Best Value Difficult Games Under $40
The Difficult games on Steam games under $40 that deliver the most playtime per dollar: median reviewer hours divided by current price.
All Indie Action Adventure Simulation RPG Strategy Co-op Open World Story Rich Casual Funny Survival Difficult Pixel Graphics PvP Horror Anime Puzzle Rogue-like Relaxing Turn-Based Strategy Local Co-Op Psychological Horror Hack and Slash Platformer MMO RTS Immersive Sim Post-apocalyptic Action Roguelike City Builder Life Sim Zombies Sports Racing Survival Horror Stealth Bullet Hell Dungeon Crawler Visual Novel JRPG Deckbuilding Grand Strategy Cyberpunk Tower Defense Clicker Fighting Open World Survival Craft Boomer Shooter Colony Sim Farming Sim Cozy Auto Battler Cooking Twin Stick Shooter Metroidvania 4X Souls-like Dating Sim MMORPG
By price
Price divided by median reviewer playtime — how much you pay per hour of gameplay. Lower is better. Reviewers tend to sink more hours in than the average owner, so treat this as an optimistic estimate. Free games are excluded because there's no price to divide by.
- 1Hunt: Showdown 1896$0.03/1hr393h74.12%73.71%
- 2GemCraft - Chasing Shadows$0.03/1hr64h88.32%94.92%
- 3FTL: Faster Than Light$0.04/1hr46h93.99%95.09%
- 4Monster Hunter: World$0.06/1hr124h88.73%88.80%
- 5Geometry Dash$0.06/1hr79h92.88%93.00%
- 6Hero Siege$0.07/1hr116h70.29%67.14%
- 7Dead by Daylight$0.07/1hr274h78.38%78.31%
- 8The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth$0.07/1hr203h96.60%96.85%
- 9Wall World$0.08/1hr14h88.28%90.56%
- 10Rock 'N' Roll Defense$0.10/1hr5h85.89%87.11%
- 11Monster Sanctuary$0.10/1hr49h88.65%91.21%
- 12Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen$0.10/1hr46h87.90%88.42%
- 13Elite Dangerous$0.11/1hr185h77.97%77.28%
- 14UBERMOSH$0.11/1hr5h88.78%92.49%
- 15UnderRail$0.11/1hr130h85.33%86.10%
- 16Bean Battles$0.12/1hr9h89.69%93.82%
- 17Soccer Online: Ball 3D$0.12/1hr4h84.94%84.40%
- 18Oxygen Not Included$0.12/1hr212h95.98%96.72%
- 19Curse of the Dead Gods$0.12/1hr32h84.14%83.45%
- 20Serious Sam Fusion 2017 (beta)$0.14/1hr11h88.07%92.74%
- 21Subsistence$0.14/1hr99h77.65%72.08%
- 22Slay the Spire$0.14/1hr44h96.93%97.46%
- 23FlatOut$0.14/1hr11h87.66%91.13%
- 24Tales of Maj'Eyal$0.14/1hr49h89.27%94.47%
- 25Nioh: Complete Edition$0.15/1hr52h80.27%78.97%
- 26Bloons TD 6$0.16/1hr87h96.89%97.18%
- 27Valheim$0.18/1hr165h93.74%93.89%
- 28Resident Evil 4 (2005)$0.19/1hr27h93.37%94.18%
- 29100% Orange Juice$0.19/1hr9h89.61%91.03%
- 30Planes, Bullets and Vodka$0.20/1hr5h85.34%85.12%
- 31Laika: Aged Through Blood$0.20/1hr25h87.86%91.53%
- 32Elin$0.20/1hr99h89.22%93.36%
- 33Across the Obelisk$0.21/1hr97h82.47%80.24%
- 34Don't Starve Together$0.21/1hr73h94.74%94.91%
- 35Muse Dash$0.21/1hr14h91.03%91.50%
- 36Frostpunk$0.21/1hr29h92.24%92.74%
- 37Insurgency: Sandstorm$0.22/1hr28h84.81%84.77%
- 38Party Hard$0.22/1hr9h87.78%90.15%
- 39Motorsport Manager$0.23/1hr86h89.06%91.68%
- 40Tiny Rogues$0.23/1hr43h90.94%96.09%
- 41X-Morph: Defense$0.24/1hr8h87.16%91.31%
- 42Dungreed$0.24/1hr42h89.27%93.30%
- 43Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander$0.25/1hr81h90.38%94.30%
- 44Darkest Dungeon$0.25/1hr101h91.29%91.65%
