I’ll have to go back and check it out! Thanks for the recommendation! I’m almost done FireRed. I’m planning on playing through the entire series throughout the summer/however long it take me to beat it. I’d like to eventually catch up to the modern day games. I know they aren’t well received but I snagged a copy of Sword and Scarlet off marketplace for $23 each. So I’m excited to play those.
Also a great call. I'm really enjoying Season 4 and got my toon to the point where I basically walk on screen and everything vaporizes. No interest in pushing high nightmare dungeons or Pit tiers, but am perfectly content to just run around and feel like a demigod.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 easily fits that description. Yeah, I know it sounds like a meme game, but no meme game can reach an Overwhelmingly Positive score with 600k reviews
Microsoft Flight Sim is also good, but they are releasing an improved version later this year, so maybe wait for that
Finally, it seems that you like management games, you could give Rimworld a try. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you make sure your colony won't die in the winter, the game becomes stress-free (especially if you disable raids)
Le me
Sees Euro Truck Simulator
WTF is that game? Just go point A to B? That's fckin boring
Le me buys steering wheel for pc for practice driving
Installs the game
Unknowningly spends hours per day driving
Wtf
I second rimworld but what I do is play rimworld normally with YouTube on but then when a raid happens I just pause my video while I deal with the raid but 90% of the time it is relatively relaxing.
Power Wash Simulator is good for this, because the audio is mostly just background noise and the hum of the pressure washer, so it's not like you are missing out on a killer soundtrack or any dialogue.
I can’t play this game near my wife, she almost murders me “You are cleaning a house for fun?! You know we have a power washer in real life, right?” Then some joke about Vacuum Simulator, or something, 😀😍
Me and three of my buddies played this close to launch and did the playground as our first job.
About thirty minutes in, my wife walks in and asks the following:
“Why are you cleaning a playground? Why are you laughing so much? Why is there 90’s country music playing loudly (one of the other guys was blaring it through discord)? This is stupid.”
One of my buddies I was playing with said he didn’t want to play anymore because he felt like he got off work just to go back to work.
We haven’t touched it since, but still have a laugh about the one time we did.
Game is surprising addictive too, super relaxing stress free just power washing a virtual backyard instead of just doing my haha.
But yeah this game has no real audio besides the power washer. Nothing to think about besides what nozzle or solution to use.
I’ve been listening to audio books playing it, highly recommend.
My go-to game right now is Balatro, the poker roguelike. Perfect for having stream on the other monitor. More fun and engaging than an auto clicker but perfectly designed for multitasking. Balatro is my GOTY 2024 unless something comes and takes the mantle. Be warned, though, Balatro hits like crack, and you will be telling yourself one more run throughout an unexpected 12 hour sesh.
Balatro is worse than Crack. I've skipped a couple if nights just because I keep on pressing "new run" trying to beat the last stake on that yellow deck.
I play it while watching Netflix, but a lot of the times eventually all attention goes to Balatro.
My only criticism is that the 1 in 4 chance tarot card is a scam preying on my simple mind.
My first thought, you can basically play this game on your phone or using one of the clients that will basically give you a notification when the tree is chopped down or you emptied the rock for ore, etc.
Best games for me that I used for listening to audiobooks and podcasts are Elite: Dangerous and Snowrunner (tune down the engines sounds a bit).
Hunter Call of the Wild also worked ok tho I had to pause once in a while to listen to the game.
Snowrunner is amazing for this. It's got the perfect balance of challenge and brainlessness. It's not so devoid of thinking that you lose interest. The moment to moment gameplay requires just enough focus to be engaging but it isn't high paced or white knuckled. Yet, you're usually just driving slowly and vibing. One of my favourites.
Can definitely second Snowrunner. I'm not a car/truck/earth moving equipment type person so it took me a minute to pull the trigger buying it but I'm glad I did. I wanted games to do similar things for similar reasons. If I want something more active than tv but don't want something plot heavy and want to be able to do it when my brain is mush or if I'm watching a basketball game.
Haven't played it for 4 years. I loved exploring while listening to audiobooks. Everytime I think about redownload it I realize that the game is dead without future and I get sad. 😀
Still fun to mindlessly grind and work towards your goals! Redownloaded after 6 years and am working on building Federation rep for that sweet Corvette
Player count on osrs is currently at its highest of all time and RS3 is at its lowest of all time. I think that describes the state of the two games pretty well.
