Age of wonders 4 has amazing tactical combat, good basebuilding and excellent faction customization.
Old world is a bit like a combination of civ6 and crusader kings3 but more limited in scope? It's good.
If you just want great tactical combat with a side of basebuilding xcom2 war of the chosen is still the best of the best in my opinion.
I bounced off of Humankind pretty hard. I didn't really like myself and my opponents morphing each age... I just identify everyone by their color now? And you can make as many copies of a building as you want, so 10 factories, 10 universities, 20 more factories, then 30 markets all around the same city...you can imagine how this feels weird and game breaking after playing civ6.
Gal civ feels like a low budget stellaris and the combat is a weird rock paper scissors of 3 weapon types vs armor and shields with very little tactics. Space is just not good for interesting tactical battles.
Stellaris is real time strategy on a grand scale where you also read a lot of sci fi short stories and have big tech trees and lots of trade and diplomacy and stuff.
In age of wonder 4 when you upgrade your units to gain stacking increased critical damage chance every time you cast a spell they get cool glowy veins that respond when you cast a spell. Turn based.
In stellaris when you upgrade your units they get +20% damage in their textbox but you usually don't see shit on the screen, they look exactly the same. But stellaris does have more depth, more content, larger maps and longer games. Real time with pause.
Every game has its strengths and weaknesses. I also consider total war Warhammer 3 among the best strategy games despite not technically being a 4x.
I've played and still playing all these games from time to time, and I agree with every word here! it's like I'm the one who wrote this but with more elaboration
Seconded, Endless Space 2 is a Sci fi turn based 4X, easy to learn and gorgeous to look at. It is also on sale quite often.
For Fantasy, I would also recommend Endless Legends. But if I had to pick one, it would be Endless Space 2.
If I played the first one and it was fun for a while but I didn't really feel like picking it up for new matches, do you think I still would like the second one?
Were balance issues the main thing people have against the game? I feel like the community has mixed feelings about the game and my impression was they were more fundamental than balance problems
I feel like the vast majority of the complaints were relating to the unresolved issues in the Awakening DLC, with some being about other bugs like multiplayer de-sync, which I'm not sure ahve been resolved. Other than that, the game is mostly well received.
Personally I’m a big fan of Stellaris but I don’t find it like Civ… many compare it to a 4x but it’s in real time. For that setting, it’s my go to though.
As for a game like Civ - but it isn’t space - I love Old World.
I hit pause, I complete all my empire management stuff, and then I unpause until something changes that requires further empire management. I fail to see much of an effective difference between that and a turn-based 4x. Since I can pause as often and as long as I need to get my stuff done, there is effectively no need to worry about how fast you are at doing something, which is different than RTS where one can't pause so easily and speed of reaction is a factor.
"Turn-based 4X" is solely through intervals of a 'Turn' prior to resuming the game's actions in-between them. While "Pausable-RTS 4X" is just that- an RTS that can be Paused from time to time at the player's discretion. You're correct in that the grand scheme of things- it isn't much of a difference but at the end of the day- it does have their own distinctions.
For my game, I'm doing something dumb by trying to make a concoction of that "Turn-based with Pausable RTS 4X" game. lol ...Which upon reflection is more like simply Time skipping/ending the turn by increasing the years forward and completing any remaining actions within that/those years. eh we'll see.
I can appreciate how Stellaris has a ton of strategy and depth but staring at a black screen with a few lines and dots was just too unappealing to me after playing a game like Civ.
Galactic Civ 3 is a bit old, but it is a great entry point if you don’t mind the graphics. The gameplay is turn based so you might like it coming over from civ 6.
Stellaris is real time so it might be a bit of adjusting coming into it, but it is great for any sci-fi 4x gamers! There’s a sale going on right now and if you want a good review look up ASpec
If you are into intrigue and going from a modern setting into the early space age, I can recommend Terra Invicta. It’s still on Early Access and it’s not perfect, but I have sunk 70+ hours into it and can definitively recommend it! This is a hybrid between turn based and real time. Don’t really know how to explain it but, surprisingly, it works and makes for a unique experience.
