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$0.02/1hr153h88.03%95.19%
- 2Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.05/1hr94h92.62%97.58%
- 3My Time at Portia$0.08/1hr72h90.31%91.46%
- 4Mr. Prepper$0.10/1hr27h83.21%80.01%
- 5Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.11/1hr9h93.47%97.57%
- 6Chill Pulse$0.11/1hr46h87.90%95.43%
- 7Moonstone Island$0.12/1hr42h84.63%83.54%
- 8My Time at Sandrock$0.12/1hr100h87.39%88.14%
- 9Stardew Valley$0.13/1hr113h98.38%98.48%
- 10Ithya: Magic Studies$0.16/1hr67h86.71%97.82%
- 11Streamer Life Simulator$0.17/1hr12h81.14%76.04%
- 12The Guild II Renaissance$0.18/1hr55h84.68%83.51%
- 13Fields of Mistria$0.19/1hr74h94.21%97.04%
- 14Disney Dreamlight Valley$0.20/1hr201h90.16%92.16%
- 15Ostranauts$0.22/1hr91h82.51%77.13%
- 16Travellers Rest$0.22/1hr60h86.92%87.88%
- 17Russian Life Simulator$0.23/1hr2h86.57%88.52%
- 18ANEURISM IV$0.23/1hr44h80.74%75.15%
- 19Coral Island$0.25/1hr122h87.96%88.96%
- 20Echoes of the Plum Grove$0.25/1hr40h85.56%87.77%
- 21The Sims 3$0.27/1hr74h85.98%86.21%
- 22Cash Cleaner Simulator$0.28/1hr54h87.87%92.36%
- 23Project Hospital$0.31/1hr33h86.98%88.89%
- 24Restaurant Empire II$0.31/1hr65h84.00%77.53%
- 25Animal Shelter$0.31/1hr10h85.26%87.66%
- 26Mon Bazou$0.34/1hr47h93.25%97.12%
- 27Wylde Flowers$0.34/1hr72h87.32%95.88%
- 28Dinkum$0.36/1hr56h90.09%91.78%
- 29VillageRhapsody$0.36/1hr8h92.34%96.87%
- 30Wobbledogs$0.37/1hr14h92.72%98.22%
- 31Kynseed$0.37/1hr67h84.60%83.10%
- 32Sengoku Dynasty$0.38/1hr35h80.59%74.75%
- 33BOOK OF HOURS$0.38/1hr66h86.27%88.69%
- 34Chinese Parents$0.39/1hr14h89.64%91.29%
- 35Immortal Life$0.39/1hr44h83.84%79.39%
- 36Supermarket Simulator$0.39/1hr51h91.31%92.04%
- 37Roots of Pacha$0.39/1hr64h87.65%93.59%
- 38Farm Together 2$0.41/1hr64h88.07%93.81%
- 39Bellwright$0.41/1hr73h81.77%80.20%
- 40Sun Haven$0.41/1hr61h81.81%80.49%
- 41Car Dealer Simulator$0.42/1hr48h86.55%88.73%
- 42TCG Card Shop Simulator$0.42/1hr48h94.52%96.39%
- 43Wobbly Life$0.44/1hr52h94.61%97.22%
- 44School Days$0.45/1hr25h81.84%76.90%
- 45Farlands$0.45/1hr26h86.38%89.87%
- 46Amber Isle$0.45/1hr15h85.19%82.39%
- 47Sailwind$0.46/1hr44h85.13%88.79%
- 48Progressbar95$0.47/1hr11h88.12%96.14%
- 49Sticky Business$0.47/1hr11h88.86%93.61%
- 50Little Witch in the Woods$0.48/1hr42h87.40%89.08%
- 51IfSunSets$0.49/1hr29h82.36%74.72%
- 52The Ranch of Rivershine$0.50/1hr60h86.64%93.93%
- 53ContractVille$0.51/1hr19h82.94%80.85%
- 54Cozy Grove$0.51/1hr29h86.68%89.51%
- 55Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator$0.53/1hr57h84.16%83.77%
- 56Chef RPG$0.53/1hr38h85.05%87.83%
- 57Havendock$0.53/1hr11h84.02%79.26%
- 58TheoTown$0.53/1hr19h87.65%94.69%
- 59Volcano Princess$0.55/1hr20h95.66%97.79%
- 60Crime Scene Cleaner$0.56/1hr39h95.33%98.10%
- 61Internet Cafe Simulator 2$0.57/1hr10h78.45%73.36%
- 62Two Point Museum$0.57/1hr53h91.04%95.38%
- 63The Wandering Village$0.58/1hr26h88.62%91.97%
- 64WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition$0.58/1hr52h92.23%97.51%
- 65Tales of Seikyu$0.60/1hr42h84.30%84.43%
- 66Big Ambitions$0.60/1hr44h89.26%92.03%
- 67WorldBox - God Simulator$0.62/1hr32h93.82%95.33%
- 68Old Market Simulator$0.63/1hr15h85.44%87.63%
- 69Critter Cove$0.64/1hr39h86.54%94.70%
- 70Chinese Online Game$0.65/1hr15h85.40%85.60%
- 71THE GAME OF LIFE 2$0.70/1hr5h82.25%77.90%
- 72I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.71/1hr35h89.21%96.31%
- 73I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival$0.73/1hr27h84.30%84.38%
- 74Finnish Cottage Simulator$0.73/1hr21h86.84%93.83%
- 75Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator$0.75/1hr24h84.35%83.32%
- 76House Party$0.77/1hr15h85.53%85.76%
- 77Streamer Life Simulator 2$0.77/1hr12h82.98%81.16%
- 78Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.78/1hr9h86.31%87.49%
- 79Potionomics$0.80/1hr31h87.77%90.46%
- 80Bear and Breakfast$0.85/1hr24h86.07%89.43%
- 81Paleo Pines$0.87/1hr35h83.89%82.50%
- 82Wanderstop$0.88/1hr14h86.87%92.78%
- 83Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator$0.91/1hr12h76.27%62.37%
- 84Summon$0.94/1hr1h86.42%92.45%
- 85Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator$0.95/1hr21h91.53%92.95%
- 86Punch Club 2: Fast Forward$0.98/1hr20h84.14%82.39%
- 87Hello Kitty Island Adventure$0.99/1hr40h89.63%93.93%
- 88Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game$1.00/1hr10h85.77%87.98%
- 89Potion Permit$1.01/1hr20h82.51%79.30%
- 90Cozy Caravan$1.02/1hr20h85.48%93.91%
- 91SimRail - The Railway Simulator$1.06/1hr33h84.59%85.19%
- 92Sapiens$1.07/1hr23h84.08%80.54%
- 93The Guild 3$1.07/1hr28h74.03%60.14%
- 94VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action$1.07/1hr14h94.79%97.27%
- 95inZOI$1.09/1hr37h79.18%77.36%
- 96Go-Go Town!$1.21/1hr23h86.24%93.37%
- 97The Sims 2 Legacy Collection$1.24/1hr24h80.34%72.62%
- 98PC Building Simulator$1.33/1hr15h92.18%93.50%
- 99Minami Lane$1.34/1hr4h90.09%97.35%
- 100TOGETHER BnB$1.36/1hr13h72.42%58.78%
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.