I find it can work for any game if you are just doing side content you don’t really care about. Clearing out maps in assassins creed Valhalla is the first one that comes to mind
Maybe they don't exactly fit the description, but these are the games I like to play while listening to podcasts/watching video essays:
- Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Counter Strike 2 only arms race gamemode
- Rocket League only 1v1 so I don't mess up other people's game if I don't pay 100% attention
- Trackmania
- Trial Fusion or any other from the franchise
- Forza Horizon
- Minesweeper
Path of exile, or torchlight infinite. Path may take 110% brain to set up but afterwards, can no brain and even just not look at the screen. Torchlight infinite has the benefit of seamlessly being able to pick it up on pc, phone, steam deck, whatever and takes no brain power whatsoever. Or maybe something like ffxiv professions.. I like these because I'll be grinding for something I can use when I want to focus on the game
You mentioned Factorio have you played Satisfactory? It's my personal favorite factory builder. Also recommend Runescape. There are things that need some attention but you can do a whole lot with minimal effort
Yeah snow runner is absolutely this game for me. Love playing it with friends. It’s so dumb, it’s sooo dumb, I get it, and yet I’ll look up and have played 5 hours more than I wanted to.
People already mentioned my top picks (Balatro & PowerWash Simulator), so I'll just add House Flipper and Viscera Cleanup Detail as good secondary options.
Pokemon
Power Wash Simulator
Diablo 4 (post campaign)
Satisfactory
Any Idle games - Currently playing Unnamed Space Idle, there's also NGU Idle, Wizard and Minions Idle, Melvore Idle, etc etc, most of these are free.
I have the same thing but I basically just play anything. I’ve been liking Elden ring with it, enter the gungeon is good with it, any open world game, roguelikes like hades or balatro, basically any game that doesn’t require audio is something you can put on for. Might take some getting used to in terms of taking in both at once, but it’s a matter of knowing when to focus up on the respective media
A few games I can think of are:
Powerwash simulator
BTD6 (Bloons Tower Defense 6)
Legends of Runeterra (Path of Champions Mode. Also this is a mobile game).
- Football Manager
- Rocket League
- League of LEGENDS / Dota
- FIFA / NBA2K
- Hearts of Iron, Victoria, basically every Paradox or strategic game.
Note: It doesn't mean that you can play these games without paying attention at all, but I usually just turn off the sound and listen to music or podcasts while playing.
Survival Games make an absolutely perfect partner for podcasts as they have almost no narrative. Valheim, Grounded or anything similar make ideal podcast companions in my experience.
Against the Storm - it's a city building type game, but totally pause-able and there's never any "oh crap! gotta click as fast AF!" moment or anything.
I usually play when I watch TV!
As already mentioned Power Wash simulator is a strangely addictive and relaxing game that hits the spot for a mindless experience while listening to a podcast.
Playing Captain of industry at the moment, its like factorio but less demanding I would say. Enjoyable play. I also really enjoy Riftbreaker but its quite demanding during alien attacks.
I listened to so much shit playing path of exile. Your going to die anyway no matter how alert you are, how defensive you are, etc. Fun game if you like diablo games despite me not playing it anymore.
Civilization requires brain, but I binged a stupid amount of Lex Fridman's podcasts while playing. Specially when in an advanced game that turns take sometimes close to a minute.
I usually like speed running some older games that I love like far cry 1, half-life 1 and 2, mirrors edge. The community maps on portal 2 are great for this and city building games like cities skylines or roller coaster tycoon 3. And just die already is like goat simulator but for old people.
Once you settle into the swing of things, the monster hunter games are pretty easy to grind in and listen to something. If you have to *watch* the thing on YouTube with your eyes though that might not work, but listening is alright
Manor Lords should fit. There are some stuff to do at the beginning but you can chill easily after that. It is playable without audio.
I know it's very niche but if you like true rogue-like, there is [Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup](https://crawl.develz.org/). The game has no audio. It's turn based so if you do no input, the game is just in pause mode. And there is an auto-explore button. The game is not pretty, but it's quite deep in possibilities. You can become a lich for example.
When you're focused on just building up infrastructure and and completing deliveries outside those that progress the main story, Death Stranding is quite good for this.
Death Stranding is my go-to when I want a relaxing game that still feels AAA/like an actual game.
