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After Kairosoft
Finished Kairosoft? 14 games to play next, sorted by what you loved
If you loved Kairosoft, the surest next game is another Kairosoft game. On Steam, Cafeteria Nipponica and Dream House Days DX are $8.99 each, with Korean, Japanese and English. If you want something else, pick by what hooked you. For short grow-it sessions, Pocket City ($2.99). For running a shop and its staff, Tavern Master. For watching residents live their lives, Dream House Days DX. For layout and synergy puzzles, Two Point Hospital. Nothing matches the pixel-art feel exactly.
First, the answer every Kairosoft fan gets
In a Korean gaming forum thread asking "is there a PC game like Kairosoft?", one reply says that if you like Kairosoft, the only real answer is another Kairosoft game. The reason given is that the pixel art and the particular mood can't be swapped out. That is half right, so this post starts with Kairosoft itself.
On Steam, Kairosoft games run Cafeteria Nipponica $8.99, Dream House Days DX $8.99, The Sushi Spinnery $8.99, Dungeon Village 2 $8.99, Venture Towns $8.99, Convenience Stories $12.99 and Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story $19.99. All of them list Korean, Japanese and English, and the Steam versions are Windows only.
If you want it on a phone, Cafeteria Nipponica is the easiest pick. It is out on Android, iOS, Switch and Steam, and Google Play has a free SP version (6.03K reviews, 500K+ downloads).
Which part of Kairosoft did you love? Four flavors
Most Kairosoft roundups either rank Kairosoft games against each other or collect Western management sims. We couldn't find one that splits the list by what you actually enjoyed. The table below regroups them that way, with the closest match first in each flavor.
| The part you loved | Next game | Platforms and list price (US Steam, USD) | Steam rating | UI languages (KO / JA / EN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short grow-it sessions | Pocket City | Steam, mobile $2.99 | 93% (263 reviews) | KO / JA / EN |
| Running a shop and staff | Convenience Stories | Steam $12.99 | 91% (273 reviews) | KO / JA / EN |
| Running a shop and staff | Tavern Master | Steam, Switch $14.99 | 91% of English reviews (5,184) | KO / JA / EN |
| Running a shop and staff | Recettear | Steam $19.99 | 96% of English reviews (5,542) | JA / EN (KO not listed on Steam) |
| Watching residents live | Dream House Days DX | Steam $8.99 | 81% (292 reviews) | KO / JA / EN |
| Watching residents live | Bear and Breakfast | Steam, Switch $19.99 | 89% of English reviews (3,392) | JA / EN (KO not listed on Steam) |
| Bathhouse and hot spring mood | Spirittea | Steam $19.99 | 84% (683 reviews) | KO / JA / EN |
| Layout and synergy puzzles | Two Point Hospital | Steam, consoles $29.99 | 93% of English reviews (12,748) | KO / EN (JA not listed on Steam) |
| Layout and synergy puzzles | Two Point Campus | Steam, consoles $29.99 | 89% of English reviews (2,865) | KO / EN (JA not listed on Steam) |
| Layout and synergy puzzles | Megaquarium | Steam $24.99 | 95% of English reviews (2,455) | JA / EN (KO not listed on Steam) |
| Layout and synergy puzzles | Project Highrise | Steam $19.99 | 85% of English reviews (2,266) | JA / EN (KO not listed on Steam) |
Short grow-it sessions: Pocket City, and Internet Cafe Tycoon
If you used to leave Kairosoft open on your phone for a few minutes at a time, Pocket City is the closest fit. It is a city builder with a Steam list price of $2.99 and a 93% rating (263 reviews). The sequel, Pocket City 2, is $6.99 at 93% (143 reviews) and came out on March 30, 2025. Both list Korean.
It has less character drama than Kairosoft, but the quiet, repeatable rhythm of growing something is much the same.
Running a shop and its staff: Convenience Stories, Tavern Master, Recettear
If the draw of Kairosoft shop games was arranging displays and training staff, Kairosoft's own Convenience Stories ($12.99, 91%) is exactly that flavor. You lay out shelves and products and compete with the rival store across the street.
From other developers, Tavern Master ($14.99, 91% of English reviews) follows a similar loop of expanding the shop and hiring staff. It is 3D, so the mood is different. Recettear ($19.99, 96% of English reviews, 5,542) is a pixel-art shop game from 2010 with dungeon crawling mixed in. Korean is not in its Steam language list.
