Anyone who works in video games will, at some point or another, have entered into a conversation with someone who doesn’t work in video games, and been hit with that timeless query: “So what, you just play video games all day? I’d love to do that.” You know deep down that they wouldn’t, but of course, you just laugh, maybe try and counter with the realities of your work, and then shuffle through the barbed pleasantry and onto other topics.
The problem with playing video games all day as a job is that, if you do it long enough, it actually changes your relationship with video games. If you have to constantly assess video games through a lens of critique, development or consultancy, you’ll probably want to do anything else when you clock off, because your brain is spent. But if one of your favourite leisure activities before you worked in video games was video games… then you need to find video games that aren’t going to distract you when flanked by a YouTube video, streaming service or podcast.
To cope with this world’s-tiniest-violin problem, I have spent my career investigating and collating the games that are best enjoyed when you want to do something else. My highlights will be listed below. Podcast games or YouTube games seem like a decent moniker, though the specificity undermines their versatility. Perhaps second monitor games is better-suited, but then again, I also like to play these games on my Steam Deck with a video or podcast on my phone. I’d love to read your erudite recommendations in the comments — please sound off with better names and more games that fit this mould.
We don’t run ads on Postmode, and games media is in a tough spot. Please consider supporting the site on Patreon or tipping us via ko-fi!
Teardown
A heist simulator set inside a meticulously-simulated voxel world seems like an odd choice for a podcast game, but Teardown is actually quite chill once you’ve got the gist of it. The campaign has you working through a series of crumbly environments, placing construction vehicles and blowing holes in walls to set up clever routes through the given area.
In sequence, this will allow you to steal prized assets like cars or paintings in a timely manner, or dump a bunch of safes, which satisfies each mission’s objective, allowing you to move on to more complex heists. There’s no voiced dialogue, and you’ll be restarting constantly to better your tactics and achieve all three stars, which allows your brain to relax and focus on the input in your ears.
And I don’t know about you guys, but watching a fire propagate through an office block or driving a truck through a shipyard’s foundations activates a specific, probably neolithic impulse in my brain. I can enjoy the spectacle… while appreciating my second spectacle. Can you hear that? It’s not a building collapsing, but Guy Debord rolling in his grave.
World of Warcraft Classic
I am a relatively-recent convert to Blizzard’s behemothic MMO, but I firmly get it now. With the help of many Zerg Rush frappuccinos, the boffins in Irvine have achieved a frankly obscene level of mastery over the process of RPG levelling. If you’re annoyed by how contemporary mobile and live service games have decimated the thrill of the grind with constant transactions and the trivialization of specialisation, then you’re probably a prime candidate for Classic. It’s going to seem obtuse and tedious at first, to commit to a 2004 simulacrum of World of Warcraft, but after grounding yourself in the rules and boundaries of Azeroth, there’s a risk that you may never leave.
It’s better with friends in tow, but even as a solo player, working your way up to Level 60 is an atmospheric odyssey that is only as distracting as you want it to be, and marks the start rather than the end of your adventure. Azeroth’s exceptional worldbuilding is complemented by a unique sense of place, as other players mill and chatter their way through the world, answering your noob questions and grouping up to take on elite quests. Of course, I’d recommend locking in for some dungeons and raids, but the onus on repeating content later down the line means that after a few clears, you can reasonably run Shadowfang Keep without giving it your full attention.
A monthly subscription may be too much of a commitment for some, but there’s really nothing like World of Warcraft Classic, and with Blizzard’s renewed focus on the 20th Anniversary realms, there’s seldom been a better time to give it a go. Trust me, Classic’s seemingly-endless popularity is well justified — it’s an incredible achievement in palliative instrumental play.
Civilization
I’m not going to get into a debate about the best Civilization game. Mine could be 4, 5, 6 or 7 depending on the day you ask me, but it’s definitely not Beyond Earth. However, I think we can all agree that Sid Meier’s empire-building strategy series is delicately moreish, and demands attention from a part of your brain that leaves the rest free to consume something — whether that’s a conversation over Discord, Limmy’s Disco Elysium playthrough or a podcast about gut microbiota.
Especially on the lower difficulty settings, expanding your civilization through the ages, drawing up new boundaries and establishing diplomatic links is a lovely linear experience, with enough variance on the way to negotiate multiple playthroughs. Sure, fighting a nuke-filled war on opposite fronts may demand more of your attention, but the turn-based structure keeps it grounded, defusing the pressure of having to react strongly on a moment’s notice.
EA FC
A lot of people who would consider themselves capital-G Gamers don’t play sports games. Some may even turn their nose up at them. I am not one of those people, but if you are, I would urge you to give sports games like FC or 2K a try. They’re certainly popular in a mainstream capacity, and the iterative annual nature of these well-monetised beasts ensures that the gameplay is intricate and hard to replicate. It will depend on your experience, of course, but having grown up with FC (nee FIFA), I find it very difficult not to invest each year to get my mitts on EA’s sporting simulacrum, even if it’s just to make an updated Ultimate Team of my beloved Newcastle United.
