4X: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate
4x stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate. Players of these games control a whole empire by managing resources and technical developments (eXploit), expanding their domains (eXplore and eXpand), and fighting against the computer or other players (eXterminate). Among the most popular 4x games are Civilization and Master of Orion.
Most popular 4x games
Sort by:
Alien Legacy
DOS1994 Ybarra Productions
Alien Legacy (1994) is like SimCity crashed into Star Trek and nobody called the insurance company. It’s a real-time strategy/simulation game that has you managing a colony in deep space while solving the mystery of what hap...
Alpha Centauri
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1999protected Firaxis Games
Sid Meier took one look at Earth and said, “Let’s leave this dump.” Thus, Alpha Centauri (1999, Windows XP) was born - a 4X strategy game that takes Civilization to space, then adds philosophy, moral dilemmas, an...
Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021
DOS1987freeware Thinking Machine Associates
Welcome to the future, where space empires are managed entirely via text and colored dots. Anacreon puts you in charge of an interstellar civilization and lets you conquer galaxies with the graphical intensity of an Excel spreadsh...
Armada 2525
DOS1991
Armada 2525 is what happens when a spreadsheet decides it wants to conquer the galaxy. This is classic 4X strategy with all the bells, whistles, and menus your early '90s heart could desire. You’ll build colonies, research t...
Ascendancy
DOS1995 The Logic Factory
Ascendancy is the friendlier, trippier cousin of Master of Orion. It’s 4X strategy in space, with bizarre alien races, psychedelic menus, and a soundtrack that sounds like it was composed by a stoned dolphin. The early game ...
Centurion: Defender of Rome
DOS1990 Bits of magic
Rome wasn’t built in a day—but you’ll conquer it in one afternoon. Centurion (1990) lets you play as a Roman commander with delusions of grandeur and a thing for elephants. From Senate politics to gladiator games...
Civilization
DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1991 MicroProse Software
Sid Meier’s Civilization is the game that tricked an entire generation into loving history, city planning, and the occasional world domination. Starting with a tribe of stick-wielding settlers, you gradually evolve into a nu...
Civilization 2
Windows XP/98/951996 MicroProse Software
Civilization II is a turn-based strategy game developed by MicroProse and released in 1996. It's the second installment in the "Civilization" series, created by Sid Meier. The game builds upon the concept of its predecessor, Civil...
Civilization II: Test of Time
Windows XP/98/951999remake Atari
Test of Time is what happens when Civilization II meets a Star Trek convention. This version takes the classic formula and adds space colonization, fantasy realms, and weird alien races. It’s like someone spiked the dev team...
Colonization
DOSWindows 3.xLinuxMac OS1994protected MicroProse Software
Sid Meier's Colonization is Civilization’s scrappy, historically charged cousin. You start with a tiny ship and a dream: exploit the New World before the other European powers do. Grow crops, trade with natives, rebel agains...
Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition)
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protected Quicksilver Software
Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition) invites you to discover new lands, build colonies, and occasionally “accidentally” wipe out entire civilizations while smiling politely. It’s part strategy game, part hi...
Deadlock: Planetary Conquest
Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1996protected Accolade
Emperor of the Fading Suns
Windows XP/98/951996 Holistic Design
Imperium
DOS1990 Electronic Arts
Iron Seed
DOS1994freeware
Master of Magic
DOSWindows XP/98/951994protected SimTex
Master of Magic is a turn based 4x strategy game developed by SimTex and published by the well know Microprose, very similar to Civilization, with a fantasy twist. You play as a wizard and your objective is to evolve your race fro...
Master of Orion
DOS1993protected SimTex
Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protected SimTex
Master of Orion II is a 4X turn-based sci-fi strategy game set in space. Master of Orion 2 gives the player an empire to run by controlling food and production, managing economy and researching new technology. The player can wage ...
Master of Orion 3
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2003protected Quicksilver Software
Reach for the Stars
DOS1988 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Sid Meier's CivNet
Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995 MicroProse Software
CivNet is a multiplayer adaptation of the original Sid Meier's Civilization game, released in 1995. It was developed and published by MicroProse for MS-DOS and Windows. This version of Civilization brought networked multiplayer ga...
Spaceward Ho!
Windows 3.xDOS1992 Delta Tao Software
With a name that sounds like an interstellar pirate greeting, Spaceward Ho! is actually a strategic space colonization game, not an intergalactic dating sim. It's got a simple interface, a surprisingly deep economy, and enough "ju...
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
Windows XP/98/951999 MicroProse Software
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation is a turn-based strategy video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by MicroProse Software and published by Infogrames for Windows in 1999. Players take on the role of ...
Stellar Crusade
DOS1988protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Sword of Aragon
DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Warlords
DOS1990 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 2
DOS1993 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 2 Deluxe
DOS1995 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes
Windows XP/98/951997 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is an abandoned turn-based fantasy strategy game designed by Steve Fawkner, developed by SSG Strategic Studies Group and released by Red Orb Entertainment in 1997 for Windows. Warlords 3: Reign of Heroe...
- 1