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%
- 2The Guild II Renaissance$0.05/1hr55h84.68%83.51%
- 3Spirit City: Lofi Sessions$0.05/1hr94h92.62%97.58%
- 4Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator$0.08/1hr57h84.16%83.77%
- 5Chill Pulse$0.08/1hr46h87.90%95.43%
- 6Stardew Valley$0.08/1hr127h98.38%98.48%
- 7My Time at Portia$0.08/1hr72h90.31%91.46%
- 8Bakery Simulator$0.10/1hr11h80.71%66.20%
- 9Crusader Kings III$0.11/1hr142h88.04%88.24%
- 10Placid Plastic Duck Simulator$0.11/1hr9h93.47%97.57%
- 11Mr. Prepper$0.11/1hr27h83.21%80.01%
- 12ANEURISM IV$0.11/1hr44h80.74%75.15%
- 13Disney Dreamlight Valley$0.12/1hr201h90.16%92.16%
- 14Moonstone Island$0.12/1hr42h84.63%83.54%
- 15My Time at Sandrock$0.12/1hr100h87.39%88.14%
- 16Ithya: Magic Studies$0.12/1hr67h86.71%97.82%
- 17Immortal Life$0.14/1hr44h83.84%79.39%
- 18Sun Haven$0.14/1hr61h81.81%80.49%
- 19Coral Island$0.15/1hr122h87.96%88.96%
- 20Fields of Mistria$0.15/1hr74h94.21%97.04%
- 21BOOK OF HOURS$0.15/1hr66h86.27%88.69%
- 22Restaurant Empire II$0.15/1hr65h84.00%77.53%
- 23Streamer Life Simulator$0.17/1hr12h81.14%76.04%
- 24ContractVille$0.17/1hr19h82.94%80.85%
- 25Ostranauts$0.18/1hr91h82.51%77.13%
- 26Cozy Grove$0.18/1hr29h86.68%89.51%
- 27Kynseed$0.19/1hr67h84.60%83.10%
- 28Electrician Simulator$0.19/1hr6h83.01%80.19%
- 29Saints Row: The Third Remastered$0.22/1hr14h81.54%72.74%
- 30Travellers Rest$0.22/1hr60h86.92%87.88%
- 31Wylde Flowers$0.22/1hr72h87.32%95.88%
- 32Supermarket Simulator$0.23/1hr51h91.31%92.04%
- 33Roots of Pacha$0.24/1hr64h87.65%93.59%
- 34Punch Club 2: Fast Forward$0.25/1hr20h84.34%82.49%
- 35Echoes of the Plum Grove$0.25/1hr40h85.56%87.77%
- 36Mon Bazou$0.26/1hr47h93.25%97.12%
- 37The Guild 3$0.27/1hr28h74.03%60.14%
- 38Bellwright$0.27/1hr73h81.77%80.20%
- 39The Sims 3$0.27/1hr74h85.98%86.21%
- 40Cash Cleaner Simulator$0.28/1hr54h87.87%92.36%
- 41Bear and Breakfast$0.28/1hr24h86.07%89.43%
- 42Dinkum$0.28/1hr56h90.09%91.78%
- 43Car Dealer Simulator$0.29/1hr48h86.55%88.73%
- 44I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival$0.29/1hr27h84.30%84.38%
- 45The Ranch of Rivershine$0.30/1hr60h86.64%93.93%
- 46Project Hospital$0.31/1hr33h86.98%88.89%
- 47Wobbly Life$0.31/1hr52h94.61%97.22%
- 48Animal Shelter$0.31/1hr10h85.26%87.66%
- 49Monster Prom$0.32/1hr8h89.79%93.01%
- 50Farm Together 2$0.33/1hr64h88.07%93.81%
- 51Potion Permit$0.33/1hr20h82.51%79.30%
- 52Little Witch in the Woods$0.33/1hr42h87.40%89.08%
- 53Progressbar95$0.35/1hr11h88.12%96.14%
- 54I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.35/1hr35h89.21%96.31%
- 55Russian Life Simulator$0.36/1hr1h86.70%88.52%
- 56Volcano Princess$0.36/1hr20h95.66%97.79%
- 57VillageRhapsody$0.36/1hr8h92.34%96.87%
- 58Wobbledogs$0.37/1hr14h92.72%98.22%
- 59Chushpan Simulator$0.37/1hr2h84.55%85.54%
- 60Two Point Museum$0.38/1hr53h91.04%95.38%
- 61Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator$0.38/1hr21h91.53%92.95%
- 62WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition$0.38/1hr52h92.23%97.51%
- 63Old Market Simulator$0.39/1hr15h85.44%87.63%
- 64Chinese Parents$0.39/1hr14h89.64%91.29%
- 65Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.39/1hr9h86.31%87.49%
- 66Sengoku Dynasty$0.39/1hr35h80.59%74.75%
- 67Chef RPG$0.40/1hr38h85.05%87.83%
- 68TheoTown$0.40/1hr19h87.65%94.69%
- 69STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town$0.41/1hr24h87.60%93.37%
- 70One Hour One Life$0.41/1hr9h83.40%79.54%
- 71Critter Cove$0.41/1hr39h86.54%94.70%
- 72Tales of Seikyu$0.42/1hr42h84.30%84.43%
- 73IfSunSets$0.42/1hr29h82.36%74.72%
- 74TCG Card Shop Simulator$0.42/1hr48h94.52%96.39%
- 75Amber Isle$0.42/1hr15h85.19%82.39%
- 76Chinese Online Game$0.42/1hr15h85.40%85.60%
- 77School Days$0.45/1hr25h81.84%76.90%
- 78Farlands$0.45/1hr26h86.38%89.87%
- 79Sailwind$0.46/1hr44h85.13%88.79%
- 80Summon$0.47/1hr1h86.42%92.45%
- 81Sticky Business$0.47/1hr11h88.86%93.61%
- 82Big Ambitions$0.48/1hr44h89.26%92.03%
- 83Potionomics$0.48/1hr31h87.77%90.46%
- 84Yes, Your Grace$0.50/1hr8h86.32%87.12%
- 85Havendock$0.53/1hr11h84.02%79.26%
- 86Hello Kitty Island Adventure$0.54/1hr40h89.63%93.93%
- 87Crime Scene Cleaner$0.55/1hr39h95.33%98.10%
- 88Internet Cafe Simulator 2$0.57/1hr10h78.45%73.36%
- 89The Wandering Village$0.58/1hr26h88.62%91.97%
- 90SimRail - The Railway Simulator$0.59/1hr33h84.59%85.19%
- 91The Sims 2 Legacy Collection$0.62/1hr24h80.34%72.62%
- 92WorldBox - God Simulator$0.62/1hr32h93.82%95.33%
- 93Car For Sale Simulator$0.63/1hr12h80.64%78.50%
- 94Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game$0.65/1hr10h85.77%87.98%
- 95Cozy Caravan$0.66/1hr20h85.48%93.91%
- 96Bloomtown: A Different Story$0.67/1hr15h85.72%85.39%
- 97Minami Lane$0.67/1hr4h90.09%97.35%
- 98Growing Up$0.69/1hr10h85.18%87.63%
- 99THE GAME OF LIFE 2$0.70/1hr5h82.25%77.90%
- 100VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action$0.72/1hr14h94.79%97.27%
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.