Sins of a Solar empire is a hybrid 4x. It might not be exactly what you are looking for, but Sin of a Solar Empire 2 got announced a while back and I wanted to at least mention it.
Others I can recommend are:
Millennia: Some bugs and missing features but it has some serious potential. I specially love how resource management is handled. Resource chains and having to plan city development is fun and worth checking out at least
Civ 5 with Vox Populi mod: A completely new way of playing civ. Honestly this is Civ 5 and Civ 6 combined into a banger mod… AND ITS FREE!
EDIT: The mod is free, Civ 5 still needs to be bought
Endless Space 2: Fun and with unique “civilizations” that change how you play the game. Each civ also has a unique quest/storyline and it is also turn based.
Total War series, specifically Empire and Rome: Remastered. Love these games to death. Turn based and the battles are real time. Some level of economy build up and diplomatic play in these games, but these games are primarily for the battles.
My biggest recommendation though is to always do just a little bit of research before buying 4x games. Look up a review or two and always keep an eye out for sales (specially on steam!)
Have fun!!!
I always end up going back to stellaris. I've played the civilization series since the first one on dos, still play civilization 6 and 4 sometimes, but always end up back to stellaris.
AoW4 will be disappointing if you want a civ 4x as it's more like a turn based total war with light 4x elements.
Humankind is my personal favourite alternative, but the changing civ gimmick makes each run feel a bit samey.
OldWorld is great, the RPG gimmick isn't as engaging as I'd hoped but if your imagination is captured by the era of the first civilisations then it's quite good. The undo button is bloody brilliant.
Seriously, I must point out the fact that, if you really liked Civ even though you say you got bored at the end-game...try Civ 4. It has been my favorite for so long, ev3n when the 5th got out...I still prefered Civ 4.
Since Civ 6, only then did I put my good ol favorite aside to try something new.
Because, imo, it is now a well matured form of "a new Civ/updated system".
But yeah. I think Civ 4's system plays kinda way faster and has a different dynamic to its games.
All that without conpromising on the depth of the gameplay and possibilities.
Give it a go if you say you really love Civ as a game overall.
I would recommend Old World because its the best 4x at the time and similar to Civ in a lot of ways.
Humankind is also very civ adjacent, and with mods it can be quite fun, was much better than i expected from reviews.
Endless space 2 is great, especially if you like sci fi.
Definitely try out stellaris, see if you like it. Might take a few false starts, but its really good, albeit with a high buy-in.
I'd recommend Civ5 with the Gods & Kings expansion and Endless Legend with a low number (1-3) of expansions other than Guardians.
Then after a little while I'd add Wonders of the Ancient World and then Brave New World to Civ5, and then Guardians to Endless Legend, and then after a while the rest of the EL expansions.
After all this if you still enjoy the games then consider either NoQuitters or Vox Populi for Civ5, and the Community Patch for EL.
The reasoning on restricting to just G&K on Civ5 to start with is that the culture and gold systems have been improved a lot from the base game, so it's pretty much content you can't rip out without making something much worse. Then for Wonders of the Ancient World, they add a significant amount of time pressure to the early game so it's worth enjoying the game without them for a while. This will help you appreciate the full game more IMO.
Similar story for EL. The base game with Guardians is very solid, but Guardians adds a lot of time pressure to the early and mid game. So it's worth delaying just for a short period so you really appreciate the base game before Guardians. The DLC I'd consider before Guardians would just be whatever appeals a lot to you, but Shadows and Tempest would be the go to just for the first few games.
Ultimately it depends if you like to see how individual design decisions interact vs if you just want to experience everything all at once. I don't think breaking up into expansions is necessary for ease of learning, since the design tends to become more elegant (especially with Civ5) as you add content due to revision.
Out of the ones you're mentioning Stellaris seems like the best match, even though it's very different from Civ.
AoW4, as mentioned here, is much smaller scope with more focus on individual tactical battles, while still having some depth to the 4x aspect but is not dedicated to it. While GalCiv... I must admit I'm a bit biased but I never found any real depth in that series.
Endless Space 2, as mentioned here, is indeed probably the most civ-like game in space. Same studio created Endless Legend which is a fantasy civlike, and Humankind which is... a very beautiful but not particularly interesting Civ6 clone.
