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$0.04/1hr
  2. 2Tricolour Lovestory$0.10/1hr
  3. 3Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth$0.11/1hr
  4. 4Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales$0.12/1hr
  5. 5STEINS;GATE$0.16/1hr
  6. 6This Is the Police$0.22/1hr
  7. 7STEINS;GATE 0$0.23/1hr
  8. 8Tales of the Black Forest$0.23/1hr
  9. 9Mirror$0.25/1hr
  10. 10Persona 4 Golden$0.25/1hr
  11. 11Disco Elysium - The Final Cut$0.27/1hr
  12. 12Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet$0.28/1hr
  13. 13Library Of Ruina$0.34/1hr
  14. 14Yog-Sothoth’s Yard$0.37/1hr
  15. 15Banner of the Maid$0.39/1hr
  16. 16Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You$0.45/1hr
  17. 17Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation$0.46/1hr
  18. 18Volcano Princess$0.47/1hr
  19. 19An alt girl for skoof$0.48/1hr
  20. 20The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel$0.49/1hr
  21. 21School Days$0.49/1hr
  22. 22Tiny Bunny$0.50/1hr
  23. 23Far Away$0.53/1hr
  24. 24DRAMAtical Murder$0.57/1hr
  25. 25Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair$0.58/1hr
  26. 26The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles$0.59/1hr
  27. 27The Red Strings Club$0.59/1hr
  28. 28Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy$0.61/1hr
  29. 29Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost$0.66/1hr
  30. 30Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc$0.68/1hr
  31. 31Knowledge, or know Lady$0.74/1hr
  32. 32Fate/Samurai Remnant$0.74/1hr
  33. 33Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!$0.76/1hr
  34. 34Scarlet Hollow$0.77/1hr
  35. 35VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action$0.78/1hr
  36. 36Otaku's Adventure$0.78/1hr
  37. 37Suzerain$0.79/1hr
  38. 38Growing Up$0.79/1hr
  39. 39AI: The Somnium Files$0.80/1hr
  40. 40The Coffin of Andy and Leyley$0.83/1hr
  41. 41Raging Loop$0.83/1hr
  42. 42Coffee Talk$0.86/1hr
  43. 43Mirror 2: Project X$0.88/1hr
  44. 44Minds Beneath Us$0.89/1hr
  45. 45Vanity Fair: The Pursuit$0.90/1hr
  46. 46I Was a Teenage Exocolonist$0.93/1hr
  47. 47Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony$0.93/1hr
  48. 48OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition$0.93/1hr
  49. 49Until Then$0.93/1hr
  50. 50LoveChoice$0.96/1hr
  51. 51Nunholy$0.97/1hr
  52. 52The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty$0.98/1hr
  53. 53Love Is All Around$1.01/1hr
  54. 54Assemble with Care$1.04/1hr
  55. 55Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate$1.06/1hr
  56. 56Sanfu$1.12/1hr
  57. 57NEKOPARA Vol. 0$1.12/1hr
  58. 58Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy$1.15/1hr
  59. 59BlazBlue Centralfiction$1.22/1hr
  60. 60Firework$1.24/1hr
  61. 61魔女的夜宴$1.24/1hr
  62. 62Senren＊Banka$1.25/1hr
  63. 63MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA$1.28/1hr
  64. 64Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut$1.28/1hr
  65. 65NEKOPARA Vol. 4$1.29/1hr
  66. 66TOGETHER BnB$1.32/1hr
  67. 67Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series$1.34/1hr
  68. 68NEKOPARA Vol. 3$1.36/1hr
  69. 69Night in the Woods$1.37/1hr
  70. 70NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD$1.47/1hr
  71. 71The Wolf Among Us$1.50/1hr
  72. 72Batman - The Telltale Series$1.53/1hr
  73. 73Dreamlike Love with Seira$1.56/1hr
  74. 74StarVaders$1.57/1hr
  75. 75Winter Memories$1.58/1hr
  76. 76Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For-$1.59/1hr
  77. 77KinitoPET$1.61/1hr
  78. 78The Walking Dead: A New Frontier$1.68/1hr
  79. 79Monster Prom$1.71/1hr
  80. 80Tales from the Borderlands$1.73/1hr
  81. 81NEKOPARA Vol. 2$1.74/1hr
  82. 82To Be or Not to Be$1.79/1hr
  83. 83ATRI -My Dear Moments-$1.86/1hr
  84. 84The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante$1.87/1hr
  85. 85Mika and The Witch's Mountain$1.96/1hr
  86. 86Summer Memories$2.06/1hr
  87. 87NEKOPARA Vol. 1$2.06/1hr
  88. 88Venba$2.10/1hr
  89. 89No Case Should Remain Unsolved$2.14/1hr
  90. 90Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love$2.14/1hr
  91. 911 to 1 humanoid edible toys$2.23/1hr
  92. 92Her Story$2.40/1hr
  93. 93Harold Halibut$2.41/1hr
  94. 94American Arcadia$2.46/1hr
  95. 95The Song of Saya$2.51/1hr
  96. 96Class of '09$2.51/1hr
  97. 97Neo Cab$2.53/1hr
  98. 98Detention$2.60/1hr
  99. 99Beacon Pines$2.73/1hr
  100. 100A Bird Story$2.78/1hr

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.