I’m looking for PC games that I can play while listening to podcasts- games that don’t have engaging cut scenes or important dialogue, games that honestly don’t require a lot of skill or thought.
I used to be really into things like Farm Frenzy, Rescue Team, hidden object games, that kind of thing. I got heavily into MMOs and stopped downloading casual games for a decade or so.
Now it almost feels like this sort of game isn’t made anymore? Were they completely nuked by the existence of Gacha games, P2W, and anything that earns the dev a constant income stream? I’m happy to pay for a game once, but I can’t be constantly buying booster packs.
I also don’t want to play on mobile or on a console, PC Master Race here, haha.
Many roguelites could fall into this category, and are generally cheap to boot (i.e. vampire survivors).
Came here to suggest vampire survivors. Super cheap game that you can just turn your brain off and play.
this game is pretty dangerous. i got super hooked on it. after you get better and more unlocks, each run locks you into another 30 minutes. it was pretty awesome to get sucked into.
Any other games that you recommend?
I would just look through any number of online list of “Best Swarm Survivors”. There’s dozens of different themes and tweaks from the VS formula, including boat and train varieties! I also watch the YouTube channel Never Nathaniel as he’s a pretty awesome source of both info and entertainment on the matter (as well as other games). He’s literally the only streamer I’ve watched and I couldn’t tell you why, his formula just works.
One more that is outside of the swarm survival genre, Child of Light. Though there is a fun and endearing story that irecommend, once you get through the first 20 minutes, you can kind of just not care and enjoy the simple but interesting play style of an almost-turned-based RPG.
https://classic-mahjong.com/ is free, entirely browser based, has no ads or other nonsense, and has the pleasant waterfall cascading effect when you clear all the tiles.
If you stick to the lower, less intense hazard difficulty levels, I find Deep Rock Galactic to be an excellent game to chill to. Can’t go wrong with badass Space Dwarven miners on a hostile alien insectoid planet. I only play with randoms via co-op, and it’s been nothing but a pleasant experience each time.
Power wash simulator will be your best friend. No spoken dialogue, no important cutscenes, just you and a power wash gun. The only thing you’ll miss out on listening to podcasts is the admittedly very soothing sound of PSSSSHHHHHHHHHH from the washer itself.
I second this, it’s like listening to music or a podcast while coloring a book. It’s extremely soothing!
Great suggestion. Also, if people are into it Lawn Mowing Simulator is good as well.
My father really likes Mini Motorways. You could try something like that
He’s a big fan of sim cities and zoo tychoon and stuff too
Love me some mini motorways and mini metro!
FTL is fun and hard.
Also mindustry
FTL is such an interesting game !
If you’re into simulation games I highly recommend American Truck Simulator.
It requires little to no thought. Pick a truck, find a job, and hit the road. Perfect for zoning out to some music or a podcast.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 was my go to after work, it was so relaxing delivering from point a to point b.
It’s not clear to me that I could ever listen to podcasts while playing most of my library, but I’ll do my best to list some with which I might try:
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 (and, by corollary, American Truck Simulator). If you can listen to podcasts in your car, this is basically a similar experience :)
- Super Hexagon. This is not a game about making conscious decisions, it’s too fast for that. You’d have to turn off the music, and determine whether you can retain stuff you’re listening to at the same time.
- Race The Sun. This is somewhere in the middle of the above two.
- Solace Crafting. This is a relatively bare-bones sandbox RPG with harvesting, crafting, and building elements, that doesn’t require all that much decision making, and can be played at any pace.
- Minecraft (the Java edition). You’ve probably heard of it! I recommend the Java edition due to the rich modding ecosystem; you can usually find a flavor of content that suits any purpose.
- Cities: Skylines (and, by corollary, SimCity 4). These are both world-class genre-defining city builders, which can be played at your own pace, don’t require a whole lot of active involvement, and pair well with background listening of your choice.
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Vampire Survivors. Run in circles killing enemies until you die. Buy upgrades. Repeat.
Someone already mentionned Dorfromantik. I’m doubling this. I also have a recommandation. It’s not exactly what you asked for. But maybe give Superflight a shot. It’s been one of my go to “I’m listenning to something but needs something to keep busy” game for me for years now.
EDIT: *Oh no! Someone already mentionned this game as well! Oh well. Doubling that too. *
The first game that popped into mind for this title was Dave the Diver. It is a lovely game where you fish in the morning, then serve up the fish at the sushi restaurant you work for in the evenings. I recommend you check out a video on it! It’s technically early access, but the full game is set to release on the 28th.
Thanks, that one sounds super interesting, have added it to my Steam wishlist!
You might like Super Auto Pets. Not my kind of game but it’s casual and my friends loved it.
Loop Hero might be one to check out. The game has an auto-battle mechanic, and you basically just manage the map and the base.
Oldschool Runescape. The perfect game for watching something on the side. Just get into a rhythm and grind away
Minecraft creative mode can be very relaxing but time consuming, it takes a while to build a big project but looks awesome when completed, you can go for a small hobbit home too and give in some detail, it takes your mind off of things sometimes, especially when doing the math to even builds out.
