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.
I have a Steam collection just for that purpose, called “zone-out games”:
Factorio
Euro Truck Simulator
Viscera Cleanup Detail
Satisfactory
Space Engineers
Hardspace Shipbreaker
Rift Breaker
Monster Train
Jupiter Hell
Vampire Survivors
Dorf Romantik
DOOM (any)
Nethack
Some advice I want to give is that “games that require a lot of skill” is only a temporary blocker. If you enjoy a hard game enough to play through it repeatedly, it can become a podcast game. Many people play Bloodborne or Binding of Isaac to audiobooks, and roguelikes are generally like this.
That in mind, I have a list of games that are valid podcast games but I haven’t built enough familiarity with them yet:
Factorio is awesome. To make it even more chill - I turn off enemies and increase resources. Even without enemies that game gets so complex and involved. But still mindless.
I’ll also add Urbek City Builder. It’s a city building game but it’s a more simplified one. Resource management is very easy and you can build your city as fast or as slow as you need.
Dorfromantik is a very chill puzzle game that runs great on Steam Deck if that’s your thing, a favourite of mine while the TV is going in the background.
If you’re into factory games I 1000% recommend Shapez, which is a shape-building game that doesn’t have the notion of grinding or currency or running out of resources. It’s immensely satisfying when you get the perfect mechanism together and you’re churning out shapes. Definitely one for mouse and keyboard though.
Definitely recommend Dorfromantik! Islanders is another super chill casual game (and also a builder) that I started and fell in love with the other day.
I love to play from time to time Banished with podcasts. Once you figure out how to survive then it’s just “how much can I build on a map before my PC explodes”.
Ostriv seems nice too, but it’s still in alpha, so weird things happen like villagers going out to buy candles or soap and returning with shoes.
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.
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.
Also in the truck driving bucket - Snowrunner. The focus is on off road trucking, mud and snow physics, with a winch that you can use to unstick yourself.
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Vampire Survivors for sure! It’s a very chill arcade game and it’s like 2-3€ when on sale.
I have a Steam collection just for that purpose, called “zone-out games”:
Some advice I want to give is that “games that require a lot of skill” is only a temporary blocker. If you enjoy a hard game enough to play through it repeatedly, it can become a podcast game. Many people play Bloodborne or Binding of Isaac to audiobooks, and roguelikes are generally like this.
That in mind, I have a list of games that are valid podcast games but I haven’t built enough familiarity with them yet:
Factorio is awesome. To make it even more chill - I turn off enemies and increase resources. Even without enemies that game gets so complex and involved. But still mindless.
Stardew Valley is a really chill and fun game. You can talk to the towns people but don’t have to and the dialogue is all very short if you do.
Yeah, I’ve played that game to death at this point, I’m afraid.
I’ll also add Urbek City Builder. It’s a city building game but it’s a more simplified one. Resource management is very easy and you can build your city as fast or as slow as you need.
FTL is fun and hard.
Also mindustry
FTL is such an interesting game !
Dorfromantik is a very chill puzzle game that runs great on Steam Deck if that’s your thing, a favourite of mine while the TV is going in the background.
If you’re into factory games I 1000% recommend Shapez, which is a shape-building game that doesn’t have the notion of grinding or currency or running out of resources. It’s immensely satisfying when you get the perfect mechanism together and you’re churning out shapes. Definitely one for mouse and keyboard though.
Definitely recommend Dorfromantik! Islanders is another super chill casual game (and also a builder) that I started and fell in love with the other day.
I love to play from time to time Banished with podcasts. Once you figure out how to survive then it’s just “how much can I build on a map before my PC explodes”.
Ostriv seems nice too, but it’s still in alpha, so weird things happen like villagers going out to buy candles or soap and returning with shoes.
Oldschool Runescape. The perfect game for watching something on the side. Just get into a rhythm and grind away
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.
Tetris effect, katamari damacy - these two are the epitome of replayability and pick up/put down mechanics IMNSHO
This is my exact genre of choice. I’m only gonna list the games I play, because I can’t name them all.
Just about any sandbox survival game will fit the bill:
Then you have the simulators:
Many roguelites could fall into this category, and are generally cheap to boot (i.e. vampire survivors).
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.
Also in the truck driving bucket - Snowrunner. The focus is on off road trucking, mud and snow physics, with a winch that you can use to unstick yourself.
The answer to your question is Factorio
I want to try this game so bad, but I can’t justify 35$ for a game like this. I hope we see some discounts during the summer sale
If I remember correctly, it specifically never goes on sale.
Don’t wait for a sale on this game, the developers have specifically said it won’t ever go on sale
Not exactly an easy game, but Don’t Starve has quite a lot of downtime that makes it great for listening to podcasts.
Eufloria is that game for me.
Dang, I haven’t read that name in a literal decade. When was it last updated?
I guess they added a few levels to Eufloria HD in 2020, 9 years after release.