Greatest 4X strategy games ever made

[TechThief]

Stellaris is also a nice one, VERY BIG 4x space game.

[AlphaJohn]

Stellaris is also a nice one, VERY BIG 4x space game.

That game leaves me wanting, then again I am more of a hands on player ala Sins of the Solar Empire

[Graal]

That game leaves me wanting, then again I am more of a hands on player ala Sins of the Solar Empire

Yeah, Stellaris is a bit barebones still. Like most Paradox games it will be better in 2 years when it has 50 gazillion DLCs that you can buy in a bundle on sale.

[Yster]

Yeah, Stellaris is a bit barebones still. Like most Paradox games it will be better in 2 years when it has 50 gazillion DLCs that you can buy in a bundle on sale.

Yeah, I am currently sticking with EU4 for the time being. It's such an incredibly addictive game! Will never play another Civ game because of it.

I have to take exception to the following statement in the article:

4X games are grand-strategy games...

4X games are not Grand Strategy Games. The difference being that in 4X games, the scope is small and you can finish a game in 4-6 hours or so. My first EU4 game took me 40 hours, and my first Stellaris game (still not over) sits at 50 hours. Once you hit "critical mass" in games such as Civ and MOO2, you just faceroll over the AI and win the game. That is not the case in EU4 and Stellaris. There are just too many factors to consider, and if you did over-extend, you will lose all that land/planets in short time as the AI will form a military coalition against your empire, free all the conquered nations and you'll probably have huge rebel uprisings that will crush your armies. I can go on forever, but really, comparing a 4X to a GSG is like comparing high school maths to post-graduate level calculus/algebra/stats.

I also struggle to believe that MOO2 did not make that list. Maybe it was too old for the author to consider it, but any person who has a real interest in 4X games, knows that MOO2 is considered the great grand daddy of all space 4X games. The general opinion nowadays is still that most attempts at space 4X games still haven't managed to capture the same feel that MOO2 has.

[Jamie McKane]

4X games are not Grand Strategy Games.

Yes! Stellaris is a Grand Strategy Game like the majority of Paradox Interactive's strategy titles. People struggle to differentiate between the two however, especially in the case of Stellaris - as it has certain 4X elements in the early game, but later transitions into the usual Grand Strategy gameplay.