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$0.01/1hr200h48.02%32.54%
- 2Ropuka's Idle Island$0.02/1hr153h88.03%95.19%
- 3The NOexistenceN of Lilith$0.03/1hr58h86.92%98.07%
- 4Cookie Clicker$0.04/1hr123h95.33%96.41%
- 5Elite Dangerous$0.04/1hr146h77.96%77.29%
- 6RollerCoaster Tycoon: Deluxe$0.05/1hr33h89.33%94.31%
- 7shapez$0.05/1hr21h91.78%95.91%
- 8Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.05/1hr94h92.62%97.58%
- 9Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)$0.06/1hr34h93.72%97.48%
- 10Rusty's Retirement$0.06/1hr72h91.97%96.70%
- 11Old World$0.06/1hr62h84.44%82.51%
- 12People Playground$0.08/1hr130h97.19%97.47%
- 13My Time at Portia$0.08/1hr72h90.31%91.46%
- 14Kingdom Two Crowns$0.09/1hr22h89.18%90.18%
- 15Chillquarium$0.09/1hr29h88.14%92.04%
- 16Stronghold HD (2012)$0.10/1hr12h90.76%95.53%
- 17RimWorld$0.10/1hr292h97.47%97.85%
- 18Don't Starve Together$0.10/1hr150h94.77%94.89%
- 19Kenshi$0.10/1hr118h94.77%95.59%
- 20Tiny Pasture$0.10/1hr58h88.39%92.48%
- 21Mr. Prepper$0.10/1hr27h83.21%80.01%
- 22DSX$0.11/1hr57h77.31%69.45%
- 23Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.11/1hr9h93.47%97.57%
- 24Naval Action$0.11/1hr184h65.25%51.81%
- 25Chill Pulse$0.11/1hr46h87.90%95.43%
- 26Against the Storm$0.11/1hr82h92.49%94.44%
- 27Noita$0.11/1hr72h94.12%95.12%
- 28Space Haven$0.11/1hr89h85.49%85.76%
- 29Battle Brothers$0.11/1hr78h87.32%88.06%
- 30Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic$0.12/1hr86h89.58%91.18%
- 31SpaceCraft$0.12/1hr165h79.86%63.87%
- 32My Time at Sandrock$0.12/1hr100h87.39%88.14%
- 33Touhou Mystia's Izakaya$0.12/1hr49h95.44%98.56%
- 34Dragon Cliff$0.13/1hr78h86.73%88.61%
- 35SKYHILL$0.13/1hr8h82.66%78.30%
- 36Stardew Valley$0.13/1hr113h98.38%98.48%
- 37Oxygen Not Included$0.14/1hr184h95.97%96.72%
- 38Feed the Cups$0.14/1hr88h79.42%70.60%
- 39Space Engineers$0.14/1hr145h88.56%88.81%
- 40Hacknet$0.14/1hr11h91.22%93.53%
- 41Avorion$0.14/1hr177h87.67%90.01%
- 42Tropico 4$0.14/1hr32h88.83%91.69%
- 43Mechabellum$0.15/1hr103h84.20%83.70%
- 44FlatOut$0.15/1hr10h87.55%91.08%
- 45Beasts of Bermuda$0.15/1hr137h77.13%68.88%
- 46Eco$0.15/1hr204h82.55%80.69%
- 47Green Hell$0.15/1hr19h84.66%84.61%
- 48Crazy Machines 3$0.15/1hr6h89.33%94.35%
- 49Dyson Sphere Program$0.15/1hr129h96.21%97.42%
- 50Project Zomboid$0.16/1hr161h93.63%93.75%
- 51SnowRunner$0.16/1hr76h89.34%90.07%
- 52Breathedge$0.16/1hr15h82.10%80.93%
- 53RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack$0.16/1hr15h86.83%89.64%
- 54Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion$0.16/1hr123h90.14%93.17%
- 55The Lost Village$0.17/1hr72h81.84%71.20%
- 56Motorsport Manager$0.17/1hr120h89.00%91.68%
- 57Factorio$0.17/1hr203h97.14%97.52%
- 58Streamer Life Simulator$0.17/1hr12h81.14%76.04%
- 59Planetbase$0.18/1hr41h82.42%79.78%
- 60The Guild II Renaissance$0.18/1hr55h84.68%83.51%
- 61Party Club$0.18/1hr4h81.05%71.62%
- 62Core Keeper$0.18/1hr65h91.93%92.94%
- 63Elin$0.19/1hr108h89.11%93.36%
- 64Endzone - A World Apart$0.19/1hr11h80.93%76.70%
- 65Fields of Mistria$0.19/1hr74h94.21%97.04%
- 66Internet Cafe Simulator$0.19/1hr5h78.33%72.61%
- 67Kingdom: New Lands$0.19/1hr8h85.26%85.32%
- 68Stronghold 2: Steam Edition$0.19/1hr19h86.88%88.79%
- 69Empyrion - Galactic Survival$0.19/1hr103h79.91%78.37%
- 70Bus Simulator 18$0.20/1hr15h82.35%80.95%
- 71Disney Dreamlight Valley$0.20/1hr201h90.16%92.16%
- 72Quasimorph$0.20/1hr81h83.55%82.68%
- 73Farming Simulator 25$0.21/1hr146h87.02%87.33%
- 74The Escapists$0.21/1hr13h88.29%90.21%
- 75Empires of the Undergrowth$0.21/1hr36h91.19%94.36%
- 76Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander$0.21/1hr66h90.29%94.25%
- 77Ostranauts$0.22/1hr91h82.51%77.13%
- 78Returns Outlet Simulator$0.22/1hr46h86.43%95.95%
- 79Garry's Mod$0.22/1hr45h96.81%96.88%
- 80Travellers Rest$0.22/1hr60h86.92%87.88%
- 81Scrap Mechanic$0.23/1hr129h91.31%91.80%
- 82Outpath$0.23/1hr17h86.78%92.65%
- 83Russian Life Simulator$0.23/1hr2h86.57%88.52%
- 84gogh: Focus with Your Avatar$0.23/1hr53h86.71%91.19%
- 85ANEURISM IV$0.23/1hr44h80.74%75.15%
- 86Farming Simulator 22$0.23/1hr87h92.00%92.73%
- 87Dome Keeper$0.23/1hr20h90.14%92.35%
- 88Hero's Adventure: Road to Passion$0.23/1hr78h84.70%84.50%
- 89Settlement Survival$0.23/1hr22h85.12%85.04%
- 90Cataclismo$0.23/1hr39h86.28%88.80%
- 91Tropico 5$0.23/1hr30h81.33%78.67%
- 92Northgard: Definitive Edition$0.24/1hr42h85.24%85.25%
- 93(the) Gnorp Apologue$0.24/1hr29h89.53%94.81%
- 94The Battle of Polytopia$0.24/1hr19h88.85%93.96%
- 95BeamNG.drive$0.24/1hr104h96.98%97.19%
- 96MudRunner$0.24/1hr16h90.42%91.60%
- 97Stronghold Crusader 2$0.24/1hr16h76.98%72.45%
- 98Per Aspera$0.24/1hr31h81.79%75.91%
- 99Coral Island$0.25/1hr122h87.96%88.96%
- 100Doloc Town$0.25/1hr81h87.19%94.52%
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.