Low spec games you can play while listening to a pod cast or music

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Hi all. I've played a few games but I am not a gamer really. Did a lot of Minecraft for a while mainly as a way of occupying my fingers while listening to a variety of light chatty comedy-ish podcasts (athletico mince, off menu, old adam and joe ones) or music in the background. I have got bored of it now and need recs for games that don't require me to concentrate particularly and can have on while listening to something else.

Oh yeah and the other thing as mentioned in the title is that my computer is a pile of shit and I can't afford a "gaming computer" right now so it will have to be something that can run on a normal laptop. Or something for the ipad off the app shop. Not really fussed about the type of game, I like sort of open-ended explore-y type things with big worlds but would give something a go that's not that. 2D is fine. Oh and it can't be too hard because I'm shit. Cheers

[Mobius]

Football Manager, Crusader Kings, Command & Conquer, are all games that pair well with podcasts and don't require a good PC.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Banging. Thank you very much mate

[seepage]

turn-based tactical RPGs that run on a potato, no sound necessary:
Ogre Tactics: Reborn
Regalia
Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark

Rogue-like things: Slay The Spire; Dicey Dungeons

Board game adaptations e.g. Wingspan

[madhair60]

Emulators and old mega drive and nes games

[Rev+]

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is the king of this.  The gameplay is exactly as you'd expect, you're just hauling a consignment of yoghurt to Switzerland and following the rules of the road.  It's pretty much designed for listening to podcasts and that but if you want to go fully immersive you can listen to local stations as you travel between countries.  It's nice to reach France and pick up an obscure black metal station for half an hour.

[Lemming]

Slay the Spire and FTL: Faster than Light are the best for this, it'll take maybe an hour at most to learn how to play each game and then it's just a case of mindlessly doing hundreds of runs (which is genuinely great fun).

There's also Hades which requires more skill but still gets mindless while being enjoyable. Might be difficulty settings to make it easier, not sure.

[Mr Vegetables]

Balatro, which has just come out and is life-ruiningly addictive

[George White]

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is the king of this.  The gameplay is exactly as you'd expect, you're just hauling a consignment of yoghurt to Switzerland and following the rules of the road.  It's pretty much designed for listening to podcasts and that but if you want to go fully immersive you can listen to local stations as you travel between countries.  It's nice to reach France and pick up an obscure black metal station for half an hour.

I kind of want to play this now, esp. as in the Eighventies, my dad was a trucker on the continent.

[Rev+]

You should!  Under a fiver on Steam at the minute.

When it first came out people online were bigging it up in a way that felt like a prank, because on the surface it sounds like the most terrible bit of shovelware imaginable.  It's not, once you get the hang of it it's magical.

[FeederFan500]

If you do get Euro Truck Simulator 2 start off driving in Germany and Austria which is generally newer and looks nicer, the part of the map in the UK is much more boring to play. However it is ideal for a background game for listening to podcasts, the only other thing to mention is that if I am a bit tired irl I can genuinely fall asleep playing the game - that also gives you an idea of how much attention is required to play it in the most part.

[Dr M1nx PhD]

I kind of want to play this now, esp. as in the Eighventies, my dad was a trucker on the continent.

Euro Truck Sim 2 is amazing. Play it, you'll love it.

@Stoneage Dinosaurs have a look at Vampire Survivors. When I first heard about it I thought it was absolutely not for me. Now I have to delete it off my Steam Deck because it just devours time.

And Stardew Valley! A lovely little game about moving somewhere new and farming.  Except it's not little, it's as huge as you want it to be and incredibly chill.

[Cold Meat Platter]

FTL?

EDIT: yes as usual, I am unoriginal