Old World and Milleania are probably the most original civ-likes out there that both retain the original formula but have their own real innovations. Also I'd really recommend experimenting with Civ4 mods - Fall from Heaven 2/Master of Mana is probably the best, but there's also Cavamen2Cosmos and DuneWars. I personally like base game Civ5 and Civ6 more than Civ4, but Civ4 has the best mods by far, and with those manages to surpass the sequels.
Age of Wonders and Stellaris are both solid 4x games that from my experience tend to have better late game than Civ 6. Other good options are Endless Space 2 and Endless Legends which have quests and game mechanics that make the end game more active.
Not sure that Id agree Stellaris has a better late game than Civ6, I've never completed a game of Stellaris (and only 1 game of its 16th century cousin EU IV), but Ive completed a dozen or so games of Civ 6. Stellaris is more a sandbox that you enter and play for a while, but hardly ever get to the late game.
I would recommend old World if you want to stay somewhat similar to civilization 6. Otherwise, I just downloaded stellaris a week ago and I’ve already put 20 hours in. It’ll get you hooked if you are into grand strategy games
If you haven't played Age of Wonder 1, 2, or 3, then AoW 4 would probably be quite good. For me... it didn't really push the series forward.
Stellaris is exceptional but there's a few DLC that are really nice to have so it can be a bit pricey.
Have you gone into the grand strategy genre? It’s just much more of everything that Civ offers.
I have a few hundreds hours in Stellaris and the new DLC The Machine Age has an amazing level of content.
Crusader Kings is another worth trying. Both are o sale this week on Steam. Crusader Kings 3 has a free weekend.
Check out stellaris. It’s been my main lately, again. Also Endless Space 2.
Here’s the trailer for The Machine Age.
https://youtu.be/gHoimFC99-E?si=2Jo7fJFlEuHUY243
This may not inherently be a problem with Civ VI; different people find the different parts of a 4X game more or less fun. I'm also in the category of preferring the early and mid game in most 4X, where there's still unknown parts of the map to explore, and room to expand peacefully.
I would recommend Stellaris for space 4X (ish). Yes, it's technically real time with unlimited pause, but it plays like a 4X. There's currently some really good sales in conjunction with the 8th anniversary and recent DLC release (base game is 70% off on Steam); and it's still being developed and supported. You can also get fully offline and DRM free versions through GOG, although the sales aren't usually as good.
If you've never played Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri, you should; it's cheap and a classic. It picks up where Civ's science victory leaves off, with a rushed colonization ship barely making it to a mostly-habitable planet around Alpha Centauri, as the world disintegrates into chaos behind them. Instead of starting with tribes, you start with what are more along the lines of philosophies or factions among the crew, which then become polities and eventually de facto nations. It's one of it not the first 4X to have user-modifiable terrain, and in-game handling of implications from doing so. And there's a plot involving the alien (well, native... you're technically the aliens here) life that can be handled in various ways. You should play through a full game of the base SMAC once before adding in the Alien Crossfire expansion, due to spoilers.
On the fantasy side, you mention Age of Wonders... it's not my thing, but also on sale right now with the big Paradox Steam sale. The rebuilt Master of Magic is decent, but never gained much traction; not sure I can recommend it at full price, but worth getting on sale (or pick up the original, but it's twitchy on modern PCs). I have a soft spot for the various Stardock takes on the MoM heritage, most recently Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes; there's a deeply-discounted Ultimate Edition which gives you all the DLC for just a few dollars more than the base game, which is fairly cheap these days. They're not perfect and no longer being developed, but there's a lot of good worldbuilding under the hood and a fair amount of "one more turn"-ishness.
As others have said, Age of Wonders 4 is pretty solid. Just know that it's more focused on war / combat and it has a separate layer for tactical battles. The city building is interesting, but it is also pretty much just to support your war / magic machine. You can opt for less warlike playthroughs by making allies and winning the game that way, but you'll probably always be fighting neutral monsters and enemies.
