Just since you play quite a lot of video games doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t additionally get pleasure from and have interaction in different types of media. There’s lots to do, see, watch, and hearken to — particularly in 2023, the place just about each type of media is saturated with extra content material than has ever existed earlier than — so generally it’s good to sit down again and watch a Twitch stream or atone for an audiobook sequence whereas enjoying an equally enjoyable recreation.
Plenty of video games do wish to seize the sum whole of your consideration, particularly brain-twisters like 2022’s incredible Immortality and RPGs and technique video games that reward you for the brainpower you spend on the expertise. Still, it’s price the most effective video games that assist you to sit again and disengage whereas your mind idles over a podcast or one thing comparable. Here are our prime picks for the most effective video games to play whereas listening to podcasts in 2023.
Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors makes the record for its outstanding approachability. It’s a crossbreed between a shoot-’em-up and a roguelike, however you don’t really have to press any buttons aside from those that transfer your character round on the display screen. All the capturing is automated as you attempt to evade, outmaneuver, and battle your method by waves of enemies – which change into extra quite a few as time wears on. Meanwhile, defeating foes and accumulating their pickups regularly rewards you with an rising arsenal of weapons and power-ups that make your character unstoppable by the tip, so that you solely should pay simply sufficient consideration to keep away from getting swarmed.
Vampire Survivors is free to play on iOS and Android and can be a part of Xbox Game Pass. PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Mac customers may purchase Vampire Survivors for $5. All PC variations of Vampire Survivors run in a windowed format, that means you’ll be able to simply play it whereas multitasking.
Loop Hero

Much like Vampire Survivors, Loop Hero is {a partially} idle recreation to play within the background whereas doing different issues. In it, the participant is a godlike determine who units up the world for the heroes to autonomously discover and journey in. The problem of Loop Hero comes from making a world that’s each truthful to the heroes, however is difficult sufficient to sufficiently make them extra highly effective as time goes on and monsters change into extra lethal. It’s additionally a deck-building recreation, which implies there’s some stage of randomization to every of the totally different playing cards you’re in a position to allocate. Some choices that appear to be fortuitous at first could current unexpected challenges and vice versa.
This dynamic retains Loop Hero fascinating after an extended session, and since your choices play out in entrance of you within the type of loops relatively than requiring you to straight management a protagonist, you’ll be able to simply hearken to a podcast and even watch a film whereas enjoying Loop Hero within the background. It’s obtainable for $15 on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo Switch Sports

Playing an informal sport like golf or racquetball, or doing a low-intensity cardio exercise like strolling or jogging, can pair effectively with listening to a podcast. But in case you personal a Nintendo Switch, you may additionally wish to try Nintendo Switch Sports, which is the underappreciated sequel to Wii Sports. It contains most of the similar video games, like Golf and Bowling, but it surely additionally contains loads of new video games, like Volleyball, Soccer, Badminton, Tennis, and Chambara. Although it’s incompatible with the Nintendo Switch Lite and requires a secure play area for bodily exercise, it’s easy sufficient to enrich listening to a podcast or audiobook.
Nintendo Switch Sports is at present obtainable for $40 digitally, although it’s possible you’ll wish to splurge for the $50 bodily version in case you additionally need the leg accent that lets you use your precise legs to kick the digital ball in Soccer. It’s a Nintendo Switch unique.
Tetris 99

Tetris is without doubt one of the most iconic video video games ever created, and it’s additionally an excellent podcast recreation. This puzzle recreation the place you align falling blocks of varied shapes in neat rows, clearing them off the board earlier than they will move excessive of the display screen, really has optimistic neurological results. According to the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, Tetris could even be an efficient preventative remedy for PTSD. Any type of Tetris may hold your thoughts stimulated whilst you’re listening to one thing else, however Tetris 99 is particular as a result of it takes the basic system on-line and pits you in opposition to 98 different nameless gamers.
Tetris 99 is my private go-to recreation after I’m watching a sitcom or a tacky anime. It’s a Nintendo Switch unique, but it surely’s free to obtain and play for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. You can buy the complete model, which incorporates the single-player Marathon mode, for $10 from the Nintendo Switch eShop.
Minecraft

