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4X
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<p>4X (abbreviation of <i>Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate</i>) is a <a href="/facts/Video_game_genre/yHpBg0aK">subgenre</a> of <a href="/facts/Strategy_game/96bumhg6">strategy-based</a> <a href="/facts/Video_game/vmTdNASJ">computer</a> and <a href="/facts/Board_game/ctkuzWJU">board games</a>, and includes both <a href="/facts/Turn-based_strategy/64zxcRp2">turn-based</a> and <a href="/facts/Real-time_strategy/0xmCAUgz">real-time strategy</a> titles. The <a href="/facts/Gameplay/kGVFkkjx">gameplay</a> generally involves <a href="/facts/Imperialism/JvofndS2">building an empire</a>. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy. </p><p>The earliest 4X games borrowed ideas from <a href="/facts/Board_game/ctkuzWJU">board games</a> and 1970s <a href="/facts/Text-based_user_interface/bngNtqIY">text-based</a> computer games. The first 4X computer games were <a href="/facts/Turns%2c_rounds_and_time-keeping_systems_in_games/1wFkha3F">turn-based</a>, but <a href="/facts/Real-time_strategy/0xmCAUgz">real-time</a> 4X games were also common. Many 4X computer games were published in the mid-1990s, but were later outsold by other types of strategy games. <a href="/facts/Sid_Meier/M7nUTSxK">Sid Meier</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Civilization_(video_game)/DUrIcUAr">Civilization</a></i> is an important example from this formative era, and popularized the level of detail that later became a staple of the genre. In the new millennium, several 4X releases have become critically and commercially successful. </p><p>In the board (and card) game domain, 4X is less of a distinct genre, in part because of the practical constraints of components and playing time. The <i><a href="/facts/Civilization_(1980_board_game)/VT7oKBlq">Civilization</a></i> board game that gave rise to Sid Meier's <i><a href="/facts/Civilization_(series)/bvtfue3u">Civilization</a></i>, for instance, includes neither exploration nor extermination. Unless extermination is targeted at non-player entities, it tends to be either nearly impossible (because of play balance mechanisms, since player elimination is usually considered an undesirable feature) or certainly unachievable (because victory conditions are triggered before extermination can be completed) in board games. </p>