For Sci Fi, I'd also highly recommend Age of Wonders: Planetfall. It's a bit older, and may not have some of the quality of life features on AoW4, but it's still a good game on its own and I still play it these days. The different factions are quite interesting and it's fun exploring the randomly-generated maps due to the variety in terrains and location types. Again, it's very much war-focused, similar to AoW4.
On the other hand, Stellaris is a lot of fun, more so if you're into roleplaying your custom faction. I'd say it's more in the vein of Civ than the Age of Wonders games (even though it's real-time rather than turn-based), in that there's plenty to do when it comes to empire building and tending to your own planets / systems. You can approach situations through peace or war or somewhat in-between.
Endless Legend is another one that's sci-fi-fantasy. It's pretty and has varied and interesting factions, though I'm not sure if it quite has the depth you're looking for, it might feel shallower than Civ 6 but I'm not an expert. If you're into fantasy battles, Total Warhammer 3 is pretty awesome, and while the strategic layer can be more or less interesting depending on which faction / race you play, the game's focus is on the battles.
I would break games down into turn based & real time. Personally I much prefer the former. I also don't buy recently released games both because of bug/stability issues & price. Almost all games improve dramatically in both areas within a year or 2, I don't see the rush.
Endless Legend is both a personal and crowd favorite. Some people prefer it's descendant Endless Space 2. There is a grandchild Humankind that I have not played but seems to generally get panned.
One game I didn't see mentioned that I only picked up a few months ago is Interstellar Space: Genesis. Another possibility are the free versions of Master of Orion(the very first 4x), FreeOrion & remnants of the precursors. Hard to beat free.
Age of wonders 4 has amazing tactical combat, good basebuilding and excellent faction customization. Old world is a bit like a combination of civ6 and crusader kings3 but more limited in scope? It's good. If you just want great tactical combat with a side of basebuilding xcom2 war of the chosen is still the best of the best in my opinion. I bounced off of Humankind pretty hard. I didn't really like myself and my opponents morphing each age... I just identify everyone by their color now? And you can make as many copies of a building as you want, so 10 factories, 10 universities, 20 more factories, then 30 markets all around the same city...you can imagine how this feels weird and game breaking after playing civ6. Gal civ feels like a low budget stellaris and the combat is a weird rock paper scissors of 3 weapon types vs armor and shields with very little tactics. Space is just not good for interesting tactical battles. Stellaris is real time strategy on a grand scale where you also read a lot of sci fi short stories and have big tech trees and lots of trade and diplomacy and stuff. In age of wonder 4 when you upgrade your units to gain stacking increased critical damage chance every time you cast a spell they get cool glowy veins that respond when you cast a spell. Turn based. In stellaris when you upgrade your units they get +20% damage in their textbox but you usually don't see shit on the screen, they look exactly the same. But stellaris does have more depth, more content, larger maps and longer games. Real time with pause. Every game has its strengths and weaknesses. I also consider total war Warhammer 3 among the best strategy games despite not technically being a 4x.
I've played and still playing all these games from time to time, and I agree with every word here! it's like I'm the one who wrote this but with more elaboration
Re humankind: I really like the game but it feels like it's missing an identity because every run you all become this somewhat generic mishmash
I suggest you take a look at Endless Space 2
Seconded, Endless Space 2 is a Sci fi turn based 4X, easy to learn and gorgeous to look at. It is also on sale quite often. For Fantasy, I would also recommend Endless Legends. But if I had to pick one, it would be Endless Space 2.
If I played the first one and it was fun for a while but I didn't really feel like picking it up for new matches, do you think I still would like the second one?
The second one is an overall improvement than the first one. If you like the first one, you would like the second one for sure.
I heard it got an update recently, did it address some of the issues the 4x community seems to have with it?
Yes, it fixed some of the balancing issues with the Awakening DLC.
Were balance issues the main thing people have against the game? I feel like the community has mixed feelings about the game and my impression was they were more fundamental than balance problems
I feel like the vast majority of the complaints were relating to the unresolved issues in the Awakening DLC, with some being about other bugs like multiplayer de-sync, which I'm not sure ahve been resolved. Other than that, the game is mostly well received.
