Virtual Families 3

Virtual Families 3 is a family life simulation game for phones and tablets. You adopt a little person, find them a husband or wife, and raise their children. Then the children get the house, and the next generation starts.

Last Day of Work (LDW Software) makes the game. Wikipedia says that Arthur and Carla Humphrey started the studio in 2002, in San Francisco. The Steam page of the first game says that the studio also made the Virtual Villagers series.

The Virtual Families series

• Virtual Families came out in 2009. It is still on Steam for Windows.
• Virtual Families 2: Our Dream House came out in 2012, per Wikipedia. The Steam version came in 2018.
• Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home is the third game. Wikipedia lists it under 2020.
• Virtual Families Our New Home is a newer app from LDW Software on the App Store. Its description calls it the next step after Virtual Families 3.

The main feature of the series is the clock. The game runs in real time. Your family lives, eats, grows, and works when the app is closed. The family also uses your time zone. When it is night where you live, it is night in the game.

We checked every store page in the sources on October 28, 2026. Prices and versions change, so check the store before you buy.

Yes, the phone version of Virtual Families 3 is free to download. It has ads and in-app purchases on both the App Store and Google Play.

The App Store description says that the game “has been balanced to be playable for free and without purchasing anything.” Many reviews do not agree. Some players say that coins come too slowly without money.

What the in-app purchases cost on iPhone

The App Store shows these ten items for the US store. The store does not explain what each item does. The names suggest that most of them give money or time.

The paid console version has no purchases

The Switch and Xbox version, Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home, costs $9.99. Gogii Games publishes it. The Nintendo and Xbox pages call it “a premium experience with no micro transactions to buy.” Deku Deals shows that the price went down to $4.99 in a sale.

Yes. Virtual Families 3 is on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. Two companies sell it. LDW Software sells the phone version. Gogii Games sells the Steam, Switch, and Xbox versions.

The Switch game has the full name Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home. We found no Switch version of the first or second game. We found the first Virtual Families on Steam only. For more Switch games of this type, read our list of life simulation games on Switch.

We found no Mac version of Virtual Families 3. The Steam page lists Windows 10 only, with 512 MB of RAM and 250 MB of space.

You play Virtual Families 3 as a helper from outside the house. You do not control one person. You pick people up, drag them to a task, and buy things for the home.

The basic steps

1. Adopt a little person. The store pages say that thousands of people “live inside your mobile device.”
2. Help your person choose a husband or wife.
3. Send the adults to work. Their careers earn money for food, repairs, and decorations.
4. Have babies, or adopt children. Raise them to adults.
5. Pass the house to the children. Then guide the next generation.

Fix up the house

The house starts in bad condition. You expand and renovate it. The store page lists bedrooms, a garden, a home theater, and a game room as examples. You collect decorations for each room.

Later updates added a Mountain Resort. The Steam page says that your family takes a trip there and renovates an old resort. AI guests then visit and stay. The App Store version history also mentions a “resort event renovation.”

Answer the messages and events

Your people send you messages. They thank you, ask for help, and get sad when you do not check on them. Random events also happen, so no two families play the same way.

How to have a baby in Virtual Families 3

Drag one adult onto an adult of the opposite sex, says Touch Tap Play. If the pair wants a baby, they go to the bedroom. If they do not, open the store, tap Upgrades, and buy Adoption Services.

Sims players do this in a different way. Compare it with our guide on how to have a baby in The Sims 4.

Feed your people, praise them, and fix their problems before you send them to work. A hungry, sick, busy, or sad person does not work. The tips below come from Touch Tap Play guides from 2021 and 2022. Some details can be out of date.

Food

• Feed people before they go to work. Hunger stops a person from working.
• Give fruit and candy to a sad person. Touch Tap Play says that this cures depression.

Happiness

• Praise a person who is sad. Touch Tap Play says that praise can cure depression.
• Buy the Psychotherapy upgrade for professional help.
• Make improvements to the home. Babies also help, says the same guide.

Money

• Sell items that you do not need. Pick up the item and drag it outside the gate of your house. The game shows the price. Let go to sell it.
• Keep the adults at work. Their careers are the main income in the game.
• Watch videos for coins when the game offers them. App Store reviewers say that the number of videos has a limit.

Family trips

A family trip needs a trip event in the game. The RV appears on the gravel driveway on the right of the home. Do activities on the trip to earn trip points, and trade the points for items.

Touch Tap Play says that there are no cheat codes for Virtual Families 3. Do not install a changed APK file from an unknown site. Such files can contain malware.

Yes, if you like a small game that you check a few times a day. The phone version has a 4.8 rating on the App Store and 4.6 on Google Play. The Steam version does worse, with “Mixed” reviews.