People rag on it for being a walking/inventory management game, but throwing on a podcast and doing deliveries is the chillest thing ever (unless passing through an area with the ghosts and shit). I only ever pause my podcast for the story parts (the story was excellent to me and I’m beyond hyped for DS2).
Seriously, just plan your route, pack your inventory for the trip, throw on a podcast, and just traverse the gorgeous terrain. Pure chill.
As a guy who loves podcasts but is really picky about not picking up on something in either the game or the podcast, I’d love to present to you the single greatest game for this type of multitasking…powerwasher simulator.
It’s on gamepass and I’m kind of embarrassed at the amount of time i dumped into it. My gamepass has expired and I’m just waiting for it to be five or more dollars off on a sale and it’s an instant buy
All games in my opinion. I always have a YouTube video playing when I'm gaming except for particularly intense or important moments. Even competitive ones, who cares.
The Binding of Isaac is my go-to when I want to listen to music or a podcast. Once you're good enough, you can just turn your brains off and enjoy yourself
Completing the map on Far Cry and AC games (except for quests), doing jobs in Horizon Forbidden West and slaughtering everything I see in Ghost of Tsushima in new game +
The slime rancher games are fun and I often play them while listening to stuff. I listen to stuff while I game arguably more often than not haha.
I like Subnautica as well for this but maybe that’s more controversial. Sims also is a huge time suck and fun to play while multitasking.
BO3 Zombies. There's plenty of maps where you can camp to high rounds efficiently with minimal attention/focus. It's been my Go to Podcast game for months, but I know the game like the back of my hand so it's all just 2nd nature.
If you're familiar with it already, it's a great option. Round based with no objective is perfect for podcasts, just keep playing until the podcasts are over.
I do this exact same thing with Hardspace Shipbreaker. I listen to GDC talks and other documentaries while disassembling ships. Audio is on (because the sound of the laser is really satisfying) but it doesn't need to be.
I've been enjoying V Rising lately, a nice little RPG/Crafting/Survival game. Loads of depth to it, but you can tailor the experience you want and it definitely lends itself to what you're looking for
I play Pokemon while watching tv, it's the only game I can just grind without thinking about it too much
This 100%, I don’t know why but I’m deep in the Pokémon rabbit hole right now. I haven’t played since OG Red and now 27 years later here I am haha
Same here! I’ve been trying to get level 10 Pokédex on Arceus. Just finished the Pokédex in violet and scarlet
I’m actually playing OG Yellow now feels good to go back to the OG games now didn’t really like Violet
What are you playing it on?
Go play Yellow Legacy and Crystal Legacy. Best romhacks I've played.
I’ll have to go back and check it out! Thanks for the recommendation! I’m almost done FireRed. I’m planning on playing through the entire series throughout the summer/however long it take me to beat it. I’d like to eventually catch up to the modern day games. I know they aren’t well received but I snagged a copy of Sword and Scarlet off marketplace for $23 each. So I’m excited to play those.
Nice. Which Pokémon game(s) do you play?
Platinum and B/W 1+2 were my favorites, think platinum is the consensus favorite ds Pokémon
You could try PokeMMO as a solo :)
Vampire Survivors is my go to for this. Not a huge mental drain but my monkey brain sees 10000 mobs die and is satisfied.
Same for diablo 4. I'm not doing. The hardest stuff but brain sees big numbers and things dying and is very happy.
Also a great call. I'm really enjoying Season 4 and got my toon to the point where I basically walk on screen and everything vaporizes. No interest in pushing high nightmare dungeons or Pit tiers, but am perfectly content to just run around and feel like a demigod.
Brotato is great for this as well
Beat me to it. Also MLB the Show.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 easily fits that description. Yeah, I know it sounds like a meme game, but no meme game can reach an Overwhelmingly Positive score with 600k reviews Microsoft Flight Sim is also good, but they are releasing an improved version later this year, so maybe wait for that Finally, it seems that you like management games, you could give Rimworld a try. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you make sure your colony won't die in the winter, the game becomes stress-free (especially if you disable raids)
Le me Sees Euro Truck Simulator WTF is that game? Just go point A to B? That's fckin boring Le me buys steering wheel for pc for practice driving Installs the game Unknowningly spends hours per day driving Wtf
I'm so glad this le me stuff died
Le you
Any open world driving games really. Forza Horizon 4 and 5 fit the bill quite nicely. Also Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (Sept release)
This comment just casually recommending operating heavy machinery while distracted by YouTube. /s
I second rimworld but what I do is play rimworld normally with YouTube on but then when a raid happens I just pause my video while I deal with the raid but 90% of the time it is relatively relaxing.
