Strategy
4X strategy
Strategy games built on four actions: explore, expand, exploit and exterminate, played over long stretches against rivals.
Also called: 4x, 4x game, explore expand exploit exterminate, empire builder, kingdom builder
What defines it
- A base or empire that you build up over weeks.
- Armies, heroes and resource gathering.
- Alliances with other players, with shared goals and rivalries.
- Timers for building and research, and events that run for set periods.
The four X words describe the classic shape of the type: look around the map, claim territory, put it to work, and defeat rivals. Mobile versions add alliances and real-time clocks.
Many mobile 4X games are closer to base-building strategy than the original desktop 4X games. The name is used loosely.
Well-known 4x strategy games
Curated by hand. Games in the Gamedexy library come first, with their screens and flows; the rest follow A to Z. This is not a ranking and says nothing about sales or player counts.
- Frost WorldScreens and flows in the Gamedexy library
- Last AsylumScreens and flows in the Gamedexy library
- Evony: The King's ReturnGoogle Play listing
- Rise of KingdomsGoogle Play listing
- State of SurvivalGoogle Play listing
- The Battle of PolytopiaGoogle Play listing
- Whiteout SurvivalGoogle Play listing
