4X is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy.
Battlefield is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Swedish company EA DICE and is published by American company Electronic Arts. It started out on Microsoft Windows and OS X with Battlefield 1942, which was released in 2002. The Battlefield series has been played by more than 50 million players worldwide as of August 2012.
Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Double Fine. Broken Age was game director Tim Schafer's first return to the genre since 1998's Grim Fandango, and was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One platforms. The game was developed in two acts; the first was released on January 28, 2014, and the second was released on April 28, 2015. A retail version of the complete game for Windows, macOS, and Linux, published by Nordic Games, was released on April 28, 2015. A Nintendo Switch version was released on September 13, 2018.
FTL: Faster Than Light is a real-time strategy roguelike game created by indie developer Subset Games, which was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux in September 2012. In the game, the player controls the crew of a single spacecraft, holding critical information to be delivered to an allied fleet, while being pursued by a large rebel fleet. The player must guide the spacecraft through eight sectors, each with planetary systems and events procedurally generated in a roguelike fashion, while facing rebel and other hostile forces, recruiting new crew, and outfitting and upgrading their ship. Combat takes place in pausable real time, and if the ship is destroyed or all of its crew lost, the game ends, forcing the player to restart with a new ship.
At the Gates is a 4X strategy video game by Jon Shafer, the lead designer of Civilization V. Like Civilization V, the game is played on a hex map. Players control a barbarian tribe, and their aim is to accelerate the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The map changes with the seasons, and resources are gradually depleted, forcing the players to migrate their tribe.
Chaos Reborn is a turn-based tactical role-playing game developed by Snapshot Games and was part funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in April 2014. Following an early access release in December 2014, the full game was released in October 2015.
StarDrive is a 4X real-time strategy video game by Zero Sum Games, it was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2013. The game was funded through Kickstarter, raising $17,676 in its December 2011 crowdfunding campaign. The player's goal is to dominate the galaxy with one of the eight races through diplomacy and war while developing new technologies, exploring new star systems and colonizing new planets. The game received a mixed critical reception, generating a score of 61/100 on reviews aggregation website Metacritic. Its sequel, StarDrive 2 contrastingly adopts turn-based strategy gameplay and was released in April 2015.
RimWorld is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Canadian-based developer Ludeon Studios. Originally called Eclipse Colony, it was initially released as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in November 2013, and was released on October 17, 2018. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as RimWorld Console Edition on July 29, 2022, with development and publishing being handled by Double Eleven. Rather than a test of skill or a challenge, the game is intended to serve as an AI-powered "story generator", where the game is used as the medium for players to experience narrative adventures. The game has received generally positive reviews from critics.
The Fall is a 2014 action-adventure and side-scrolling platform game by Canadian independent developer Over the Moon. The game was released in May 2014 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux through Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store; released for Wii U through the Nintendo eShop in August 2014; and released for PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Store and for Xbox One through Xbox Live in July 2015. An improved port of the game was released for the Nintendo Switch via Nintendo eShop in May 2018.
Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In Stellaris, players take control of an interstellar civilization on the galactic stage and are tasked with exploring, colonizing, and managing their region of the galaxy, encountering other civilizations that they can then engage in diplomacy, trade, or warfare with. A large part of the game involves dealing with both scripted and emergent events, through which new empires alter the balance of power, powerful crises threaten the galaxy, or event chains tell the story of forgotten empires. It was released worldwide for Windows, macOS, and Linux on May 9, 2016 and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as Stellaris: Console Edition on February 26, 2019.
Convoy is a video game released on April 21, 2015 for Microsoft Windows and Mac, and as Convoy: A Tactical Roguelike on April 8, 2020 for PlayStation 4 under a revised format. The game features pixel art graphics and roguelike squad based tactical combat. In Convoy, the player must scour the wastelands of a desert planet in a defensively outfitted semi-trailer truck for parts to a crashed spaceship. The plot is experienced through interactive text based dialogue, where the player picks responses to written scenarios. The outcome of these scenarios sometimes turns in to tactical combat.
Cosmonautica is a video game that blends aspects of life simulation and space trading. Players take control of a spaceship and crew it with characters, each of which has their own needs and skills. By acquiring credits through missions, players can expand and customize their ship. It was released via early access on PC in 2014, and the retail version was released in July 2015 for Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android.
Surviving Mars is a city building survival video game initially developed by the Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games, and later by Abstraction Games, and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15, 2018. The player serves as an overseer who must build a colony on Mars and ensure the survival of the colonists. A spiritual successor, Surviving the Aftermath, was released in 2021.
Worlds of Magic is a single-player fantasy turn-based 4X strategy game developed by Wastelands Interactive and published for Microsoft Windows in 2015. In late 2015 it received a PS4 and Xbox One ports under the name Worlds of Magic: Planar Conquest; which has been sometimes described as an improved sequel. In 2016 Worlds of Magic: Planar Conquest was also released for PC, iOS and Android as Planar Conquest. In 2020 Planar Conquest was ported to Nintendo Switch.
StarDrive 2 is a 4X video game developed by Zero Sum Games. It is the sequel to StarDrive. Iceberg Interactive released it in 2015.
Star Traders: Frontiers is a hybrid space trading and tactical role-playing game designed by Trese Brothers, a two-man independent video game studio. Players control a spaceship captain in an open world setting.
Infested Planet is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Rocket Bear Games.