Okay how tf is SnowRunner not in the replies, that game is basically my favorite game from 2020
Power Wash Simulator is good for this, because the audio is mostly just background noise and the hum of the pressure washer, so it's not like you are missing out on a killer soundtrack or any dialogue.
I can’t play this game near my wife, she almost murders me “You are cleaning a house for fun?! You know we have a power washer in real life, right?” Then some joke about Vacuum Simulator, or something, 😀😍
Me and three of my buddies played this close to launch and did the playground as our first job. About thirty minutes in, my wife walks in and asks the following: “Why are you cleaning a playground? Why are you laughing so much? Why is there 90’s country music playing loudly (one of the other guys was blaring it through discord)? This is stupid.” One of my buddies I was playing with said he didn’t want to play anymore because he felt like he got off work just to go back to work. We haven’t touched it since, but still have a laugh about the one time we did.
This is the right recommendation this game makes you go out and clean your room once you are done
Game is surprising addictive too, super relaxing stress free just power washing a virtual backyard instead of just doing my haha. But yeah this game has no real audio besides the power washer. Nothing to think about besides what nozzle or solution to use. I’ve been listening to audio books playing it, highly recommend.
That game hurts my finger holding the jetwash button down for so long
I’m sure there is a setting for this, it’s very customizable
You can press left on the direction pad (I think left) for a continuous spray
My go-to game right now is Balatro, the poker roguelike. Perfect for having stream on the other monitor. More fun and engaging than an auto clicker but perfectly designed for multitasking. Balatro is my GOTY 2024 unless something comes and takes the mantle. Be warned, though, Balatro hits like crack, and you will be telling yourself one more run throughout an unexpected 12 hour sesh.
Hades has made me realize that rogue likes don’t suck, it’s next on my list. I imagine I’ll be done with Hades in a few thousand hours.
yea Balatro rules! I love how it doesnt rush me at all and just lets do do whatever at my own pace!
Balatro is perfect... I even watched Shogun while playing it, it made me miss 95% of the dialogue. 🥹
Sounds like exactly the opposite of the type of game being asked for. To be fair, Shogun required all my attention.
I concentrate so hard trying to maximize my score I don't pay attention to anything else. Lol
Balatro is worse than Crack. I've skipped a couple if nights just because I keep on pressing "new run" trying to beat the last stake on that yellow deck. I play it while watching Netflix, but a lot of the times eventually all attention goes to Balatro. My only criticism is that the 1 in 4 chance tarot card is a scam preying on my simple mind.
Diablo games
But don’t be on hardcore lol
Blizzard games in general really. Probably the main reason I played wow for so long was so I could watch shows while playing
RuneScape is perfect for this
r/2007scape
Gonna second this. Go with oldschool RuneScape and use an HD plug-in on runelite if you have the computer for it.
I probably watched most of imdb top 250 while grinding on rs back in the day
Was looking for this. Dating myself here but nothing else scratches the itch like osrs for me
My first thought, you can basically play this game on your phone or using one of the clients that will basically give you a notification when the tree is chopped down or you emptied the rock for ore, etc.
Best games for me that I used for listening to audiobooks and podcasts are Elite: Dangerous and Snowrunner (tune down the engines sounds a bit). Hunter Call of the Wild also worked ok tho I had to pause once in a while to listen to the game.
Snowrunner is amazing for this. It's got the perfect balance of challenge and brainlessness. It's not so devoid of thinking that you lose interest. The moment to moment gameplay requires just enough focus to be engaging but it isn't high paced or white knuckled. Yet, you're usually just driving slowly and vibing. One of my favourites.
Hutton Orbital run. Jump in, accelerate until you're safe, do something else for quite a while, profit. They nerfed the payoff, though.
I wish Elite Dangerous wasn’t abandoned on console - I have to just imagine how amazing it is
Can definitely second Snowrunner. I'm not a car/truck/earth moving equipment type person so it took me a minute to pull the trigger buying it but I'm glad I did. I wanted games to do similar things for similar reasons. If I want something more active than tv but don't want something plot heavy and want to be able to do it when my brain is mush or if I'm watching a basketball game.
