Suggestions for games to 'zone out' to?

So I'm always playing games in my spare time. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of spare time, and have a big backlog of Jar time videos, bombcasts, etc to listen to. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for games that don't really require a whole lot of concentration, or are generally good for podcast listening.

Note: I'd appreciate if the game could be played with a controller (console preferable), and is not completely unfocused like Minecraft. Let me know!

For me it is Borderlands because it is just shoot things and don't worry about anything else. So I catch up on videos and podcasts while I play that at work. Also Civilization games work the same way. The are turn based so you can take your time, burned tons of hours on that.

@Nightriff: Oh right, Civilization! It's not console based (the advanced ones), but it's so slow-paced that it doesn't matter all that much. Thanks!

I would say almost any driving game. I was suggest all the Need for Speeds.

Play some Just Cause 2. It's huge and the story is not worth paying attention to.

I usually play Picross 3D now when I listen to podcasts. Before, Borderlands. Probably will be Borderlands 2 when that shit gets released.

Dark Souls once you've already finished it once.

@huntad: Peggle is good and pacman championship dx

Droplitz is a good for zoning out into once you get the hang of it. Binding of Isaac, Dungeons of Dredmor, Chime... Indie games on Steam... so many... so many...

Puzzle Quest and what D_W said.

Wow, awesome! Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm gonna keep checking back in here, because there's already suggestions that are super obvious that I missed.

@D_W: So I was looking into getting the Binding of Isaac, but I'm not sure if it'll chug on my laptop. It sounds crazy, but the flash game (demo) on newgrounds got choppy on medium settings and I had to put it on slow for it to be playable. Are there graphical settings on the steam version?

Nobi Nobi Boy is definitely a zone-out game. But if you need a little bit more action, Luxor or Wizorb are pretty good too.

If you have problems with your pc and still want something you can zone out to, with fixed goals and loads to do, try Baldur's Gate. They're re-releasing it soon, total workover. Can also be played on smartphones, so should fitt well in bed. http://baldursgate.com/

Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning is great for podcast listening. There's rarely much conversation and even when there is, you can read the subtitles. Quest locations are highlighted on the main map and mini-map so you never have to wonder where to go. Just travel to the yellow circle, kill everything there and then return to another yellow circle to turn it in. I like the game because it requires nearly no concentration to play.

Most MMOs are good fodder for podcasts. Traveling always seems like it takes forever, the story is unimportant, and combat usually isnt very engaging unless you are in a group.

@CazzTheKing: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'll definitely check that out.

@PenguinDust: But does it get boring? I guess being able to customize your class between 3 archetypes would be kinda cool.

I always like to fire up the Batman Arkham games for the combat challenge modes when I just want to melt into my chair for 20 minutes to an hour. They do require some attention for the counterattack timing, but I don't think it's too bad.

Unless you plan to talk to people. I can never play well and talk at the same time.

@DudeSupreme said:

Most MMOs are good fodder for podcasts. Traveling always seems like it takes forever, the story is unimportant, and combat usually isnt very engaging unless you are in a group.

This. I zone out so hard when I play MMO's and have probably listened to 80% of the Bombcasts while playing them.

I play Minecraft as sort of a "Podcast Game", a game that I can just do something while most of my attention is placed on the Podcast/Audio Book/Radio show.

Other games that I use as a Podcast Game:

• Dungeons of Dredmor
• Forza 4
• Team Fortress 2 (I usually play as a Medic so it isn't as fast paced for me)
• Torchlight
• The Yakuza games (after I've beaten the story and I'm mopping up side stuff)
• Pretty much any open world game (Just Cause, GTA, Elder Scrolls, etc.)

There is something to be said for games that are fun to play but require very little attention to play well.

@huntad: Not too much. I like leveling and getting the next power-up or skill in games, and Amalur has a decent amount of that. It's low on loot variety (in appearance at least), so I invested in blacksmith and sagecraft to make my own better armor & weapons. Gathering the parts for that is fun, too. If you stick to the main quest and faction quests as well a handful of side quests (I suggest Canneroc because it gifts you a house), then you should be reasonably entertained throughout. This is a game you'll be playing while listening to a podcast, so don't expect something super compelling.

Skyrim. Just walk across the whole map going into all the undiscovered caves and dungeons.

PEGGLLEEEE

PEGGGGGGGGGLLLLLLE

Not sure if this is your thing, but I find sports games pretty good for this. Low impact mentally, no real need to be listening to the sound, chill as fuck.

Bejeweled.

Avseq, new game on steam is pretty zoney outy. Puzzle game with super chilled ambient music.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record's sandbox mode is fun to just mess around in without paying much attention.

Darksiders 2 is pretty good for that since it is mostly exploring and not that much talking for story.

Games that you actually play are good for any podcast.

• Torchlight
• Burnout Paradise
• Guild Wars
• Saints Row: The Third & 2 if you're into an inferior game
• Skyrim
• Borderlands
• World of Warcraft

Stuff like that.

Any RPG that requires some sort of grinding.

I've found Western games to be good about this, especially if they're from a first person perspective (Skyrim, Dead Island, etc.).

GTA, Sleeping Dogs and Saints Row the Third are pretty good for podcast listening.

As others have said I'd go for any MMO influenced game or games that require some sort of grinding if you're in to that kind of thing.

When I want to listen to podcasts I always put on sports games. Either Fifa 12 or NBA 2k12 for me. Dont require sound so they're perfect for me.

I think the Ratchet and Clank games are very fun ways to zone out.

Risk Factions

Lately I've been playing Ticket to Ride on my iphone when listening to bombcasts or watching quick looks, don't know if that's an option.

I've had success with Fallout 3, Skyrim, THPS3, and Madden 2005 lately.

...World of Warcraft.

Noby Noby Boy and GTA IV.

Geometry Wars / GW 2

Borderlands and Just Cause 2 are fantastic for these things. You can figure out what to do in both of them without completely diverting your attention from whatever you're listening to.

Racing games in general are good for podcasts.

Fast-paced multiplayers that don't depend a lot on sound or teamwork, e.g. the Call of Duty series or Quake 3/Quake Live.

Doom is also a pretty good podcast game.

Terraria and Minecraft are pretty good for zoning out to while you tend to more menial tasks. Actually, these two are probably among the most appropriate podcast games because you spend a lot of time doing the aforementioned menial tasks, i.e. gathering materials and making tools to gather more materials.

Geometry Wars.

borderlands tetris forza counter-strike call of duty hl2 deathmatch garry's mod uncharted series (post-completion) assassin's creed (post-completion) GTA series

but tetris is the best

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Diablo.

Yeah diablo 3 is my go to game for zoning out. I just started listening to the giantbomb podcast and other radio stuff that I never tried before while playing diablo and it makes the grind more fun.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

Skyrim. Just walk across the whole map going into all the undiscovered caves and dungeons.

I listened to so, so much Neil DeGrasse Tyson stuff while doing this.

• Alan Wake
• Force Unleashed
• Prototype
• Uncharted 1, 2 and 3
• Catherine

Any MMO. Nah, just kidding.

There are a lot of smaller games on steam that are great for zoning out. Audiosurf, Peggle, Shatter, Super Meat Boy, Waveform

I've actually been getting into football games, so I'll try one out. I'll also try Civilization, Forza, open-world games, and some 'grindy' rpgs. I'm not really into playing MMOs though, and I don't think multiplayer games in general would work because I tend to focus on winning in almost any online game, haha. These suggestions really helped a lot!