My most played game has about 3x as much hours as second-most played, partially because my GF loves it too (it’s the only compure game she’s really enjoyed), and it’s… Factorio.
Those who haven’t played it yet, beware – it’s a trap for engineers. While it kind of has alien battles, R&D, building and all that, it’s all in the end about efficient logistic chains, which you can (but don’t need to) improve by programming
And if that is not enough madness, you can install space exploration, forget your social life and spend hundreds of hours for much lengthened and more complex experience, where some simple programming is kind of a must, I think