Virtual life games you can play free

“Virtual life” means two quite different things, and it is worth deciding which one you want before you download anything.

The first is the life simulator: you run a person’s life, usually alone. Their job, their home, their friends, their bad decisions. The second is the live virtual world: you are the person, as an avatar, and the other people are real players. Some games do a bit of both.

Below are our picks of free virtual life games in each style, with the platform, price model and age rules checked against the sources at the bottom of the page.

Life simulators: you run the life

The Sims 4

The famous one. EA released The Sims 4 in 2014 and made the base game free to play on 18 October 2022, on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. You build households, homes and careers and watch your Sims muddle through. Expansion packs cost money, and it is mostly a game you play on your own. If you like this side of virtual life, our life simulator games online page goes further.

AJ’s story in AJ Cities

Our own game, so take this as our view. AJ’s story is a single-player story inside AJ Cities, a free 18+ open-world game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, that runs in your web browser on a phone or a computer. There is no sign-in.

It is not a sandbox sim. It is one particular life, and a hard one: AJ is two weeks back from London after being deported, broke, living in Room 3 of a face-me-I-face-you rooming house called Iloro House, and the police at the estate gate will not let him out until he has paid them ₦2,500,000, a little at a time. To get it, he works as a ball boy at the street football in the bush (₦1,000 a break), bets on the matches, and talks to his neighbours: Chuks at his coal pot, Funke next door, Sarge at the gatehouse. The sky follows the real Lagos sun and people keep their own routines. It is a virtual life where you feel every naira.

Live worlds: you live the life with other people

Second Life

The original. Launched by Linden Lab in June 2003, Second Life lets residents own land, build homes, make and sell things for Linden Dollars, and spend time with each other. A basic account is free; Premium is paid. You install a viewer on Windows or macOS (mobile apps are in beta), and accounts are for 16 and over. See games like Second Life.

Avakin Life

The phone-first take on the same idea. Lockwood Publishing’s Avakin Life is free with in-app purchases and a VIP subscription, built around your avatar, your wardrobe and your home. It is on iPhone and Android, and since 27 May 2026 on Steam for Windows, with progress shared. Apple rates it 13+. See games like Avakin Life.

IMVU

Running since 2004: 3D avatars, a big community-made clothing catalogue and rooms to spend time in. Free to start with credits and VIP subscriptions; Apple lists the app at 16+ at the time of writing (October 2026).

Party mode in AJ Cities

The live side of our game. Sign in (you must be 18 or over), pick a male or female character, and you arrive outside the main gate of Abraham Adesyan Estate with other real players. Change your hair, skin tone and clothes free at the salon and clothes shop, ask the police to let you in (most nights about four in five who ask get in free), and spend the evening on June 12 Street, at the football pitch, on the beach or at Prizm, the estate’s club house, where Joe-Izzy plays every night from 9 pm Lagos time. To be clear, this is all inside the game: there is no real venue, date or ticket. Up to 60 players share each live estate.

Side by side

A note on money

Every pick on this page is free to start, but they make money in different ways. The Sims 4 sells expansion packs. Second Life sells Premium and its Linden Dollars can be bought with real money. Avakin Life and IMVU sell in-game currency and VIP subscriptions. In AJ Cities, money paid in the game buys tickets and shop items only, and it is called a “donation to improve service”, in keeping with the gate police.

Which kind should you play?

If you like control, building a family and a house from scratch, start with The Sims 4. If you want a story about a life with real stakes, try AJ’s story. If you want company, pick a live world: Second Life for depth, Avakin Life for a phone, or AJ Cities if you want to be in a Lagos street with other players in a browser tab, no download.

AJ Cities lets you do both from the same page. Open ajcities.com and choose Play AJ’s story or Party at the estate. The game is free; in party mode, optional tickets from ₦250 last 24 hours and open more of the estate. See how to play for your first ten minutes.

What is a virtual life game?

Either a life simulator, where you run a character’s life, like The Sims 4, or a live virtual world, where you are an avatar among other players, like Second Life or Avakin Life.

Is The Sims 4 free?

The base game has been free to play since 18 October 2022 on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Expansion packs are paid.

Can I play a virtual life game in a browser?

Yes. AJ Cities runs in a web browser on phones and computers, with a single-player story and a live estate with other players. It is free and 18+.