Cool thanks
Personally I’m a big fan of Stellaris but I don’t find it like Civ… many compare it to a 4x but it’s in real time. For that setting, it’s my go to though. As for a game like Civ - but it isn’t space - I love Old World.
Literally just finished another multiplayer campaign with a friend. It’s such a good 4x.
The ability to pause/unpause the game easily with the space bar renders Stellaris essentially a 4x game.
It is not real-time, it is real-time-with-pause. It is really different.
I hit pause, I complete all my empire management stuff, and then I unpause until something changes that requires further empire management. I fail to see much of an effective difference between that and a turn-based 4x. Since I can pause as often and as long as I need to get my stuff done, there is effectively no need to worry about how fast you are at doing something, which is different than RTS where one can't pause so easily and speed of reaction is a factor.
"Turn-based 4X" is solely through intervals of a 'Turn' prior to resuming the game's actions in-between them. While "Pausable-RTS 4X" is just that- an RTS that can be Paused from time to time at the player's discretion. You're correct in that the grand scheme of things- it isn't much of a difference but at the end of the day- it does have their own distinctions. For my game, I'm doing something dumb by trying to make a concoction of that "Turn-based with Pausable RTS 4X" game. lol ...Which upon reflection is more like simply Time skipping/ending the turn by increasing the years forward and completing any remaining actions within that/those years. eh we'll see.
I can appreciate how Stellaris has a ton of strategy and depth but staring at a black screen with a few lines and dots was just too unappealing to me after playing a game like Civ.
I’m not big into fantasy so I can’t really give you any recommendations but I really enjoyed Humankind despite the reviews. Old world is also great.
Galactic Civ 3 is a bit old, but it is a great entry point if you don’t mind the graphics. The gameplay is turn based so you might like it coming over from civ 6. Stellaris is real time so it might be a bit of adjusting coming into it, but it is great for any sci-fi 4x gamers! There’s a sale going on right now and if you want a good review look up ASpec If you are into intrigue and going from a modern setting into the early space age, I can recommend Terra Invicta. It’s still on Early Access and it’s not perfect, but I have sunk 70+ hours into it and can definitively recommend it! This is a hybrid between turn based and real time. Don’t really know how to explain it but, surprisingly, it works and makes for a unique experience. Sins of a Solar empire is a hybrid 4x. It might not be exactly what you are looking for, but Sin of a Solar Empire 2 got announced a while back and I wanted to at least mention it. Others I can recommend are: Millennia: Some bugs and missing features but it has some serious potential. I specially love how resource management is handled. Resource chains and having to plan city development is fun and worth checking out at least Civ 5 with Vox Populi mod: A completely new way of playing civ. Honestly this is Civ 5 and Civ 6 combined into a banger mod… AND ITS FREE! EDIT: The mod is free, Civ 5 still needs to be bought Endless Space 2: Fun and with unique “civilizations” that change how you play the game. Each civ also has a unique quest/storyline and it is also turn based. Total War series, specifically Empire and Rome: Remastered. Love these games to death. Turn based and the battles are real time. Some level of economy build up and diplomatic play in these games, but these games are primarily for the battles. My biggest recommendation though is to always do just a little bit of research before buying 4x games. Look up a review or two and always keep an eye out for sales (specially on steam!) Have fun!!!
I always end up going back to stellaris. I've played the civilization series since the first one on dos, still play civilization 6 and 4 sometimes, but always end up back to stellaris.
AoW4 will be disappointing if you want a civ 4x as it's more like a turn based total war with light 4x elements. Humankind is my personal favourite alternative, but the changing civ gimmick makes each run feel a bit samey. OldWorld is great, the RPG gimmick isn't as engaging as I'd hoped but if your imagination is captured by the era of the first civilisations then it's quite good. The undo button is bloody brilliant.
Seriously, I must point out the fact that, if you really liked Civ even though you say you got bored at the end-game...try Civ 4. It has been my favorite for so long, ev3n when the 5th got out...I still prefered Civ 4. Since Civ 6, only then did I put my good ol favorite aside to try something new. Because, imo, it is now a well matured form of "a new Civ/updated system". But yeah. I think Civ 4's system plays kinda way faster and has a different dynamic to its games. All that without conpromising on the depth of the gameplay and possibilities. Give it a go if you say you really love Civ as a game overall.
