Steam’s newest oddity asks players to do almost nothing for 100 hours, as a banana

Steam has produced plenty of strange ideas, but this one strips the concept back even further. A newly released game is inviting players to spend up to 100 hours doing little more than existing as a banana.

That is the full joke and, apparently, the full challenge.

Banana Life Sim is a new title from Dynamic Games, released on Steam on October 23. Its pitch is unusually direct. Players become a banana, stay in a forest, and take part in what the store page describes as meditative gameplay. According to the listing, that means standing still, taking in the scenery, and carrying out the kinds of actions bananas are known for, which mostly comes down to remaining in the same spot.

In the clip below, the game’s premise matches the deadpan simplicity of its store page.

The game is currently priced at $0.69 until November 6, making it cheaper than most novelty purchases and perfectly suited to the kind of curiosity click that can turn into a viral Steam oddity. Its listed features are just as blunt as the title itself. You are a banana. You are in the forest. Other bananas are there too, along with things that are not bananas.

The real challenge is how long you can keep being a banana

What turns the joke into a time commitment is the achievement system. Banana Life Sim includes five achievements tied entirely to the act of being a banana. The first marks one hour of banana life, while the top tier rewards players who stick with it for 100 hours, a status described as godlike.

That commitment has already inspired the kind of ironic praise Steam novelty games tend to attract. In user reviews, one player joked that after spending 105 hours in the demo, they bought the full game for 69 cents, launched it, unlocked every achievement, and would happily do it again. Another leaned into the bit from a different angle, calling the visuals amazing and the plot incredible, and saying it stirred emotions they had not felt since entering the world.

The game arrives during a year that has already seen Steam make room for increasingly unusual concepts, including a platformer where only one person can play at a time and a viral release built around finding a needle in a haystack. Even by those standards, asking players to quietly exist as fruit for 100 hours is a difficult idea to ignore.

What this kind of game actually is

Games built around doing very little are usually called idle games, incremental games, or clickers. The basic idea is simple: progress happens slowly over time, often with minimal input. Some ask you to click occasionally, while others are designed to sit open and advance almost on their own.

When a game turns that formula into a joke, the point is often the absurdity. Playing as an everyday object or animal, waiting around, and unlocking progress through patience can be the whole gag. The entertainment comes less from action and more from the novelty, the deadpan humour, and the shared online reaction to something deliberately pointless.

Why people still play them

These games can appeal for a few different reasons. Some players treat them like background entertainment while they work, study, or watch videos. Others like chasing achievements, collecting cosmetic items, or seeing how long they can keep a streak going. Part of the fun is also social. Odd games spread quickly because they are easy to explain, easy to stream, and funny to show friends.

Idle games also tap into the same brain loop as progress bars, countdowns, and daily check ins. Even when very little is happening, the promise of the next unlock can keep people checking back. That does not mean they are deep or skill based. Many are intentionally lightweight and are closer to a novelty toy than a traditional game.

What to check before trying one

If you want to try an idle game, look at how it tracks progress. Some only advance while the game is open. Others continue while closed. That matters if you do not want your computer running for long periods.

Check player reviews for three practical things: whether the game uses much battery or processing power, whether progress can be lost if you close it at the wrong time, and whether any rewards are purely cosmetic or tradable. It is also worth checking if the joke stays funny after the first few minutes. Many idle games are best enjoyed as a short novelty rather than a serious time sink.

If the appeal is mainly humour, treat it like a cheap curiosity, not a major commitment.