I wouldn’t recommend playing FC’s multiplayer modes like Division Rivals to relax, even if the person I was talking to was my worst enemy. But engaging my muscle memory to play against the AI in Squad Battles or Career Mode feels decidedly zen, especially when paired with an appropriately challenging difficulty setting. Once you understand the timbre of a typical match, there’s very little you need to do beyond hit the contextual buttons and get a little experimental in front of goal. Also, the added benefit to playing a sports game like FC while doing something else is that you will get better with every podcast or playthrough you flank it with. Skills that you can deploy at your sporty cousin’s house when he asks you for a game, knowing that you’re not into sports. Then, my friend, the hustle can commence.
We don’t run ads on Postmode, and games media is in a tough spot. Please consider supporting the site on Patreon or tipping us via ko-fi!
Snowrunner
Is it weird to love driving games when you don’t have a license? Either way, I certainly don’t have a license to pilot the kind of automobiles that Snowrunner trades in — the kind that get their wheels stuck in the mud while delivering pallets of cargo. Typically, this forces you to deploy another vehicle and trek over to the point of disaster, then concoct a plan to tow your truck out of the hazard so you can finish the job. It doesn’t sound like the kind of hour-long engagement that would summon feelings of serene bliss, but there are few games I would sooner turn to in times of exhausted need.
Snowrunner (and by extension, Mudrunner and Expeditions) constitute a series of intricate simulation games that recreate the elements with the utmost detail, dropping you into open-world maps peppered across the globe so you can play around with big rigs and haulers. It’s real sandpit stuff, total Tonka vibes, and it doesn’t get old, really, thanks to the steady drip-feed of cash and its ability to expand your garage of vehicles and mod them with job-specific parts. Snowrunner is like Death Stranding without the story, and feels custom-built for an evening where you’re desperate to be distracted.
Call of Duty Zombies
The round-based structure of Call of Duty Zombies lends itself well to the podcasting player, especially if you’re not trying for an Easter Egg, or anything too specific. You don’t need to focus hard to barrel around the map, dispatching zeds, unlocking doors and upgrading your loadout. The knowledge that your failure is written in stone before you begin also helps defang the pain of your inevitable doom, as technically, there’s always a progress bar rising somewhere in the interface.
Modern COD is a mess of seasonal content, limited-time events and XP-related challenges, but deep beneath all the chaff, there’s something reliably pleasing about its gunplay, or millions of us wouldn’t be playing it every year. If you’re a fiend for the multiplayer, you can bend this chilled-out approach in your favour to Zombies in your favour, using it to unlock weapon attachments and camo to take to TDM when you’re in the mood to give a hoot about your K/D ratio. Acronyms!
Powerwash Simulator
The only positive aspect of cleaning, aside from the hygienic benefits, is the mindlessness of it. While your hands are busy scrubbing toilets or mopping floors, your ears are primed to catch up on an anticipated album or podcast. Well, what if I told you that you could have all the mindless fun of cleaning without any of the icky, gross stuff that gets all over your hands? Enter stage left, Powerwash Simulator. As a new business owner, you jump between increasingly complex cleaning jobs, washing away the grime as dopamine-coded dings remind you of how well you’re doing.
As you grow your business and upgrade your dirt-blasting arsenal, Powerwash Simulator delivers its story information in text-based stings, so there is rarely a need to pause for the sake of exposition. The core game will run you around thirty or so hours (depending on how slow you want to take it), which is enough time to watch at least a third of The Sopranos. And if you tire of the base game’s aesthetic, there’s a cavalcade of DLC collaborations with pop culture mascots like Spongebob, Shrek and Wallace and Gromit. – Sarah Thwaites
Honourable Mentions
Forza Horizon
Fast and furious, Playground Games’ open-world driving adventures expect little of your brain as you burn rubber across Great Britain, Mexico. Or Australia, if you can get your hands on it.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
There are few things as relaxing as taking the long way round Earth while catching up on a box set. Just watch out for uh, metropolises.
Path of Exile & Diablo
Loot first, ask questions later. Mapping in Path of Exile is up there with World of Warcraft in the mindless gameplay olympic table.
Dark Souls
Sometimes you can get so familiar with a game that it can become outright relaxing to replay. For me, this is Dark Souls and its sequel offspring, but your patience may vary.
Grand Theft Auto Online & Red Dead Online
Beyond the missions replete with unmissable dialogue, there are plenty of sidecar operations in Rockstar’s multiplayer diptych, many of which you can engage with while your brain is somewhat switched off. Levelling the Specialist Roles in Red Dead Online (Naturalist, Trader etc) is a lot like levelling skills in WoW. Predictable but rewarding, and oh so atmospheric.
Risk of Rain 2
The Call of Duty Zombies of the indie scene — you control the chaos here, but as long as you have a lax objective in mind, it’s easy to get into a flow state.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Fancy driving from Aberdeen to Istanbul? If you’re into whatever the podcast form of epic poetry is, and you don’t mind a limited gameplay suite, give this a spin.
