Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Unemployment Simulator 2018
Samuel Lehikoinen · Published by turbolento publishing · Official site ↗
Content notice: Depiction of depression, mild nudity, alcohol consumption
Very Positive — 84% positive (147 reviews) · 9 achievements
Last updated 30 Sept 2026
Social welfare survival horror based on real events. Endure emotional pain and societal pressure. Stay entertained. Survive the routine and become the hero of your studio apartment—battle inner demons, hide skeletons in the closet, and most importantly… keep the bathroom clean.
£8.50
Lowest price we've ever recorded
View on SteamPrices can lag the live Steam store — always confirm before buying.
Price history
Adventure, Indie, Simulation, Casual · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
Experience Unemployment Simulator 2018, an indie simulation where you navigate the mundane yet harrowing realities of joblessness. Tackling personal demons and maintaining your sanity in a studio apartment, this casual adventure sim offers a unique blend of humor and heartache.
About this game
Feature List
Survival elements
Story-driven progression
Handcrafted pixel art
Comedy, drama, and maybe trauma
Original soundtrack by Wilson Tanner Smith
About the Game
How long can you survive unemployment?
The year is 2018, you are trapped in a single-bedroom apartment somewhere in an undisclosed Nordic welfare state. Your objective is to survive in the mind-numbing loop of long-term unemployment and social isolation.
The Game
Survival
You have stats to manage: the physiological needs of the body, and your mental health. Maintain high dopamine levels to avoid a literal death by boredom. Eat, drink (responsibly), use the toilet, wash yourself, hide from responsibilities, and keep yourself sufficiently entertained. Just stay alive, ok? Survive the week. It'll get better.
Story-driven
Advance through your personal story. You survived the day? Then you can go to sleep. Something's calling you. You’ll find an escape in your dreams. It’s when you sleep that you are most alive. In fact, you can be anything in your dreams. A salaryman. A husband. A hero!
Until the alarm goes off again.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: core i3
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
- Storage: 1 GB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11
- Processor: core i5
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
- Storage: 1 GB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Community & EventsOfficial
Aesthetica Film Festival: my game made it!
Big festival news! I’m very excited to announce that Unemployment Simulator 2018 will be at the 2026 Aesthetica Film Festival! As part of the Official Selection for games, US18 will be featured in the festival’s Games Lab programme and will be competing for the Best Game Award. ASFF is one of the UK’s largest film festivals, and I’ll be there in person to meet filmmakers, gamers, game designers, VFX artists, designers, and all sorts of creative people. See you there in York, November 4-8, 2026!Read full article on Community Announcements (turboloot)AnnouncementsOfficial
Soundtrack Now Available!
Indie game connoisseurs and art lovers, Composed by Wilson Tanner Smith, the official soundtrack to Unemployment Simulator 2018 is now available as additional content on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/4362500/Unemployment_Simulator_2018__Original_Soundtrack/ Whether you are an employed fan who wants to support the game a little further, or a refined listener with superb taste for rare gems, you can now get the soundtrack and listen to it everywhere. Don't miss out!Read full article on Community Announcements (turboloot)AnnouncementsOfficial
50% OFF Unemployment Simulator
Listen up everyone! It's the hottest summer ever here in Europe, but it’s also the biggest discount ever on Unemployment Simulator 2018! Don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the unemployed life from the shade of your beach umbrella (with a Steam Deck in your hands), or from the comfort of your studio apartment’s bathtub. Get the game now and cool yourself down with some ice-cold comedy and surreal horror. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45225903/4067b3f8cf1aa35817f881a26ac1672ad1d1c8ae.pngRead full article on Community Announcements (turboloot)AnnouncementsOfficial
Steam Deck approved + Baltic Showcase begins!
Unemployed people of the world! A new game update is out now, bringing the long awaited Steam Deck compatibility, controller support, and new little in-game secrets. ːsteamthumbsupː It’s no coincidence that this update is coming out today, because today also marks the start of the Steam Baltic Showcase, powered by DevGAMM and Digital Vikings. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45225903/35025ebaf9a2c1711dd469a23ec51f3f9fa7a78e.png Let's celebrate.Read full article on Community Announcements (turbolentogames)AnnouncementsOfficial
Polish, Turkish, and Thai are here!
Dear supporters of US18, This quick update is to let you all know that 3 additional languages are now available in the game. From today, more people will be able to experience the otherwise unreachable condition of being unemployed! Specifically, this update is for people in: Poland Turkey Thailand This update also brings some small bug fixes and some improvements to the controller (main menu navigation and text prompts in particular). I'm also trying to solve a Steam+Construct-related issue with the Linux build, which is preventing me from bringing the game to people who've been asking for it. I'm hopeful this will be solved in the coming weeks. Stay tuned, more news on this and other matters will arrive soon. ːsteamhappyːRead full article on Community Announcements (turbolentogames)
