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4X is a genre of strategy-based games in which players control an empire and "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate". Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of non-military routes to supremacy. Games can take a long time to complete since the amount of micromanagement needed to sustain an empire increases as the empire grows.

Games that typically contain a large world that you are free to explore in any order you like. Completing objects may open up new areas or change how previous areas functioned.