Minecraft lets you may have your cake and eat it too, actually. It’s arguably one of the crucial open-ended video games ever created, plopping you in the course of a procedurally generated world made up of blocks which are modeled after issues like sand, water, lava, and so forth. There are actually over 63 simulated biomes that may happen wherever on the earth, and every gives wildly totally different sights and experiences as you discover. You can acquire and repurpose virtually each block on the earth, and what you select to do with these blocks is in the end as much as you. To accompany this freedom, Minecraft gives a strong crafting system that lets you experiment with totally different combos of blocks to invent new gadgets and instruments. And sure, you’ll be able to even bake a cake.
Whether you’re enjoying Survival mode, constructing issues in Creative, or logging on with pals, Minecraft is a recreation that permits you the play, craft, and construct infinitely at your individual tempo. As a outcome, it’s a pleasure to play whereas listening to your favourite podcasts. Minecraft: Java Edition is probably the most up-to-date model of Minecraft, and you’ll seize it on Windows, macOS, and Linux for $30 Meanwhile, the equally priced Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (also referred to as Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition) is on the market with cross-progression and multiplayer cross-compatibility on Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android units.
No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an area exploration recreation the place you are able to do no matter you need, everytime you need, and with whomever you need. There are loads of story-focused quests to do right here, however No Man’s Sky doesn’t actually stress you into following its story after you get a number of the early tutorials out of the best way. Instead, it’s extra concerned with letting you discover its seemingly limitless universe – which is claimed to include 18 quintillion planets, although they’re all procedurally generated – at your individual leisure. And there are a surprising variety of methods to do that. Unlike different area sims, which require pristine consideration to flight controls and different simulated elements, No Man’s Sky handles a lot of the laborious give you the results you want
That means you’ll be able to drift throughout the nebula whereas tuning in to the newest episode of your favourite podcast and even listening to a complete audiobook. But you don’t have to remain in your spacecraft always. You can land on each single planet you see, and when you get there, you’ll be able to construct your individual base, sit, and simply sit back for some time. No Man’s Sky is on the market for $60 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. It options full crossplay for its multiplayer and is appropriate with VR headsets like Meta Quest 2, Valve Index, and the upcoming PlayStation VR2.
Fallout 4

At its core, Fallout 4 is a post-apocalyptic motion RPG blended with first-person capturing mechanics, however its pacing is surprisingly relaxed compared to different RPGs. Combat encounters are fewer and additional between whilst you’re exploring the desolate wasteland surrounding Boston and its outer areas. Each collectible merchandise on the earth doubles as a crafting useful resource, and Fallout 4 asks you to fill within the empty gaps between places of curiosity through its settlement-building system. As such, it lets you construct up your individual cities and hold your townsfolk blissful by machinations that you just craft and design your self.
Those methods are what make it a surprisingly nice recreation to play whereas listening to one thing else, regardless of it being an RPG. If you may have a strong sufficient PC to run Fallout 4 with the Sim Settlements mod, you’ll be able to simply sink tons of of hours into increase your individual bases and populating them with residents, and this can be a nice exercise to pair with auxiliary audio corresponding to podcasts, audiobooks, TV exhibits, and so forth. It already includes a set of in-game radio stations that flip off the soundtrack, so it’s not such as you’re lacking out on any key a part of the expertise in case you select to tune into one thing else.
Doom (1993)/Doom 2

Frankly, I’m shocked on the variety of units that may run Doom in 2023. That means way back wore out its welcome as a meme, but additionally signifies that this shooter ought to work on just about any gaming gadget in your family. Widely thought of the godfather of first-person shooters, Doom holds up extraordinarily effectively – although it is a little more hectic than the opposite video games on this record. In its favor, the gameplay is simplistic and other than a couple of complicated puzzle sections right here and there, it stays straightforward to comply with whilst you have one other supply of audio enjoying within the background.
I discover that Doom’s soundtrack will get stale after some time and like Mick Gordon’s work on the newer video games, so I’m content material with turning Doom’s audio off, whichmakes it a great podcast recreation for me. I not too long ago beat the whole thing of Doom whereas listening to Nathaniel Branden’s The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, and there was one thing weirdly satisfying about capturing my method by a swarm of demons whereas having the worth of self-efficacy defined to me. It simply works.
Stardew Valley

In Stardew Valley, you inherit your grandfather’s dilapidated previous farm in a distant city and switch it into one thing of your individual. It’s a farming sim that’s lots like Harvest Moon, but it surely provides extra depth throughout all of its interlocking methods. Gameplay is break up throughout 4 distinct seasons, every containing 30 days. Every day is restricted to a set variety of hours, which move as you full totally different actions, that means you’ll have to fastidiously select which pursuits curiosity you probably the most as you reconstruct your farm and develop your relationships with the townsfolk. But since Stardew Valley by no means actually ends, the implied time constraints solely actually serve to maneuver you ahead towards your individual private objectives.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is slow-paced, whether or not you select to concentrate on rising crops, foraging for wooden, fishing, or preventing monsters within the mines. In this fashion, Stardew Valley retains your thoughts busy with out overwhelming you, making it a terrific recreation to accompany a pleasant podcast or audiobook. It additionally options loads of mods obtainable on the PC model, which prolong its longevity, although it additionally performs nice on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles. If you don’t personal any gaming consoles, you’ll be able to nonetheless play it on any iOS or Android gadget. Stardew Valley is extensively obtainable for $15.

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