I used to haul shit around Sothis and Ceos. It was good money. Made me rich. Damn I should redownload ED and play it. 😂
Haven't played it for 4 years. I loved exploring while listening to audiobooks. Everytime I think about redownload it I realize that the game is dead without future and I get sad. 😀
Damn that’s the exact feeling I get every time I redownload it too, thank you for reminding me before I spent time downloading it again 😂
Still fun to mindlessly grind and work towards your goals! Redownloaded after 6 years and am working on building Federation rep for that sweet Corvette
The game is dead? I swear it was being updated not too long ago but I guess it’s been a while since I played last
I’m just glad I finally got the corvette I always wanted. Idk if I can go back at this point.
RuneScape. Point, click, watch Youtube, repeat.
Old school RuneScape specifically.
Does anyone actually play new Runescape? I never hear anyone talk about it
Player count on osrs is currently at its highest of all time and RS3 is at its lowest of all time. I think that describes the state of the two games pretty well.
I
powerwash simulator
The entire sub-genre of "Simulators" are great podcast games: Powerwash, Car Mechanic, House Flipper, etc.
I played a ton of Enter the gungeon and vampire survivors while listening to podcasts.
etg is good for rhat
I find it can work for any game if you are just doing side content you don’t really care about. Clearing out maps in assassins creed Valhalla is the first one that comes to mind
Maybe they don't exactly fit the description, but these are the games I like to play while listening to podcasts/watching video essays: - Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Counter Strike 2 only arms race gamemode - Rocket League only 1v1 so I don't mess up other people's game if I don't pay 100% attention - Trackmania - Trial Fusion or any other from the franchise - Forza Horizon - Minesweeper
Balatro. Brotato.
No mans sky?
Path of exile, or torchlight infinite. Path may take 110% brain to set up but afterwards, can no brain and even just not look at the screen. Torchlight infinite has the benefit of seamlessly being able to pick it up on pc, phone, steam deck, whatever and takes no brain power whatsoever. Or maybe something like ffxiv professions.. I like these because I'll be grinding for something I can use when I want to focus on the game
You mentioned Factorio have you played Satisfactory? It's my personal favorite factory builder. Also recommend Runescape. There are things that need some attention but you can do a whole lot with minimal effort
Forza Horizon. I’m loving XDefiant right now too.
for some reason I cannot listen to anything else when I play FPS games, i get too focused in doing the right plays and getting kills😭
Euro Truck Simulator 2 is perfect while listening to podcast or radio
American Truck Simulator, same reasons. Snowrunner & its earlier games, similar reasons
Yeah snow runner is absolutely this game for me. Love playing it with friends. It’s so dumb, it’s sooo dumb, I get it, and yet I’ll look up and have played 5 hours more than I wanted to.
Maybe some card game? Once you figure out the meta you can play it casualy. I do it with pokemon tcg.
World of Warcraft. Especially Classic Era.
People already mentioned my top picks (Balatro & PowerWash Simulator), so I'll just add House Flipper and Viscera Cleanup Detail as good secondary options.
Pokemon Power Wash Simulator Diablo 4 (post campaign) Satisfactory Any Idle games - Currently playing Unnamed Space Idle, there's also NGU Idle, Wizard and Minions Idle, Melvore Idle, etc etc, most of these are free.
Any MMORPG game, really.
Any driving or racing game is perfect for this.
Monster hunter rise is pretty good for this
I have the same thing but I basically just play anything. I’ve been liking Elden ring with it, enter the gungeon is good with it, any open world game, roguelikes like hades or balatro, basically any game that doesn’t require audio is something you can put on for. Might take some getting used to in terms of taking in both at once, but it’s a matter of knowing when to focus up on the respective media
Any ARPG
Snowrunner is my chill game.
MMOs for me once I learn the basics
Definitely RuneScape (specifically osrs)
Shipbreaker (once you've played a bit and can ignore the radio, taking apart the ships carefully becomes so relaxing imo) Starstruck Vagabond
Diablo!
A few games I can think of are: Powerwash simulator BTD6 (Bloons Tower Defense 6) Legends of Runeterra (Path of Champions Mode. Also this is a mobile game).
Dragon Quest 11 It's extremely relaxing to go through that behemoth of a game while listening to podcasts or watching something on the side
Powewash Simulator melts time.
