Best Value Life Sim Games Under $40
The Life Sim 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.
- 1Ropuka's Idle Island$0.02/1hr230h88.11%95.60%
- 2Chill Pulse$0.08/1hr65h88.41%95.54%
- 3My Time at Portia$0.10/1hr62h90.31%91.51%
- 4Stardew Valley$0.11/1hr133h98.35%98.48%
- 5My Time at Sandrock$0.13/1hr104h87.36%88.19%
- 6Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.16/1hr13h93.40%97.59%
- 7Sun Haven$0.16/1hr53h81.82%80.57%
- 8Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.17/1hr70h92.85%97.64%
- 9The Guild II Renaissance$0.19/1hr53h84.54%83.49%
- 10Ithya: Magic Studies$0.19/1hr59h87.23%97.88%
- 11Paleo Pines$0.20/1hr31h84.49%82.63%
- 12Fields of Mistria$0.20/1hr70h94.42%97.68%
- 13Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator$0.22/1hr21h84.71%83.74%
- 14Farm Together 2$0.23/1hr113h88.00%93.66%
- 15Streamer Life Simulator$0.24/1hr8h81.07%76.11%
- 16Car Dealer Simulator$0.27/1hr55h87.01%89.05%
- 17Old Market Simulator$0.27/1hr22h85.94%87.78%
- 18Volcano Princess$0.28/1hr26h95.61%97.80%
- 19Coral Island$0.31/1hr98h87.80%88.84%
- 20Travellers Rest$0.31/1hr43h86.90%87.98%
- 21Wylde Flowers$0.32/1hr79h87.32%95.90%
- 22VillageRhapsody$0.32/1hr9h92.33%96.85%
- 23WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition$0.32/1hr61h92.09%97.52%
- 24Little Witch in the Woods$0.34/1hr58h87.24%89.00%
- 25Mon Bazou$0.36/1hr45h93.15%97.14%
- 26Immortal Life$0.36/1hr47h83.38%79.67%
- 27ANEURISM IV$0.37/1hr27h81.77%76.55%
- 28Monster Prom$0.37/1hr7h89.72%93.03%
- 29Bellwright$0.38/1hr78h81.81%80.30%
- 30Disney Dreamlight Valley$0.39/1hr103h90.10%92.19%
- 31Yes, Your Grace$0.39/1hr8h86.19%87.06%
- 32Ostranauts$0.40/1hr51h84.04%80.58%
- 33No Place Like Home$0.40/1hr20h83.04%78.31%
- 34Progressbar95$0.40/1hr13h87.94%96.15%
- 35School Days$0.41/1hr28h81.21%76.36%
- 36ContractVille$0.41/1hr24h83.46%80.96%
- 37Chushpan Simulator$0.41/1hr2h85.07%85.38%
- 38Cash Cleaner Simulator$0.41/1hr48h88.23%92.41%
- 39Roots of Pacha$0.42/1hr59h87.67%93.62%
- 40The Sushi Spinnery$0.42/1hr16h85.30%92.69%
- 41Supermarket Simulator$0.43/1hr47h91.31%92.07%
- 42Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator$0.43/1hr25h84.20%83.21%
- 43Big Ambitions$0.46/1hr57h89.34%92.62%
- 44Project Hospital$0.47/1hr54h86.89%88.95%
- 45TCG Card Shop Simulator$0.47/1hr42h94.59%96.56%
- 46Dinkum$0.48/1hr42h90.09%91.85%
- 47Wobbly Life$0.48/1hr48h94.51%97.23%
- 48The Ranch of Rivershine$0.48/1hr62h86.65%94.01%
- 49The Sims 3$0.50/1hr40h85.96%86.24%
- 50Tavern Talk - A Cozy Visual Novel$0.52/1hr19h85.55%88.81%
- 51BOOK OF HOURS$0.54/1hr46h86.19%88.94%
- 52Sailwind$0.55/1hr37h85.68%88.73%
- 53Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game$0.55/1hr14h86.20%88.01%
- 54Internet Cafe Simulator 2$0.58/1hr10h78.42%73.44%
- 55Drug Lord Tycoon$0.58/1hr17h84.74%83.30%
- 56Kynseed$0.58/1hr43h84.41%82.93%
- 57Two Point Museum$0.60/1hr50h90.82%95.34%
- 58Sticky Business$0.61/1hr8h88.77%93.75%
- 59Chinese Online Game$0.61/1hr11h85.29%85.59%
- 60TheoTown$0.61/1hr16h88.04%94.53%
- 61Chef RPG$0.63/1hr32h85.59%87.85%
- 62Echoes of the Plum Grove$0.64/1hr31h85.64%87.77%
- 63Reigns$0.65/1hr5h85.85%86.93%
- 64Moonstone Island$0.66/1hr30h84.59%83.80%
- 6560 Seconds! Reatomized$0.68/1hr7h91.24%94.47%
- 66WorldBox - God Simulator$0.68/1hr29h93.73%95.31%
- 67I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival$0.68/1hr29h84.90%84.73%
- 68Sengoku Dynasty$0.69/1hr40h80.54%74.78%
- 69Mr. Prepper$0.69/1hr27h83.29%80.17%
- 70Tales of Seikyu$0.70/1hr36h84.94%84.79%
- 71Office Life$0.70/1hr28h85.63%88.76%
- 72Potion Permit$0.72/1hr28h83.03%79.38%
- 73Cozy Grove$0.72/1hr21h87.08%89.57%
- 74Bear and Breakfast$0.73/1hr27h86.55%89.52%
- 75Chinese Parents$0.75/1hr13h89.60%91.33%
- 76The Wandering Village$0.76/1hr20h88.15%91.95%
- 77THE GAME OF LIFE 2$0.77/1hr5h82.80%78.02%
- 78Finnish Cottage Simulator$0.79/1hr19h87.27%93.64%
- 79Streamer Life Simulator 2$0.79/1hr12h83.53%81.43%
- 80Growing Up$0.82/1hr18h85.75%87.83%
- 81I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.83/1hr30h88.62%96.31%
- 82Cattails: Wildwood Story$0.83/1hr24h86.99%97.49%
- 83Trash Goblin$0.84/1hr15h85.52%88.59%
- 84Crime Scene Cleaner$0.86/1hr33h95.08%98.09%
- 85Russian Life Simulator$0.87/1hr1h86.60%88.54%
- 86Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator$0.89/1hr22h91.45%92.91%
- 87Potionomics$0.90/1hr28h87.29%90.44%
- 88Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.91/1hr8h85.81%87.63%
- 89Summon$0.93/1hr1h86.95%92.54%
- 90Punch Club 2: Fast Forward$0.93/1hr21h84.22%82.54%
- 91The Tenants$0.94/1hr21h82.33%78.91%
- 92Cozy Caravan$0.94/1hr21h86.02%93.70%
- 9360 Parsecs!$0.97/1hr5h86.06%88.72%
- 94inZOI$0.98/1hr41h78.97%77.10%
- 95SimRail - The Railway Simulator$1.00/1hr35h85.06%85.21%
- 96Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story$1.02/1hr20h85.68%98.54%
- 97Sunset Motel$1.02/1hr12h84.49%78.78%
- 98Go-Go Town!$1.04/1hr20h86.61%93.36%
- 99Reus 2$1.05/1hr24h86.75%94.52%
- 100To Pixelia$1.06/1hr14h83.78%74.37%
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.