Gaming

• Nobody mentioned Kerbal Space Program yet? While it's no longer indie, it was during most of the development. It's the space game. While it's not claiming to be a perfectly accurate simulation, it captures the essence of orbital mechanics pretty well. The xkcd comic about it is on point.
• Cultist Simulator. It is a card game that lives from the cards' flavour text. The core gameplay is simple, but the mood the game creates is extremely captivating. You only get served small bits of information at once, and you have to connet the dots yourself (or get spoilers online...). Also, it's not an easy game, and unless you are really lucky you will not succeed in your first few playthroughs.
• Unreal World. This is roguelike survival game set in a fantasy version of ancient Finland.

A Short Hike has dialog and a shorter play time but you can just ignore that and soar around the island. It's got an isometric view with a pixel art style. I really enjoy it. I play it when I'm hung over.

Cookie Clicker

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/Cookie_Clicker/

But then, to be a crazy person, you can learn some python and automate the clicking so you get more cookies

Satisfactory.

If you want to "beat" it, then it requires a bit of thinking and planning, but honestly it's such a fantastic go-at-your-own-pace kinda game. It's an open world factory building/sandbox building game. There are objectives and missions, but you have no time limit, and there is some freedom in choosing what you want to work on next.

It's also multiplayer, so you could invite a friend(s) to join and help you explore or find resources. I frequently will watch streams/youtube while playing.

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.

Racing games, once you are good at them, fit this bill. I can win online races while watching YouTube videos in Forza Horizon.

But I'd say Farming Simulator is my favorite game to play while listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos on the side. It's got enough going on to keep you engaged but you aren't doing any actions that are time critical or require deep focus.

Unpacking, Everything, A Little to the Left, Gorogoa (if puzzles are chill for ya), and Spiritfarer are a few that come to mind.

I'm using farming simulator for this.

Tetris effect, katamari damacy - these two are the epitome of replayability and pick up/put down mechanics IMNSHO

Vampire Survivors for sure! It's a very chill arcade game and it's like 2-3€ when on sale.

You should try House Flipper

Some of the paradox games maybe? I used to chill over Victoria II whilst doing things I really ought to have been giving my full attention.

Pokémon, via emulation.

I'm playing Ultra Moon on the Steam Deck and it's wonderful and chill.

I love ARPGs for this. Path of Exile and Last Epoch both have a highly repeatable endgame where you can just put on your media and blast maps/monoliths mindlessly for a few hours

Snow Runner! Very chill if you like driving and nice sceneries. But it becomes Dark Souls real quick.

Planet Coaster has a pretty casual, fun gameplay. Just building theme parks and some light crowd management. It is very good for playing while listening to other podcasts/audiobooks.

Diablo games are easy to play while listening/watching other things. Diablo 4 does have a story, but you don't need to watch it if you don't want to. And after it's beaten, the story will never bother you again. Diablo 2 Remaster is also great if you're feeling a bit more old school.

What about tycoon games ? Old school ones are usually still very playable. Or for something more recent Planet Zoo can be as slow and peaceful as you like

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:

• Minecraft (obvi, but needs another mention)
• Satisfactory
• Rust
• Valheim
• Raft (there’s some story to read if you want to actually complete the game)

Then you have the simulators:

• Dreamlight Valley (a lot of story in this one, but once you get past the dialogue and tutorials it’s basically fetch quests and farming)
• My Time at Portia (same with this)
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
• House Flipper
• The Sims
• TABS (honourable mention; whimsical battle sandbox with some customisability)

Turmoil:

It's a 2d game where you drill for oil, then have some light logistics management to do to load it in to barrels on horse waggons and then sell it. It's a lot of fun.