauri, Masters of Magic or Master of Orion II, but also Civ4: Colonization.

An excerpt:
“It should come as little surprise that the granddaddy of every other game on this list would come out on top, especially with how well-designed the franchise’s most recent incarnation has turned out. Civilization is one of the few franchises that improves with each new entry without backsliding. Civ 6 has proven that the team at Firaxis can pinpoint what makes their games fun and keep those elements while still experimenting and pushing the genre forward.”

Read the whole article here: https://turnbasedlovers.com/lists/best-10-4x-strategy-games-of-all-time/

 

[Ita Bear]

A rather dreadful list, I must say. I think Stellaris is worthy of a place on the list, no Total War games, I have no idea how Civ IV: Colonization got in ahead of Civilization IV and hailing Civilization VI as the best 4X of all time is... brave, to say the least.

Kind regards,
Ita Bear

 

[The_J]

I had a short Twitter conversation with the guys, and it's a mix about representing a franchise without cluttering the list up (so only 1 Civ title, and Col is not core-Civ, in this sense), historically important titles and currently important titles. And you can't argue about Civ6 and the latest .

The list also includes AC, MoO2 and HoMM3, which are all undoubtly genre master pieces (but all old, so many people here will not have played them. Masters of Magic is even too old for me, although it must have been great).

 

[kaspergm]

I'm not sure I agree Civ6 doesn't have any backsliding, but if the entry is taken as much as a representation of the entire series than just for the game itself, surely there's no doubt (at least not for me) that Civilization - as a series - has earned one of the top spots.

I'm glad to see Heroes of Might and Magic (3) claiming a worthy position as well. While HoMaM 5 also has a special place in my heart, there's no doubt (again, for me) that HoMaM 3 is one of the best (TBS) games ever.

 

[HEF]

...and hailing Civilization VI as the best 4X of all time is... brave, to say the least.

It's probably considered the best because 'Civilization VI' contains the most variety of gameplay choices and diverse cast of characters.

This is what sells nowadays.

 

[enKage]

Master of Magic, Endless Legend, HoMM3, SMAC, Endless Space ---> OK
but what civ4 Colonization is doing here? And how did they replace Civ4 with Civ6? Civ6 with al that bugs left is still Beta....

lacking Stellaris

 

[criZp]

A little more incentive for Firaxis to churn out more junk, nice

 

[Zaarin]

I think Stellaris is worthy of a place on the list

lacking Stellaris

The name of the site is TurnBasedLovers. Stellaris, while a great game, is real-time. The same objection could be made to the Total War franchise, though I'd go a step further and say that Total War games aren't 4X--they're just strategy games.

 

[superpowerfixer]

Good idea:
-Adding mom and alpha centauri.
Neutral idea:
-Adding only the newest entries of franchises as the representative.
Bad idea:
-Colonization entry is some kind of joke?
-Heroes is not a 4x
-Order is a joke(alpha centauri being so low should be a crime against humanity)
-Wtf is sycthe?

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Good idea:
-Adding mom and alpha centauri.
Neutral idea:
-Adding only the newest entries of franchises as the representative.
Bad idea:
-Colonization entry is some kind of joke?
-Heroes is not a 4x
-Order is a joke(alpha centauri being so low should be a crime against humanity)
-Wtf is sycthe?

Scythe is fantastic. At least the physical game is (never played the pc version).

While I love AC, it has several gameplay issues that would not fly in today's environment (not to mention this forum--it would be skewered here if it came out as is today). Where it thrives is the storytelling and mood not necessarily the gameplay itself.

 

[superpowerfixer]

Scythe is fantastic. At least the physical game is (never played the pc version).

While I love AC, it has several gameplay issues that would not fly in today's environment (not to mention this forum--it would be skewered here if it came out as is today). Where it thrives is the storytelling and mood not necessarily the gameplay itself.