- 45Ostranauts$0.25/1hr80h83.35%77.27%
- 46BATTLETECH$0.26/1hr154h84.30%83.99%
- 47Resident Evil$0.26/1hr19h90.70%92.32%
- 48HELLDIVERS 2$0.27/1hr151h75.65%75.56%
- 49Rain World$0.27/1hr32h92.46%93.70%
- 50Hollow Knight$0.27/1hr55h96.71%96.92%
- 51The Binding of Isaac$0.28/1hr18h93.34%94.62%
- 52Stoneshard$0.28/1hr89h77.02%74.69%
- 53XCOM: Enemy Unknown$0.28/1hr53h92.06%93.20%
- 54Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight$0.29/1hr7h89.61%93.13%
- 55The Long Dark$0.29/1hr69h88.63%88.90%
- 56Valfaris$0.30/1hr8h84.75%82.40%
- 57RUINER$0.30/1hr7h87.42%88.98%
- 58They Are Billions$0.30/1hr98h85.16%85.13%
- 59Library Of Ruina$0.31/1hr98h92.81%94.47%
- 60Ratopia$0.31/1hr72h86.13%87.75%
- 61Gothic II: Gold Edition$0.31/1hr64h90.60%93.85%
- 62Barotrauma$0.32/1hr55h93.14%94.01%
- 63A Dance of Fire and Ice$0.32/1hr19h93.17%94.10%
- 64Noita$0.32/1hr63h94.14%95.13%
- 65GRIME$0.32/1hr23h85.15%84.76%
- 66Assetto Corsa Competizione$0.33/1hr31h91.42%92.68%
- 67Resident Evil 0$0.33/1hr15h81.67%80.09%
- 68CrossCode$0.33/1hr60h89.70%92.38%
- 69Voidigo$0.34/1hr15h89.08%96.52%
- 70Rocksmith 2014 Edition REMASTERED LEARN & PLAY$0.34/1hr30h87.22%87.96%
- 71Rusted Moss$0.34/1hr24h86.02%89.27%
- 72LET IT DIE$0.34/1hr58h80.92%74.99%
- 73Dwarf Fortress$0.35/1hr86h92.48%94.75%
- 74STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor$0.35/1hr30h72.51%71.02%
- 75Enter the Gungeon$0.35/1hr43h94.12%95.10%
- 76Axiom Verge$0.35/1hr14h87.29%90.14%
- 77FINAL FANTASY XIII$0.36/1hr45h78.44%74.98%
- 78Spelunky 2$0.36/1hr56h90.30%92.81%
- 79Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition$0.36/1hr10h88.32%92.43%
- 80My Summer Car$0.37/1hr41h94.17%94.92%
- 81Counter-Strike: Source$0.37/1hr27h95.75%96.29%
- 82Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation$0.39/1hr65h92.91%94.23%
- 83Risen$0.39/1hr39h86.89%88.84%
- 84Banished$0.39/1hr52h89.48%90.43%
- 85Nothing$0.40/1hr3h89.70%94.09%
- 86Nuclear Throne$0.40/1hr30h92.45%96.02%
- 87Quasimorph$0.41/1hr61h83.78%82.55%
- 88Balatro$0.41/1hr37h97.24%97.84%
- 89Risk of Rain 2$0.41/1hr61h93.59%93.83%
- 90Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense$0.42/1hr24h91.27%96.68%
- 91IXION$0.42/1hr25h81.18%78.79%
- 92Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game$0.42/1hr24h91.56%94.25%
- 93Men of War: Assault Squad 2$0.42/1hr71h90.19%91.23%
- 94Exanima$0.43/1hr35h82.27%80.03%
- 95Terraforming Mars$0.43/1hr46h78.80%70.56%
- 96Resident Evil 2$0.43/1hr18h96.54%97.04%
- 97Downwell$0.43/1hr7h90.57%96.55%
- 98TEKKEN 7$0.44/1hr14h83.75%83.58%
- 99DRAGON BALL FighterZ$0.46/1hr32h89.85%90.44%
- 100Super Hexagon$0.46/1hr6h93.60%96.87%
How the math works: we sample each game’s Steam reviewers, take the median of their total recorded playtime (lifetime hours, not hours at the time of review), and divide it by the game’s current price in your selected currency. Reviewers usually sink more hours in than the average owner, so the numbers run generous. Free games aren’t listed because there’s no price to divide by, and a game needs playtime data from at least 20 reviewers before it qualifies. All prices are Steam’s own regional prices, never exchange-rate conversions.