Watching residents live: Dream House Days DX, Bear and Breakfast
Dream House Days DX ($8.99, 81%) is the Kairosoft game that leans most toward watching apartment residents get jobs, marry and raise kids. It follows a line that also placed high on a Japanese fan-vote ranking site.
Outside Kairosoft, Bear and Breakfast ($19.99, 89% of English reviews, 3,392) has similar guest satisfaction and facility growth, but a larger 3D adventure part. Steam does not list Korean for it, though Japanese is there.
Bathhouse and hot spring mood: Spirittea
If you want the hot spring management feel of Hot Springs Story, try Spirittea ($19.99, 84%, 683 reviews). It is 2D pixel art and mixes exploring the town with management, so it feels a little different from Kairosoft. Korean is listed.
We covered Hot Springs Story itself in our earlier post, "7 Games Like Game Dev Story."
Layout and synergy puzzles: Two Point, Megaquarium, Project Highrise
If the fun was fixture placement and staff combos, look at Two Point Hospital ($29.99) and Two Point Campus ($29.99). They grow a hospital and a school, and Two Point Campus is a school management game just like Kairosoft's Pocket Academy. The tone is comic. They are 3D, far more complex and take much longer. Korean is on Steam's language list for both, Japanese is not.
Megaquarium ($24.99, 95% of English reviews) is about matching the creatures in your tanks, and Project Highrise ($19.99, 85% of English reviews) is about filling the floors of a tower. Neither lists Korean on Steam. Prison Architect ($29.99) gets recommended often in Korean and Japanese posts, but the subject is heavy, and its overall rating is 88% while the last 30 days sit at 29% (346 reviews), so check the latest reviews before you buy.
What Internet Cafe Tycoon feels like, and where it falls short
The game we make, Internet Cafe Tycoon, sits between "short grow-it sessions" and "running a shop." You start with ₩5,000 and six used PCs and keep putting earnings back into seats. In our own run, 15 in-game days (30 real minutes) gets you to stage 3, Downtown Café.
The weak spots are clear too. It isn't pixel art, so it has none of Kairosoft's mood. The 3 minutes or so spent saving for the first PC leaves your hands idle, and after stage 3 the thresholds jump: ₩1,800,000 total revenue for stage 4 and ₩10,000,000 for stage 5. It is a new release, so it has no store ratings yet.
How to choose, in order
Going down this list should cut your chance of regretting a purchase.
- If the mood has to match, stay inside Kairosoft. For a first one, Cafeteria Nipponica or Dream House Days DX ($8.99 each).
- If you will play in short bursts on a phone, start with Pocket City or the free Cafeteria Nipponica version.
- If you liked shops and staff, Convenience Stories. If you liked watching people, Dream House Days DX.
- If you want a deeper layout puzzle, the Two Point series. The list price is $29.99, so waiting for a sale is fine.
- If you need Korean, only look at rows where the UI languages column includes KO.
How we picked these, and the limits
On October 25, 2026 we checked list prices, ratings and supported languages on each Steam store page. Prices are US store prices in dollars, so they may differ in other regions, and games on sale are listed at their regular price.
Steam rating percentages use mixed bases. The Kairosoft titles, Spirittea and Pocket City use all reviews, and the rest use English reviews, so don't compare numbers within the same column at face value. We couldn't confirm mobile store star ratings, so we left them out.
FAQ
What are some games like Kairosoft?
It depends on what you liked. For short grow-it sessions, Pocket City. For running a shop and staff, Tavern Master. For watching residents live, Dream House Days DX. For layout puzzles, Two Point Hospital. If the pixel-art mood matters most, another Kairosoft game is the closest answer.
Which Kairosoft game is best to start with?
Many people start with Cafeteria Nipponica or Dream House Days DX, both $8.99 on Steam. Cafeteria Nipponica is also on Android and iOS, and Google Play has a free SP version you can try first.
Can you play Kairosoft games on PC?
Steam has Cafeteria Nipponica, Dream House Days DX, Convenience Stories, Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story and more. All the Steam versions we checked are Windows only and list Korean, Japanese and English.
Which similar games support Korean or Japanese?
Korean is on the Steam language list for Pocket City, Tavern Master, Spirittea, Two Point Hospital, Two Point Campus, Prison Architect and the Kairosoft Steam titles. Recettear, Megaquarium, Project Highrise and Bear and Breakfast do not list Korean. Japanese is listed for all of these except the two Two Point games.
Is Internet Cafe Tycoon like Kairosoft?
The loop of putting earnings back into fixtures to grow a shop is similar, but it has none of the pixel-art mood. It suits you when you want a short phone session. The fun of making games and the character stories are weaker.
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