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$0.03/1hr124h88.29%95.18%
- 2Chill Pulse$0.08/1hr47h88.62%95.43%
- 3Stardew Valley$0.11/1hr139h98.35%98.48%
- 4My Time at Sandrock$0.11/1hr110h87.43%88.15%
- 5Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.15/1hr78h93.02%97.60%
- 6Streamer Life Simulator$0.16/1hr12h81.27%76.03%
- 7The Guild II Renaissance$0.17/1hr58h84.80%83.52%
- 8Fields of Mistria$0.18/1hr79h94.43%97.04%
- 9Ithya: Magic Studies$0.18/1hr61h87.59%97.86%
- 10Coral Island$0.23/1hr128h88.00%88.96%
- 11Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.25/1hr8h93.52%97.57%
- 12Ostranauts$0.25/1hr80h83.35%77.27%
- 13ANEURISM IV$0.27/1hr36h81.48%75.33%
- 14Monster Prom$0.28/1hr9h89.63%93.02%
- 15The Sims 3$0.28/1hr71h86.01%86.21%
- 16Volcano Princess$0.28/1hr25h95.68%97.79%
- 17Disney Dreamlight Valley$0.31/1hr128h90.20%92.17%
- 18Immortal Life$0.31/1hr55h83.56%79.48%
- 19I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival$0.31/1hr26h85.05%84.45%
- 20Travellers Rest$0.34/1hr53h86.97%87.86%
- 21Mon Bazou$0.34/1hr47h93.29%97.11%
- 22Supermarket Simulator$0.34/1hr58h91.33%92.04%
- 23Wylde Flowers$0.35/1hr71h87.62%95.88%
- 24VillageRhapsody$0.36/1hr8h92.48%96.87%
- 25Cash Cleaner Simulator$0.37/1hr55h88.47%92.38%
- 26Farm Together 2$0.37/1hr59h88.31%93.77%
- 27Dinkum$0.38/1hr53h90.15%91.80%
- 28Old Market Simulator$0.39/1hr25h86.15%87.66%
- 29Kynseed$0.40/1hr62h84.70%83.08%
- 30Little Witch in the Woods$0.41/1hr49h87.49%89.07%
- 31Potionomics$0.41/1hr37h87.56%90.48%
- 32BOOK OF HOURS$0.42/1hr60h86.45%88.76%
- 33Roots of Pacha$0.42/1hr60h87.92%93.59%
- 34STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town$0.42/1hr24h88.27%93.36%
- 35Sun Haven$0.43/1hr58h81.87%80.51%
- 36My Time at Portia$0.43/1hr69h90.34%91.47%
- 37Cozy Grove$0.46/1hr33h87.26%89.52%
- 38Car Dealer Simulator$0.46/1hr43h86.90%88.95%
- 39Sailwind$0.46/1hr43h85.99%88.78%
- 40Wobbly Life$0.46/1hr50h94.64%97.23%
- 41Progressbar95$0.46/1hr11h88.29%96.13%
- 42School Days$0.47/1hr24h81.59%76.87%
- 43The Ranch of Rivershine$0.47/1hr63h86.95%93.92%
- 44WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition$0.49/1hr61h92.32%97.51%
- 45Farlands$0.49/1hr24h86.00%89.79%
- 46Bellwright$0.50/1hr60h81.82%80.19%
- 47Internet Cafe Simulator 2$0.53/1hr11h78.57%73.40%
- 48TheoTown$0.55/1hr18h88.37%94.67%
- 49ContractVille$0.56/1hr18h83.62%80.88%
- 50Tales of Seikyu$0.58/1hr43h84.68%84.31%
- 51Echoes of the Plum Grove$0.59/1hr34h85.92%87.76%
- 52WorldBox - God Simulator$0.59/1hr34h93.83%95.33%
- 53Chef RPG$0.59/1hr34h85.88%87.83%
- 54Big Ambitions$0.59/1hr44h89.32%92.06%
- 55TCG Card Shop Simulator$0.60/1hr33h94.62%96.49%
- 56Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator$0.62/1hr29h84.45%83.28%
- 57Chinese Parents$0.62/1hr16h89.68%91.28%
- 58Sengoku Dynasty$0.63/1hr44h80.70%74.79%
- 59Office Life$0.64/1hr31h86.00%88.74%
- 60Critter Cove$0.65/1hr39h86.86%94.70%
- 61House Party$0.66/1hr15h85.60%85.77%
- 62Two Point Museum$0.68/1hr44h91.11%95.41%
- 63Reigns$0.68/1hr4h86.02%86.87%
- 64Mr. Prepper$0.72/1hr26h83.45%80.01%
- 65Crime Scene Cleaner$0.73/1hr41h95.24%98.10%
- 66Streamer Life Simulator 2$0.74/1hr13h83.64%81.23%
- 67Moonstone Island$0.75/1hr26h84.81%83.62%
- 68inZOI$0.77/1hr42h79.18%77.31%
- 69Chinese Online Game$0.78/1hr13h85.49%85.59%
- 70I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.79/1hr32h88.97%96.32%
- 71Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator$0.79/1hr24h91.54%92.93%
- 72Russian Life Simulator$0.79/1hr1h86.89%88.53%
- 7360 Parsecs!$0.80/1hr12h86.34%88.79%
- 74Cozy Caravan$0.81/1hr16h86.42%93.99%
- 75Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator$0.82/1hr37h84.99%83.74%
- 76THE GAME OF LIFE 2$0.83/1hr5h83.00%77.96%
- 77IfSunSets$0.84/1hr24h82.76%74.55%
- 78Bear and Breakfast$0.85/1hr24h86.77%89.44%
- 79Summon$0.86/1hr1h87.20%92.42%
- 80Punch Club 2: Fast Forward$0.87/1hr23h84.05%82.45%
- 81Finnish Cottage Simulator$0.88/1hr17h87.61%93.78%
- 82Potion Permit$0.89/1hr22h83.23%79.35%
- 83The Tenants$0.94/1hr21h82.53%78.82%
- 84Hello Kitty Island Adventure$0.94/1hr42h90.09%93.91%
- 85Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.95/1hr7h86.01%87.48%
- 86Trash Goblin$0.99/1hr13h85.81%88.43%
- 87Project Hospital$0.99/1hr25h87.05%88.89%
- 88Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game$1.00/1hr10h86.39%87.95%
- 89VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action$1.01/1hr15h94.82%97.27%
- 90Go-Go Town!$1.02/1hr22h87.08%93.40%
- 91SimRail - The Railway Simulator$1.03/1hr34h85.26%85.12%
- 92Sticky Business$1.05/1hr10h88.98%93.62%
- 93Sapiens$1.07/1hr23h84.48%80.56%
- 94The Sims 2 Legacy Collection$1.14/1hr26h81.06%72.62%
- 95The Guild 3$1.19/1hr25h74.20%60.23%
- 96Minami Lane$1.20/1hr4h90.17%97.38%
- 97Chushpan Simulator$1.23/1hr2h85.37%85.50%
- 98The Wandering Village$1.24/1hr24h88.07%91.96%
- 99Havendock$1.27/1hr16h84.35%79.30%
- 100Youtubers Life$1.32/1hr15h80.54%77.43%
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.