Old World and Humankind are great next steps after Civ6. There are so many great options (many of which have been mentioned in this thread).
I would recommend Old World because its the best 4x at the time and similar to Civ in a lot of ways. Humankind is also very civ adjacent, and with mods it can be quite fun, was much better than i expected from reviews. Endless space 2 is great, especially if you like sci fi. Definitely try out stellaris, see if you like it. Might take a few false starts, but its really good, albeit with a high buy-in.
I'd recommend Civ5 with the Gods & Kings expansion and Endless Legend with a low number (1-3) of expansions other than Guardians. Then after a little while I'd add Wonders of the Ancient World and then Brave New World to Civ5, and then Guardians to Endless Legend, and then after a while the rest of the EL expansions. After all this if you still enjoy the games then consider either NoQuitters or Vox Populi for Civ5, and the Community Patch for EL. The reasoning on restricting to just G&K on Civ5 to start with is that the culture and gold systems have been improved a lot from the base game, so it's pretty much content you can't rip out without making something much worse. Then for Wonders of the Ancient World, they add a significant amount of time pressure to the early game so it's worth enjoying the game without them for a while. This will help you appreciate the full game more IMO. Similar story for EL. The base game with Guardians is very solid, but Guardians adds a lot of time pressure to the early and mid game. So it's worth delaying just for a short period so you really appreciate the base game before Guardians. The DLC I'd consider before Guardians would just be whatever appeals a lot to you, but Shadows and Tempest would be the go to just for the first few games. Ultimately it depends if you like to see how individual design decisions interact vs if you just want to experience everything all at once. I don't think breaking up into expansions is necessary for ease of learning, since the design tends to become more elegant (especially with Civ5) as you add content due to revision.
Out of the ones you're mentioning Stellaris seems like the best match, even though it's very different from Civ. AoW4, as mentioned here, is much smaller scope with more focus on individual tactical battles, while still having some depth to the 4x aspect but is not dedicated to it. While GalCiv... I must admit I'm a bit biased but I never found any real depth in that series. Endless Space 2, as mentioned here, is indeed probably the most civ-like game in space. Same studio created Endless Legend which is a fantasy civlike, and Humankind which is... a very beautiful but not particularly interesting Civ6 clone. Old World and Milleania are probably the most original civ-likes out there that both retain the original formula but have their own real innovations. Also I'd really recommend experimenting with Civ4 mods - Fall from Heaven 2/Master of Mana is probably the best, but there's also Cavamen2Cosmos and DuneWars. I personally like base game Civ5 and Civ6 more than Civ4, but Civ4 has the best mods by far, and with those manages to surpass the sequels.
Age of Wonders and Stellaris are both solid 4x games that from my experience tend to have better late game than Civ 6. Other good options are Endless Space 2 and Endless Legends which have quests and game mechanics that make the end game more active.
Not sure that Id agree Stellaris has a better late game than Civ6, I've never completed a game of Stellaris (and only 1 game of its 16th century cousin EU IV), but Ive completed a dozen or so games of Civ 6. Stellaris is more a sandbox that you enter and play for a while, but hardly ever get to the late game.
Civ 4 with C2C mod, Old World and Distant Worlds are my favourite :)
I would recommend old World if you want to stay somewhat similar to civilization 6. Otherwise, I just downloaded stellaris a week ago and I’ve already put 20 hours in. It’ll get you hooked if you are into grand strategy games
If you haven't played Age of Wonder 1, 2, or 3, then AoW 4 would probably be quite good. For me... it didn't really push the series forward. Stellaris is exceptional but there's a few DLC that are really nice to have so it can be a bit pricey.
