Can apparently simulate a 'simple' AVR core. Although lack of pins would seem to prevent it being used as a processor. What's the tooling like for FPGAs these

Can apparently simulate a 'simple' AVR core. Although lack of pins would seem to prevent it being used as a processor. What's the tooling like for FPGAs these days? It's something I'd like to have a play with but from what I understand the software isn't conducive to a hobbyist messing around.