Can’t Afford Civilization VII? Here Are Five Great — And Cheaper — Alternatives

Civilization VII, one of the most anticipated strategy games of all time, is almost here… and it ain’t cheap. The game is $69.99, a Deluxe Edition that includes an upcoming DLC is $99.99, and the so-called Founders Edition, which adds a second future DLC and miscellaneous goodies, is an eye-watering $129.99. And may Sid Meier help you if you’re not in the U.S. market; Canadians, for example, will have to drop 90 bucks on the base game alone.

This, unfortunately, is nothing new for modern gaming, but the cost has fans debating whether they should pull the trigger on Civilization VII now or wait for patches and sales. Luckily, the 4X genre Civilization helped pioneer is now full of great titles that won’t empty your treasury. If you have the ambitions of Napoleon but the budget of a broke college student, here are five cheaper but great strategy games to keep you very, very busy.

5. Humankind

Several recent games have tried to knock Civilization from its throne by reimagining its core concept of guiding humanity from the Stone Age to the stars. Millennia and Ara: History Untold stumbled out of the gate and are still dusting themselves off, but Humankind has had enough time to work out its worst kinks and emerge as an intriguing Civ competitor.

Most notably, Humankind allows you to pivot between cultures. You can, for instance, start as the Olmecs and wind up running Singapore by the time you reach the modern day. It’s a mechanic intriguing enough that Civilization VII was, let’s say, inspired by it, which suggests Humankind is doing something right.

Humankind has some other fun ideas too, like opening during a unique neolithic era, resolving combat with a tactically minded minigame, and giving players a wide variety of goals to pursue. While there are reasons it hasn’t toppled Civ, it’s also 20 bucks cheaper on both PC and consoles.

4. Old World

Some of Civilization VII’s biggest changes were based on data revealing that players finished fewer than half of their Civ VI games. Chief among the reasons empires were orphaned was the fact that advancing through the centuries tended to come with more busywork, which is partially why Old World, and its laser focus on humanity during antiquity, works so well.

Old World has no shortage of complex mechanics, but they all harmonize around the core concept of leading a society like Egypt or Persia through its earliest days. You’ll need to keep powerful aristocratic families happy, navigate the emergence of our oldest religions, and manage relatives who can become powerful agents or incompetent headaches. Every detail, from the many random narrative events to the game’s soundtrack, helps add to its immersive feeling.

Designed by Soren Johnson, who also led the design of Civilization IV, one of Old World’s smartest additions is the option to automatically grant victory if someone gets so far ahead they can’t realistically be caught, which cuts down on the late-game fatigue that ended all those Civ VI runs. All that, and it’s only 40 bucks on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Game Store.

3. Civilization V

You don’t need the newest and shiniest toy to have fun. Asking which is the best Civilization game can prompt wars as large as those the series portrays, but Civilization V represents a middle-ground between modern accessibility, old-school design, and financial realism. It introduced several features now standard to the series, like city-states for players to conquer or woo, a much-needed streamlining of warfare, and, of course, hexagonal tiles instead of square ones. Trust us, it makes a difference.

If you’ve never played a Civ game, Civ V still looks and feels modern enough to make jumping in easy, while only costing $30 on Steam. With 95% of its Steam reviews being positive, it’s actually the most well-regarded of the series. Sure, Civilization VII may have some snazzy new features, but Civ V is still enthralling enough to have you playing just one more turn until 2AM … and it will leave you with plenty of money for your coffee budget afterwards.

2. Endless Legend

Those who prefer their fictional empires to sport elves, orcs, and other fantasy races have several options to choose from, including the excellent Age of Wonders series and a wide variety of Warhammer titles. But Endless Legend, which came out in 2014 and now has a sequel on the way, is arguably the best (and at just 30 dollars, it’s certainly one of the cheapest).

Legends’ fantasy setting allows for some unique touches, like RPG-style quests that take you all around the world in pursuit of victory, and heroes who lead your armies while improving their skills and equipment. These fictional societies can also do all sorts of things that the real ones portrayed in Civilization VII can’t, whether it’s send dragons and undead monstrosities into battle, move their cities around the map on the back of giant beetles, or survive without food. Each race has a unique playstyle, so if you’re tired of recreating human history, mix things up by taking charge of some fae folk.

1. Stellaris

Most Civilization games allow you to achieve victory by being the first to launch a mission to Mars, but what happens after we take to the stars? Civilization itself has explored this question with Civilization: Beyond Earth, two Endless games are set in space, and the venerable Galactic Civilizations series is still chugging along too. But for our money — and yours — the best option may be Stellaris.

Made by Paradox Interactive, a developer infamous for its epic, time-sucking grand strategy games, Stellaris focuses on exploration as much as combat and stands out for the stories that emerge as you journey through its galaxies. Want to create a race of sentient mushroom people who throw off the shackles of their evil overlords? You can do that. Want to take charge of a dolphin-run megacorporation that gets every known race hooked on its products? You can do that too. Or keep things simple and just eat every alien you encounter. You can pick up the base game for $40, or try out its subscription model: $10 gets you a month of access to the game and every piece of DLC released during its nine-year history, which should help you determine if you want to commit further.