What players complain about

We read the reviews on the App Store page. These are the common complaints:

• Slow coins. Players say that coins are hard to earn. One reviewer says that repairs, medicine, and adoption cost too much without purchases.
• Little to do. Players say that the game is mostly house and resort upgrades. They ask for school, visits to neighbors, and more care for babies.
• Limited items. Players want more furniture, colors, and clothes, and fewer items that leave the store after a short time.
• The marriage menu. You accept or skip each partner one at a time. One reviewer wants to see all of them at once.
• Bugs. Some players report crashes and errors when they open the app again without a full close.
• Children look the same. Some reviewers say that many children look alike.

A decision rule

• Choose the free phone version if you accept ads and a slow pace.
• Choose the $9.99 Switch or Xbox version if you do not want purchases at all.
• Skip the game if you want to control every action of one person. Virtual Families does not work that way.

The closest game to Virtual Families 3 is Virtual Families Our New Home, from the same studio. After that, try The Sims FreePlay. Each game below fits a different part of what Virtual Families does.

Virtual Families Our New Home

This newer LDW Software app is free on the App Store, with purchases. It also runs in real time. You adopt a family, build homes, and manage a neighborhood. Some reviewers say that its children are random and do not take traits from their parents. We checked the App Store page only.

The Sims FreePlay

EA’s free phone game is the best fit if you want more houses and more people. The App Store page says that you can keep up to 34 Sims, from babies to seniors. It has purchases and loot boxes, and it needs a network connection. Read what happened to The Sims Mobile before you pick an EA phone game. For PC options, see games like The Sims.

BitLife

BitLife is a text game. You live a whole life, a year per tap, and you make choices from a list. It is fast, not real time. It is free on the App Store, with purchases. Read what BitLife is, or see games like BitLife.

LifeSim (our game)

We make LifeSim, so read this part with that in mind. LifeSim is free, with no ads and nothing to buy. It runs in any browser at play.lifesim.com and on iPhone and iPad.

LifeSim is not a family care game like Virtual Families. You do not watch a household from above or raise generations. You live one life, a day at a time, in a real city on a 3D map of Earth. The people are AI characters with jobs, homes, and friends. You talk to them in your own words, and they remember you.

Choose LifeSim if the real-time clock is what you like most and you want to live the life yourself. Skip it if you want to build a house and a family tree. LifeSim Season 1 is in beta. Read what LifeSim is for the details.

More lists

• Games like Tomodachi Life, for small people with their own moods.
• Games like Animal Crossing, for real-time clocks and slow days.
• The best life sim games, on all platforms.

Who made Virtual Families 3?

Last Day of Work, also called LDW Software, made the phone version. Gogii Games publishes the Steam, Switch, and Xbox versions.

Does Virtual Families 3 keep going when the app is closed?

Yes. The game runs in real time. Your family lives, eats, and works when the app is off. The Switch version does the same.

Can you play Virtual Families 3 offline?

Deku Deals lists the Switch and Xbox version as one player, offline. The Steam page lists a broadband connection in the requirements. We found no clear answer for the phone version.

Is Virtual Families 3 for kids?

The App Store rates it 9+, with infrequent mature or suggestive themes. The ESRB rates the console version Everyone, with an alcohol reference.

Is there a Virtual Families 4?

We found no game with the name Virtual Families 4. The newest app from LDW Software is Virtual Families Our New Home.

What is a game where you live a whole life?

Read games where you live a life. If you want something short instead, try our list of games to play when bored.

• 3D life simulator games
• The Lagos Life game
• The best 3DS life simulation games
• The Human or AI Game
• AI Game Maker: The Free Tools in 2026
• The best life sim games in 2026
• Best simulation games
• Life sims you can play in your browser
• AI life simulator games
• AI games
• Games where you can talk to AI
• AI roleplay
• AI character generator
• Random personality generator
• Random backstory generator
• Story games
• Text based games
• Dating sim games
• Game where you live a life
• Game where you can do anything
• Games to play when bored
• Make your own superhero game
• Games like The Sims
• Games like BitLife
• Games like Stardew Valley
• Games like Animal Crossing
• Games like Tomodachi Life
• Heartopia, explained
• Tomodachi Life
• Tomodachi Life personality chart
• Tomodachi Life catchphrase generator
• Tomodachi Life island name generator
• Is there a Tomodachi Life 2?
• The best life sims on Switch and Switch 2
• What does NPC mean?
• Games like IMVU
• Games like Second Life

• Virtual Families 3 on the App Store (LDW Software, version 2.4.9)
• Virtual Families 3 on Google Play (Last Day of Work)
• Wikipedia: Last Day of Work
• Virtual Families 3 on Steam (Gogii Games)
• Virtual Families 2: Our Dream House on Steam
• Virtual Families on Steam (2009)
• Deku Deals: Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home
• Nintendo eShop: Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home
• Xbox Store: Virtual Families 3: Our Country Home
• Virtual Families Our New Home on the App Store
• Touch Tap Play: Virtual Families 3 cheats and tips (November 16, 2021)
• Touch Tap Play: How to sell items in Virtual Families 3 (May 3, 2022)
• The Sims FreePlay on the App Store
• BitLife on the App Store