Grim Dawn or any other arpg really.
- Football Manager - Rocket League - League of LEGENDS / Dota - FIFA / NBA2K - Hearts of Iron, Victoria, basically every Paradox or strategic game. Note: It doesn't mean that you can play these games without paying attention at all, but I usually just turn off the sound and listen to music or podcasts while playing.
What about No Mans Sky? You can play it single player and it is just soo soothing
Survival Games make an absolutely perfect partner for podcasts as they have almost no narrative. Valheim, Grounded or anything similar make ideal podcast companions in my experience.
Against the Storm - it's a city building type game, but totally pause-able and there's never any "oh crap! gotta click as fast AF!" moment or anything. I usually play when I watch TV!
Session, Skate XL, Steep, Riders republic, vampire survivors, American/euro truck simulator, the sims, Forza horizon, ranch simulator
Btw you can play skate 3 with xbox cloud gaming on PC
As already mentioned Power Wash simulator is a strangely addictive and relaxing game that hits the spot for a mindless experience while listening to a podcast.
Basically anything that's not story driven.
Playing Captain of industry at the moment, its like factorio but less demanding I would say. Enjoyable play. I also really enjoy Riftbreaker but its quite demanding during alien attacks.
bloons TD6 is exactly what your looking for, just don't play on chimps or anything and you'll be able to play without thinking too much.
FM24
Guild Wars 2
RuneScape and OldSchool RuneScape both have loads of AFK activities
Elite: Dangerous for sure.
Loop Hero
Hardspace Shipbreaker. Absolutely addictive gameloop and minimal overarching storyline.
Simulation games like FM24 and OOTP25, Slay the spire or balatro deck builders. Turn based games
Runescape
I listened to so much shit playing path of exile. Your going to die anyway no matter how alert you are, how defensive you are, etc. Fun game if you like diablo games despite me not playing it anymore.
Frostpunk, or any other city builder/simulation games with pause feature.
Open world driving games: Forza Horizon 4 and 5 Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. Nothing like cruising around town at high speeds mindlessly
Civilization requires brain, but I binged a stupid amount of Lex Fridman's podcasts while playing. Specially when in an advanced game that turns take sometimes close to a minute.
I usually like speed running some older games that I love like far cry 1, half-life 1 and 2, mirrors edge. The community maps on portal 2 are great for this and city building games like cities skylines or roller coaster tycoon 3. And just die already is like goat simulator but for old people.
Slime rancher
Once you settle into the swing of things, the monster hunter games are pretty easy to grind in and listen to something. If you have to *watch* the thing on YouTube with your eyes though that might not work, but listening is alright
Snow runner
Dark Souls 3
Slay the spire
Manor Lords should fit. There are some stuff to do at the beginning but you can chill easily after that. It is playable without audio. I know it's very niche but if you like true rogue-like, there is [Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup](https://crawl.develz.org/). The game has no audio. It's turn based so if you do no input, the game is just in pause mode. And there is an auto-explore button. The game is not pretty, but it's quite deep in possibilities. You can become a lich for example.
Snowrunner
When you're focused on just building up infrastructure and and completing deliveries outside those that progress the main story, Death Stranding is quite good for this.
Death Stranding is my go-to when I want a relaxing game that still feels AAA/like an actual game. People rag on it for being a walking/inventory management game, but throwing on a podcast and doing deliveries is the chillest thing ever (unless passing through an area with the ghosts and shit). I only ever pause my podcast for the story parts (the story was excellent to me and I’m beyond hyped for DS2). Seriously, just plan your route, pack your inventory for the trip, throw on a podcast, and just traverse the gorgeous terrain. Pure chill.
As a guy who loves podcasts but is really picky about not picking up on something in either the game or the podcast, I’d love to present to you the single greatest game for this type of multitasking…powerwasher simulator. It’s on gamepass and I’m kind of embarrassed at the amount of time i dumped into it. My gamepass has expired and I’m just waiting for it to be five or more dollars off on a sale and it’s an instant buy
Zelda BotW/TotK Elden Ring Monster Hunter
Farming Simulator
Balatro
Cities skylines
All new AC games. Played through Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla while watching series
Any ARPG like Diablo, Path of Exile, Grim dawn. I spend so much time grinding POE with the game muted while watching YouTube.
