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Despite this, there are times when players would rather turn their volume down, and listen to their favorite podcast instead. Moreover, some people are only really interested in listening to the podcast, and just want something to do with their hands in the meantime. Thankfully, there are numerous games available today that don’t require players to read much text or watch many cutscenes, making them perfect for gamers to play while some of their focus is elsewhere.
Updated on September 5th, 2022, by Jack Pursey: Considering the huge amounts of podcasts being recorded today, it’s no exaggeration to say that there is truly a podcast out there for everyone. Whether it be comical, political, or about an extremely niche subject that only a couple of thousand people in the world are interested in, there’s a podcast for everyone to listen to for hours on end to pass the time. For those currently in the middle of an engrossing listen, we’ve updated this list of the best games to play while listening to podcasts to include a few more entries.
10 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons rejects many aspects of the gaming industry that are standard in most games, such as enemies, combat, and set objectives. Instead, New Horizons, like its predecessors, simply puts players on an island and lets them create their own paradise.
The game is deceivingly addictive and easy to get lost in, as the personal tasks that players set for themselves become tantalizing goals that players will happily sink hours into completing. The game’s laid-back, relaxing tone makes it a perfect option to play while listening to a podcast.
9 Hades
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Hades, a roguelike dungeon crawler where combat and slaying enemies are at the heart of the gameplay. Despite how intense Hades is, it’s still a great game to play while listening to a podcast, as the game features minimal dialogue during a run, so players know that they can safely listen to something else as they embark on their next attempt at reaching Mount Olympus.
Hades is one of the most critically-acclaimed games on this list, exemplified by its 93 Metascore across all platforms, so it’s definitely worth considering for fans of the genre.
8 Civilization 6
For those who are new to the Civilization series, Civilization 6 may seem like an odd choice for this list. The game is overwhelmingly complex for new players to get to grips with and filled with text screens for players to absorb. However, there will come a time when the game will click with players, and they’ll be able to switch off any help and guidance.
Once players reach that stage, which comes around surprisingly quickly, Civilization 6 becomes an ideal game to play while listening to a podcast, as players will find themselves glued to the screen as they can’t resist but play another turn again and again.
7 Almost Any Platformer
When looking for games without much text, dialogue, or cutscenes, the platforming genre is a great place to start. Although there are some exceptions, most platformers spend very little time setting the stage or telling a complex story and just give players a generic goal before letting them jump straight into the action.
Most platforming games follow the Super Mario 64 blueprint of storytelling, where Peach tells Mario she’s baking a cake; Mario hears she’s been kidnaped; then there’s virtually no story whatsoever until the very end where Peach finally bakes Mario the cake she promised.
6 The Witness
The Witness is an open-world puzzle game that was designed by Jonathan Blow, who is best known for his work on the highly-influential indie game Braid.
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The Witness predominantly just has ambient sounds, as there is virtually no music to listen to, and dialogue is reduced to a handful of optional tape recordings. Listening to podcasts or music can be distracting in some puzzle games, though it’s not much of an issue in The Witness as players are free to explore the island and solve puzzles at their own pace, with only a small handful of the game’s many puzzles implementing time-constraints.
5 Farming Simulator Series
The Farming Simulator series has had a huge influence on the simulator genre in recent years. The game spiked in popularity during the mid-2010s when the game became a meme and people played it as a joke before many of them realized that there was actually a lot of value in the series and simulator games in general.
The Farming Simulator series isn’t going to make players cry from a gripping story or pump their fists in excitement after completing a tough section, though it offers engrossing simplicity with plenty to aim for and work towards, keeping players engaged and making it a perfect game to switch off to.
4 Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
Another excellent simulator game to play while listening to a podcast is Microsoft Flight Simulator. The game was released on PC in 2020 before arriving on Xbox Series X/S the following year and received excellent Metascores of 90 and 91.
Like Farming Simulator, the game requires the player’s attention for the first hour as they learn the controls and mechanics, but once that’s done, they can set off on a journey of their choosing and explore some of the world’s most iconic locations, all while listening to their favorite podcast.
3 Minecraft
Minecraft received its full release just over 10 years ago in November 2011, and it has already sold over 200 million copies, making it the second highest-selling game of all time behind only Tetris.
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Minecraft’s creative and survival modes are both ideal for podcast listening when playing alone, as time will fly by as players create ginormous structures or mine for diamonds.
2 Football Manager 22
Whereas most of the games on this list are applicable as their sound can be turned down and still be enjoyable, Football Manager 22 qualifies for this list as it literally has no sound or music aside from generic crowd sounds and a few repetitive greetings and goodbyes during press conferences.
Consequently, Football Manager 22 is a game that is actually enhanced by listening to something while playing, as sitting looking at spreadsheets and data in silence can make players question whether they’re gaming or working.
1 Elden Ring
Elden Ring was recently released in February 2022 and has been a roaring success both critically and commercially, with over 12 million copies sold in just one month and a whopping 96 Metascore. Elden Ring sticks to FromSoftware’s tried and tested Soulsborne formula, with punishing levels of difficulty, minimal cutscenes, numerous items and weapons to find, and memorable boss fights all appearing in the game.
The lack of cutscenes and the fact that players will often be fighting the same boss or through the same area for a while has always made Soulsborne games a good choice to play while listening to a podcast. Elden Ring is by far the best game in the series for podcast listening, though, due to the implementation of an enormous open world that players can quite literally spend hundreds of hours exploring at their own pace.
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