Best Value Simulation Games Under $40
The Simulation 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.
- 1BidKing$0.01/1hr250h48.95%33.17%
- 2Ropuka's Idle Island$0.02/1hr230h88.11%95.60%
- 3shapez$0.03/1hr35h91.67%95.94%
- 4Cornerpond$0.03/1hr91h87.57%97.15%
- 5Cookie Clicker$0.04/1hr119h95.30%96.42%
- 6FTL: Faster Than Light$0.06/1hr54h93.96%95.11%
- 7The NOexistenceN of Lilith$0.07/1hr31h86.31%97.91%
- 8Tiny Pasture$0.07/1hr60h88.43%92.49%
- 9Arma 3$0.07/1hr120h90.23%90.41%
- 10Chill Pulse$0.08/1hr65h88.41%95.54%
- 11Kenshi$0.09/1hr138h94.72%95.56%
- 12Victoria 3$0.09/1hr164h72.42%70.34%
- 13Rising Storm 2: Vietnam$0.10/1hr26h86.72%87.02%
- 14My Time at Portia$0.10/1hr62h90.31%91.51%
- 15Rusty's Retirement$0.11/1hr66h91.98%96.74%
- 16theHunter: Call of the Wild$0.11/1hr37h88.88%89.07%
- 17Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition$0.11/1hr41h93.37%94.96%
- 18Beasts of Bermuda$0.11/1hr178h77.10%68.97%
- 19Stardew Valley$0.11/1hr133h98.35%98.48%
- 20Elite Dangerous$0.12/1hr170h77.95%77.29%
- 21Pax Dei$0.12/1hr126h69.97%56.54%
- 22Conan Exiles Enhanced$0.12/1hr243h79.47%79.00%
- 23Trailmakers$0.12/1hr40h90.61%92.09%
- 24Anno 1404 - History Edition$0.12/1hr36h84.31%82.44%
- 25High Sea Saga DX$0.12/1hr58h84.84%82.17%
- 26Hacknet$0.13/1hr12h91.16%93.54%
- 27Garry's Mod$0.13/1hr40h96.77%96.87%
- 28Factorio$0.13/1hr274h96.99%97.51%
- 29Survivalist: Invisible Strain$0.13/1hr51h85.55%86.85%
- 30RimWorld$0.13/1hr269h97.35%97.86%
- 31Eco$0.13/1hr225h82.50%80.73%
- 32My Time at Sandrock$0.13/1hr104h87.36%88.19%
- 33Dragon Cliff$0.14/1hr73h86.63%88.66%
- 34Satisfactory$0.14/1hr194h96.83%97.26%
- 35Transport Fever 2$0.15/1hr54h89.06%90.33%
- 36This War of Mine$0.15/1hr20h93.02%93.85%
- 37Tropico 4$0.15/1hr39h88.76%91.74%
- 38Internet Cafe Simulator$0.16/1hr6h78.73%72.67%
- 39Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.16/1hr13h93.40%97.59%
- 40Cauldron$0.16/1hr47h86.17%93.18%
- 41Do Not Feed the Monkeys$0.16/1hr10h89.76%93.56%
- 42Sun Haven$0.16/1hr53h81.82%80.57%
- 43Touhou Mystia's Izakaya$0.17/1hr36h95.35%98.56%
- 44Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.17/1hr70h92.85%97.64%
- 45Unity of Command II$0.18/1hr25h84.04%79.72%
- 46DSX$0.18/1hr45h77.87%69.55%
- 47Mechabellum$0.18/1hr83h84.16%83.73%
- 48Super Robot Wars 30$0.18/1hr83h85.41%86.07%
- 49SnowRunner$0.19/1hr64h89.34%90.13%
- 50The Guild II Renaissance$0.19/1hr53h84.54%83.49%
- 51Scrap Mechanic$0.19/1hr154h91.47%92.02%
- 52Sailing Era$0.19/1hr59h82.81%78.48%
- 53SKYHILL$0.19/1hr5h82.52%78.23%
- 54Paleo Pines$0.20/1hr31h84.49%82.63%
- 55Green Hell$0.20/1hr19h84.75%84.72%
- 56FlatOut$0.20/1hr8h87.44%91.18%
- 57Dyson Sphere Program$0.20/1hr81h96.24%97.47%
- 58Fields of Mistria$0.20/1hr70h94.42%97.68%
- 59Easy Red 2$0.20/1hr22h88.03%90.22%
- 60Motorsport Manager$0.20/1hr99h88.92%91.71%
- 61Naval Action$0.20/1hr98h65.48%52.22%
- 62Frostpunk$0.21/1hr22h92.20%92.73%
- 63Space Engineers$0.21/1hr97h88.59%88.86%
- 64Railroads Online$0.21/1hr73h81.12%74.68%
- 65EVERSPACE 2$0.21/1hr48h85.54%85.97%
- 66The Isle$0.21/1hr95h80.53%80.15%
- 67My Garage$0.21/1hr95h86.60%90.50%
- 68Factory Town Idle$0.21/1hr24h85.63%90.84%
- 69Slime Rancher$0.21/1hr23h97.21%98.00%
- 70Into the Breach$0.21/1hr24h91.35%94.23%
- 71Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator$0.22/1hr21h84.71%83.74%
- 72Let's School$0.22/1hr32h88.27%92.73%
- 73鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal$0.22/1hr60h56.80%55.54%
- 74Terra Invicta$0.22/1hr183h82.83%80.57%
- 75Legend of Heroes: Three Kingdoms$0.22/1hr90h86.58%88.58%
- 76From the Depths$0.22/1hr113h87.38%89.26%
- 77Elin$0.22/1hr90h88.99%93.43%
- 78Age of History 3$0.22/1hr29h85.04%85.08%
- 79The Battle of Polytopia$0.23/1hr20h88.32%93.95%
- 80Soulmask$0.23/1hr105h79.63%77.20%
- 81Farm Together 2$0.23/1hr113h88.00%93.66%
- 82Per Aspera$0.23/1hr32h81.67%75.91%
- 83Project Zomboid$0.23/1hr86h93.81%94.01%
- 84Endzone - A World Apart$0.23/1hr11h80.88%76.75%
- 85Stationeers$0.23/1hr150h86.29%87.72%
- 86Stormworks: Build and Rescue$0.24/1hr105h89.71%90.50%
- 87Your Only Move Is HUSTLE$0.24/1hr21h94.35%96.48%
- 88Hero's Adventure: Road to Passion$0.24/1hr75h84.64%84.51%
- 89Distant Worlds 2$0.24/1hr73h81.40%71.30%
- 90Chillquarium$0.24/1hr25h88.28%92.27%
- 91Ratopia$0.24/1hr54h85.89%87.80%
- 92Streamer Life Simulator$0.24/1hr8h81.07%76.11%
- 93Outpath$0.25/1hr18h86.85%92.90%
- 94The Long Dark$0.25/1hr79h88.66%88.96%
- 95Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander$0.25/1hr56h90.26%94.39%
- 96Space Haven$0.25/1hr60h85.41%85.80%
- 97Noita$0.26/1hr77h94.13%95.17%
- 98Feed the Cups$0.26/1hr49h79.40%70.68%
- 99Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist$0.26/1hr19h84.48%83.48%
- 100Call of the Wild: The Angler$0.26/1hr34h75.87%63.82%
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.