Best Value Visual Novel Games Under $40

The Visual Novel 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

Any priceUnder $5Under $10Under $20Under $40
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.
  1. 1Chill Pulse$0.11/1hr
  2. 2Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth$0.12/1hr
  3. 3Mirror$0.15/1hr
  4. 4Persona 4 Golden$0.24/1hr
  5. 5Library Of Ruina$0.31/1hr
  6. 6Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation$0.31/1hr
  7. 7Tricolour Lovestory$0.33/1hr
  8. 8Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1$0.38/1hr
  9. 9Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You$0.40/1hr
  10. 10Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.42/1hr
  11. 11Far Away$0.43/1hr
  12. 12Banner of the Maid$0.44/1hr
  13. 13School Days$0.45/1hr
  14. 14Neo Cab$0.45/1hr
  15. 15We. The Revolution$0.53/1hr
  16. 16Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair$0.53/1hr
  17. 17Super Robot Wars 30$0.54/1hr
  18. 18Volcano Princess$0.55/1hr
  19. 19Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales$0.57/1hr
  20. 20A Bird Story$0.57/1hr
  21. 21The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel$0.61/1hr
  22. 22Otaku's Adventure$0.61/1hr
  23. 23Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy$0.63/1hr
  24. 24The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles$0.63/1hr
  25. 25Love, Money, Rock'n'Roll$0.64/1hr
  26. 26LoveChoice$0.64/1hr
  27. 27I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.71/1hr
  28. 28Harold Halibut$0.73/1hr
  29. 29This Is the Police$0.73/1hr
  30. 30Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc$0.75/1hr
  31. 31The Coffin of Andy and Leyley$0.75/1hr
  32. 32Tales of the Black Forest$0.76/1hr
  33. 33Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.78/1hr
  34. 34Knowledge, or know Lady$0.78/1hr
  35. 35ATRI -My Dear Moments-$0.79/1hr
  36. 36STEINS;GATE$0.79/1hr
  37. 37Suzerain$0.80/1hr
  38. 38OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition$0.80/1hr
  39. 39GIRLS MADE PUDDING$0.81/1hr
  40. 40Nunholy$0.82/1hr
  41. 41Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy$0.82/1hr
  42. 42Until Then$0.83/1hr
  43. 43Tiny Bunny$0.83/1hr
  44. 44AI: The Somnium Files$0.84/1hr
  45. 45Beacon Pines$0.85/1hr
  46. 46Fate/Samurai Remnant$0.86/1hr
  47. 47Raging Loop$0.87/1hr
  48. 48Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony$0.88/1hr
  49. 49Love Is All Around$0.88/1hr
  50. 50An alt girl for skoof$0.89/1hr
  51. 51DRAMAtical Murder$0.97/1hr
  52. 52Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus$1.00/1hr
  53. 53American Arcadia$1.03/1hr
  54. 54AI2U: With You 'Til The End$1.04/1hr
  55. 55Disco Elysium - The Final Cut$1.05/1hr
  56. 56The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty$1.06/1hr
  57. 57VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action$1.07/1hr
  58. 58Gaokao.Love.100Days$1.14/1hr
  59. 59Minds Beneath Us$1.16/1hr
  60. 60Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate$1.18/1hr
  61. 61STEINS;GATE 0$1.18/1hr
  62. 62Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!$1.20/1hr
  63. 63Scarlet Hollow$1.22/1hr
  64. 64Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost$1.25/1hr
  65. 65Senren＊Banka$1.35/1hr
  66. 66Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series$1.36/1hr
  67. 67TOGETHER BnB$1.36/1hr
  68. 68The Wolf Among Us$1.36/1hr
  69. 69BlazBlue Centralfiction$1.36/1hr
  70. 70Night in the Woods$1.38/1hr
  71. 71魔女的夜宴$1.38/1hr
  72. 72Winter Memories$1.39/1hr
  73. 73StarVaders$1.41/1hr
  74. 74Growing Up$1.52/1hr
  75. 75Florence$1.54/1hr
  76. 76Monster Prom$1.58/1hr
  77. 77The Thaumaturge$1.61/1hr
  78. 78KinitoPET$1.63/1hr
  79. 79Coffee Talk$1.64/1hr
  80. 80The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante$1.65/1hr
  81. 81Venba$1.66/1hr
  82. 82Dreamlike Love with Seira$1.68/1hr
  83. 83To Be or Not to Be$1.68/1hr
  84. 84The Walking Dead: A New Frontier$1.69/1hr
  85. 85Batman - The Telltale Series$1.70/1hr
  86. 86Tales from the Borderlands$1.74/1hr
  87. 87Rift of the NecroDancer$1.79/1hr
  88. 88What Remains of Edith Finch$1.80/1hr
  89. 89NEKOPARA Vol. 0$1.91/1hr
  90. 90Mika and The Witch's Mountain$1.93/1hr
  91. 91The Operator$1.94/1hr
  92. 92NEKOPARA Vol. 2$1.95/1hr
  93. 93NEKOPARA Vol. 1$2.01/1hr
  94. 94Summer Memories$2.01/1hr
  95. 95No Case Should Remain Unsolved$2.04/1hr
  96. 96Class of '09$2.13/1hr
  97. 97Sanfu$2.15/1hr
  98. 98The Song of Saya$2.18/1hr
  99. 99Firework$2.25/1hr
  100. 100Her Story$2.30/1hr

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.