Get gamepass, many games are on there to listen to like powerwash and such
I'll recommend an idle game Rusty's Retirement.
BTD6. Plague Inc. Probably any simulator game.
Rimworld. Factorio
All games in my opinion. I always have a YouTube video playing when I'm gaming except for particularly intense or important moments. Even competitive ones, who cares.
World of warcraft, fallout 76
If you want a really fun game I'd recommend Goat Simulator 3, it's really dumb fun to waste some time, it even has multiplayer
Rimworld
Loop hero?
Balatro - sorry for doing this to you.
Horizon Chase 2
If you enjoy peggle you should try peglin. It's an interesting take on the same game mechanics
Palia! And it's free to play!
Idk if its on steam because I play on xbox, but earth defence force is good mindless fun
Power Wash Simulator Vampire Survivors Slay The Spire Octopath Traveler
Factorio
Definitely Destiny 2 or ubisoft ow games
Once you get the hang of it crusader kings or hearts of iron 4.
Destiny, Diablo.
I put games on mute. Rocket League, Mario Maker
The Binding of Isaac is my go-to when I want to listen to music or a podcast. Once you're good enough, you can just turn your brains off and enjoy yourself
Completing the map on Far Cry and AC games (except for quests), doing jobs in Horizon Forbidden West and slaughtering everything I see in Ghost of Tsushima in new game +
1: Power Washing Simulator 2: Lawn Mowing Simulator 3: Trailmakers 4: Car Mechanic Simulator 5: Hardspace ShipBreaker 6: Any Farming Sim 7: Cities Skylines 1 or 2 Mostly any simulator game tbh.
The slime rancher games are fun and I often play them while listening to stuff. I listen to stuff while I game arguably more often than not haha. I like Subnautica as well for this but maybe that’s more controversial. Sims also is a huge time suck and fun to play while multitasking.
Old school runescape
Fishing Planet
I play Slay the Spire during the day while listening to / watching YouTube videos. It’s turn-based so I can pick away at it when I have time.
I’ve been playing a lot of Dave the Diver like this
Diablo 4 is pretty mindless after the initial run, and even then that’s only if you care about the story
Any Bethesda game really
League of legends according to my teammates 🙃
Mindless genocide simulators like Diablo, vampire survivors, dynasty warriors, etc are what you're looking for. Trucking games also work really well.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
i would say rooftops and alley might be a good option
Football manager
BO3 Zombies. There's plenty of maps where you can camp to high rounds efficiently with minimal attention/focus. It's been my Go to Podcast game for months, but I know the game like the back of my hand so it's all just 2nd nature. If you're familiar with it already, it's a great option. Round based with no objective is perfect for podcasts, just keep playing until the podcasts are over.
RuneScape has a lot of stuff to do that you can be almost completely alt tabbed for
Dysmantle!
You could mine in eve-online
Car Mechanic Simulator is my go to for that. Just find problem and fix. Do as you please in the background
I love doing Nonograms/Picross for that sort of thing. It's something to do with my eyes and hands, but my brain is completely wrapped in the podcast.
Slay the spire - card game Two point hospital - like cities skyline but easier
Stardew valley
Slime Rancher is a great one that goes along with all your other picks as well.
Albion Online. You can run around harvesting materials while watching videos easily.
No mans sky
The Dark souls series is good for this. I played all 3 with a podcast playing
Balatro
I've been playing a lot of Valheim while listening to podcasts lately, as a large portion of my time goes to chopping trees, mining ores etc.
Subnautica has been one the best games to fit that description for me
Pretty much any mmo, I always have something going on on my second monitor while I play
Roguelikes are your friend. Enter the Gungeon is a good brain off, boomshoot game
stranded deep is pretty good for this
For me Slay the spire
Forza
rocket league Is the game u looking for
I've been playing Soda Dungeon while watching tv. It's free on steam and sort of an idle/clicker game but really great for multitasking while you play
Hearthstone
I do this exact same thing with Hardspace Shipbreaker. I listen to GDC talks and other documentaries while disassembling ships. Audio is on (because the sound of the laser is really satisfying) but it doesn't need to be.
Mirrors Edge catalyst open world running
I've been enjoying V Rising lately, a nice little RPG/Crafting/Survival game. Loads of depth to it, but you can tailor the experience you want and it definitely lends itself to what you're looking for
Old school RuneScape
House flipper and it's sister games
Vampire survivors