4X games

4X games are an expanding family of games that are linked through 4 categories of gameplay that are all crucial elements to the game. User toerck summarises the four elements that make a 4X game here:

• Explore means players send scouts across a map to reveal surrounding territories.
• Expand means players claim new territory by creating new settlements, or sometimes by extending the influence of existing settlements.
• Exploit means players gather and use resources in areas they control, and improve the efficiency of that usage.
• Exterminate means attacking and eliminating rival players. Since all territory is eventually claimed, eliminating a rival's presence can be the only way to achieve further expansion.