Disagree hard.
Ai leaders have flavor which is nonexistent in modern 4x games.
Terra forming is the one of the best features not copied in any other 4x game.Weapons of mass destruction do mass destruction shockingly, thanks to this features.
Unit creator is amazing for its time and modern 4x games have completely neglected that.
The entire civics system is miles better then the social policies of modern 4x games due to its ability to combine with leader abilities.
Barbarian units are properly integrated into the game instead of generic barbarian/pirates.

Storytelling is just the icing on the cake.

 

[ThunderLizard2]

CIV VI as number one spot? I guess if you rank based unfixed bugs, desyncs, and terrible AI than yes sounds right.

 

[Socrates99]

Just glad to see HoMM3 on there. Loved that game. I feel about that version the same way some Civ IV diehards feel about IV.

It had the best random map generator and editor in the series, the cities weren't overly cluttered, units were nicely defined gameplay was solid. A lot of the later iterations just cluttered the map with graphical effects and added too many frivolous city and troop upgrades while dumping that really great map editor.

 

[tedhebert]

The name of the site is TurnBasedLovers. Stellaris, while a great game, is real-time. The same objection could be made to the Total War franchise, though I'd go a step further and say that Total War games aren't 4X--they're just strategy games.

If that’s the case, then Endless space 2 is exactly the same, so in my mind that argument is flawed.

Also, I can’t believe that Galactic Civilization 2 (or 3) isn’t in there… Much more worthy in my mind than Scythe or Total War

 

[Zaarin]

If that’s the case, then Endless space 2 is exactly the same, so in my mind that argument is flawed.

The same as what? ES2 isn't real time. It has battle cinematics, but these are just that--cinematics. You have no control of the battle beyond what you input in the battle scene; they are just there if you want to watch your ships pummel each other. ES2 is a turn-based 4X game; Stellaris is a real-time grand strategy game; Total War is a war game with minor empire building elements. So I think it's pretty obvious only one of these belongs on a list of turn-based 4X games simply by dint of being the only one that's a turn-based 4X game.

 

[xxhe]

Would Stellaris be considered as a 4X? If so, it deserves a place in the list.

 

[tedhebert]

The same as what? ES2 isn't real time. It has battle cinematics, but these are just that--cinematics. You have no control of the battle beyond what you input in the battle scene; they are just there if you want to watch your ships pummel each other. ES2 is a turn-based 4X game; Stellaris is a real-time grand strategy game; Total War is a war game with minor empire building elements. So I think it's pretty obvious only one of these belongs on a list of turn-based 4X games simply by dint of being the only one that's a turn-based 4X game.

hmmm... ok must admit that I have both games (ES2 and Stellaris), but it's been years since I've played them... in my mind, ES2 was pretty much real-time, but you could stop play with the space bar whenever you liked and take whatever time you wanted to manage and micro-manage... I MIGHT be mixed up in my memories between the two games...
I remember clearly Stellaris being that way, now you're putting doubt in my mind about ES2... too lazy to re-install and play them

Anyways, I still believe that Galactic Civilizations 2 or 3 should be in there... those twos games both grabbed me for over 200H each... but I'm not a multiplayer guy, and I know there has been some MP pain with this game, so maybe that's why ?

 

[Zaarin]

hmmm... ok must admit that I have both games (ES2 and Stellaris), but it's been years since I've played them... in my mind, ES2 was pretty much real-time, but you could stop play with the space bar whenever you liked and take whatever time you wanted to manage and micro-manage... I MIGHT be mixed up in my memories between the two games...
I remember clearly Stellaris being that way, now you're putting doubt in my mind about ES2... too lazy to re-install and play them

ES2 was my fifth most played game on Steam until Hades pushed it to the sixth slot literally this week so you can take my word for it: ES2 is turn-based.

 

[Thormodr]

Everything looks good other than Scythe which has no business being in this list.

Polytopia has more depth than Scythe.

Dump Scythe and put in Gal Civ. (Pick your iteration.)

Note: I am not saying Polytopia belongs in this list. Fantastic game, though.

 

[Zaarin]

Everything looks good other than Scythe which has no business being in this list.

Polytopia has more depth than Scythe.

The 1920+ world has a great aesthetic, though. I'd love to see someone publish a pen-and-paper RPG in the setting.