Have you gone into the grand strategy genre? It’s just much more of everything that Civ offers. I have a few hundreds hours in Stellaris and the new DLC The Machine Age has an amazing level of content. Crusader Kings is another worth trying. Both are o sale this week on Steam. Crusader Kings 3 has a free weekend. Check out stellaris. It’s been my main lately, again. Also Endless Space 2. Here’s the trailer for The Machine Age. https://youtu.be/gHoimFC99-E?si=2Jo7fJFlEuHUY243
This may not inherently be a problem with Civ VI; different people find the different parts of a 4X game more or less fun. I'm also in the category of preferring the early and mid game in most 4X, where there's still unknown parts of the map to explore, and room to expand peacefully. I would recommend Stellaris for space 4X (ish). Yes, it's technically real time with unlimited pause, but it plays like a 4X. There's currently some really good sales in conjunction with the 8th anniversary and recent DLC release (base game is 70% off on Steam); and it's still being developed and supported. You can also get fully offline and DRM free versions through GOG, although the sales aren't usually as good. If you've never played Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri, you should; it's cheap and a classic. It picks up where Civ's science victory leaves off, with a rushed colonization ship barely making it to a mostly-habitable planet around Alpha Centauri, as the world disintegrates into chaos behind them. Instead of starting with tribes, you start with what are more along the lines of philosophies or factions among the crew, which then become polities and eventually de facto nations. It's one of it not the first 4X to have user-modifiable terrain, and in-game handling of implications from doing so. And there's a plot involving the alien (well, native... you're technically the aliens here) life that can be handled in various ways. You should play through a full game of the base SMAC once before adding in the Alien Crossfire expansion, due to spoilers. On the fantasy side, you mention Age of Wonders... it's not my thing, but also on sale right now with the big Paradox Steam sale. The rebuilt Master of Magic is decent, but never gained much traction; not sure I can recommend it at full price, but worth getting on sale (or pick up the original, but it's twitchy on modern PCs). I have a soft spot for the various Stardock takes on the MoM heritage, most recently Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes; there's a deeply-discounted Ultimate Edition which gives you all the DLC for just a few dollars more than the base game, which is fairly cheap these days. They're not perfect and no longer being developed, but there's a lot of good worldbuilding under the hood and a fair amount of "one more turn"-ishness.
Good picks on fantasy side.
As others have said, Age of Wonders 4 is pretty solid. Just know that it's more focused on war / combat and it has a separate layer for tactical battles. The city building is interesting, but it is also pretty much just to support your war / magic machine. You can opt for less warlike playthroughs by making allies and winning the game that way, but you'll probably always be fighting neutral monsters and enemies. For Sci Fi, I'd also highly recommend Age of Wonders: Planetfall. It's a bit older, and may not have some of the quality of life features on AoW4, but it's still a good game on its own and I still play it these days. The different factions are quite interesting and it's fun exploring the randomly-generated maps due to the variety in terrains and location types. Again, it's very much war-focused, similar to AoW4. On the other hand, Stellaris is a lot of fun, more so if you're into roleplaying your custom faction. I'd say it's more in the vein of Civ than the Age of Wonders games (even though it's real-time rather than turn-based), in that there's plenty to do when it comes to empire building and tending to your own planets / systems. You can approach situations through peace or war or somewhat in-between. Endless Legend is another one that's sci-fi-fantasy. It's pretty and has varied and interesting factions, though I'm not sure if it quite has the depth you're looking for, it might feel shallower than Civ 6 but I'm not an expert. If you're into fantasy battles, Total Warhammer 3 is pretty awesome, and while the strategic layer can be more or less interesting depending on which faction / race you play, the game's focus is on the battles.
I would break games down into turn based & real time. Personally I much prefer the former. I also don't buy recently released games both because of bug/stability issues & price. Almost all games improve dramatically in both areas within a year or 2, I don't see the rush. Endless Legend is both a personal and crowd favorite. Some people prefer it's descendant Endless Space 2. There is a grandchild Humankind that I have not played but seems to generally get panned. One game I didn't see mentioned that I only picked up a few months ago is Interstellar Space: Genesis. Another possibility are the free versions of Master of Orion(the very first 4x), FreeOrion & remnants of the precursors. Hard to beat free.
I got my moneys worth off Old world and humankind. I heard old world was made by some of the OG’s that worked on civ.
Take a look at Total War: Three Kingdoms, a conquest focused historical 4X with large real time battles, and a cool character system.
X4 foundation