Life simulation games give players the chance to slow down and build a life at their own pace. Instead of chasing high scores or fast action, these games focus on building a life, shaping a home, and watching small choices grow into long-term progress. Players plant crops, decorate rooms, build friendships, find work, or simply enjoy a quiet daily routine.
Best Simulation Games That Let You Live A Normal Life, Ranked
If you want a relaxing and relatable game, you can give one of these titles a try.
Over the years, life sims have expanded in many directions. Some create deep social systems where characters remember choices and react over time. And then there are those that offer worlds to shape and customize. This ranking focuses on life simulation games that deliver the most complete and satisfying experience.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
8 Palia
Farm, Fish, Cook, and Decorate a Personal Home in a Shared Multiplayer Environment
- Live in a shared online world focused on crafting, housing, and social life.
- Farm, cook, decorate, and build friendships with villagers.
Palia is designed as a calm online life sim where cooperation matters more than competition. Players enter a shared world where they gather resources, improve skills, and build a home at their own pace. Players spend their day farming crops, fishing, hunting small creatures, cooking meals, and crafting furniture. Personal housing plots allow detailed decoration and expansion, giving players full control over their living space.
NPC relationships are a key part of progression. Each character has a personality, background, and friendship rewards that unlock through regular interaction. Quests are more about helping the villagers rather than chasing combat or high-risk challenges.
7 Heartopia
Cozy Creative Life Sim
- Build a home, decorate freely, and enjoy relaxing daily activities.
- Lots of customization, crafting, and forming connections in a cozy world.
Heartopia is built around comfort, creativity, and slow-paced living. The game focuses on creating a personal space and shaping a peaceful lifestyle rather than chasing fast progression or difficult challenges. Players spend most of their time designing and decorating homes, collecting furniture, and customizing interiors and outdoor areas. The strong focus on visual creativity allows each space to reflect personal style.
Social interaction adds warmth to the world. Players can meet characters, build friendships, and unlock additional dialogue and story moments over time. These interactions help the environment feel welcoming and lived-in. Another pretty cool thing about Heartopia is the ability to emote. So players can express emotions like happiness, sighing, sadness, and even smugness. For players who enjoy the creative and decorative side of life sims the most, Heartopia offers a comfortable space built around self-expression and relaxation.
6 Roots of Pacha
One of the Best Cooperative Life Sims
- Build a farm and help a prehistoric village grow together.
- Discover new ideas, domesticate animals, and develop early technology.
Roots of Pacha brings a fresh twist to farming life sim by setting everything in the Stone Age. Instead of buying tools from shops, progress comes from discovery. Players experiment with crops, food processing, and materials to unlock new ideas that improve village life.
The game is big on cooperation. Resources are shared, and new developments benefit everyone rather than just the player. This creates a strong sense of teamwork as the settlement grows from a simple camp into a thriving village. Villagers have routines, preferences, and personal stories that develop through interaction. Friendship, romance, and family life add emotional depth to daily activities. There’s also exploration in Roots of Pacha. Caves contain puzzles and materials needed for progress, while seasonal festivals celebrate the village’s growth.
5 My Time At Sandrock
A Builder’s Life Sim Where Every Project Brings a Town Back to Life
- Run a workshop and rebuild a struggling desert town through crafting.
- Form friendships, romance residents, and explore ruins for resources.
My Time at Sandrock blends life sim with crafting and town development. A player arrives as a builder, taking over a workshop in a desert town that is trying to recover from hard times. Instead of simply farming or decorating, much of daily life focuses on gathering materials and building machines to improve local infrastructure.
Commissions from townspeople drive the core gameplay. These tasks involve creating tools, construction parts, and useful equipment. Completing them earns money, unlocks story events, and gradually changes the town itself. New buildings appear, services expand, and the environment becomes more lively. Also, residents follow daily routines and have their own personalities and storylines. Building friendships unlocks conversations, quests, and relationship perks. Romance, marriage, and having a baby are available, adding long-term personal goals alongside professional growth.
4 The Sims 3
The Most Complete Open World Life Sim
- Control virtual people with careers, relationships, and life goals.
- Explore a seamless open neighborhood without loading screens.
The Sims 3 stands out because it simulates daily life on a larger scale than most life games. Instead of being limited to one house, Sims can move freely around a connected neighborhood. They go to work, visit friends, shop, and take part in town activities, all within a living world that continues to change. Each Sim has traits that affect behavior, preferences, and reactions. An ambitious Sim focuses on career success while a family-oriented Sim prioritizes relationships. These traits help create natural stories without needing scripted events.
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For players seeking some immersive life sim games with brilliant graphics for the genre, these picks are just for them.
Sims grow from babies to elders, building skills, careers, and families along the way. Generations continue even as time moves forward, which gives the game a strong sense of progression. There’s also a huge level of customization in The Sims 3. Players can design homes, neighborhoods, clothing, and furniture styles in great detail.
3 Harvest Moon: Back to Nature
The Classic That Defined the Farming Life Sim Formula
- Restore a neglected farm within a limited time period.
- Build relationships, attend festivals, and start a family.
Harvest Moon is one of the most influential life sims ever made, inspiring titles like Stardew Valley, and Back to Nature is one of the best games in the series. The goal in Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is to turn the land into a successful operation within three in-game years. Daily life revolves around planting crops, watering fields, caring for livestock, and managing income. Seasons affect which crops grow, so planning ahead becomes important. Weather and time management add gentle pressure without making the experience stressful.
In the village in Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, residents have routines, preferences, and personal events that unlock as relationships improve. Giving gifts and talking regularly helps build friendships. Several characters can be married, and family life becomes part of long-term progress. What makes the game feel timeless is its balance. Farming, social life, and time management all support each other. Even decades later, its structure remains the foundation for many of today’s most popular life sims.
2 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Live a Peaceful Island Life in Real Time
- Build a custom island community that runs in real-world time.
- Collect items, decorate freely, and befriend animal villagers.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons turns everyday life into a relaxing routine. After arriving on a deserted island, players gather materials, craft tools, and slowly develop a growing community. Shops open, new villagers move in, and the island becomes more lively over time. The game follows real-world time. Days, seasons, holidays, and events happen according to the calendar. Some fish and insects appear at specific times, encouraging short daily visits instead of long grinding sessions.
Customization is where the game truly shines. Players can get more furniture and place it outdoors, reshape rivers and cliffs, and design the island layout almost completely. Homes can be expanded and decorated room by room, while custom clothing and patterns allow even more creativity. Villagers bring warmth to the experience. They chat, give gifts, celebrate events, and even react to changes around them.
1 Stardew Valley
Gold Standard for Farm Life Simulation
- Restore an old farm while building friendships in a small town.
- Grow crops, raise animals, explore mines, and live through changing seasons.
Few life sims capture the feeling of starting over as naturally as Stardew Valley. The game begins with a simple idea: leave a stressful job behind and rebuild a neglected farm. From there, the experience slowly opens up. Crops grow with the seasons, animals need care, and the land can be shaped any way the player likes. Each resident has a schedule, personality, and personal story that unfolds as friendships grow. Festivals break up the routine and make the town feel alive throughout the year. Players can also marry certain characters and even raise children, adding long-term emotional goals.
Beyond farming, there is plenty to do. The mines offer combat and rare resources, fishing requires timing and patience, and crafting machines help improve efficiency. None of these systems feels forced. Players choose their own priorities, whether that means focusing on profits, relationships, exploration, or decoration.
The 8 Best Cozy Games of All Time, Ranked
These cozy video games are perfect for players who want to unwind after a stressful day.