The best games to play while listening to podcasts or watching YouTube are PowerWash Simulator, Balatro, Dorfromantik, Vampire Survivors, Slay the Spire, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Old School RuneScape, and Minecraft—but they do not all work for both jobs.

A podcast only competes for your ears. A YouTube video also wants your eyes, so the safest games for actual watching are turn-based or impossible to fail while you look away. That distinction removes a lot of games that get called “relaxing” but still punish a two-second glance at the other screen.

Quick picks

1. PowerWash Simulator

This is the cleanest answer to the whole question, in every sense. Pick a dirty surface, hold the trigger, and slowly turn brown into whatever color was hiding underneath. There is no timer or score pushing you forward, and the story arrives mostly through optional text messages. Missing one because a podcast got interesting will not ruin anything.

It also survives divided visual attention better than most real-time games. You can stop moving, look at the video, then return to the exact patch of playground equipment you were cleaning. The little ding when an object is finished is satisfying, but you do not need to hear it.

Best with: Podcasts, audiobooks, long YouTube videos, or streams.

Skip it if: Repetitive cleanup sounds like work rather than relaxation.

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

2. Balatro

Balatro is the safest choice when “watching YouTube” means you really intend to watch it. The game waits forever while you inspect your cards, Jokers, and score requirements. Look away for five minutes and absolutely nothing happens.

There is a catch: Balatro can consume more brainpower than its poker face suggests. A difficult run full of interacting Joker effects is bad company for a dense audiobook. It works best with familiar podcasts, conversational videos, or after you already understand what the cards do. The first few runs deserve more attention than the fiftieth.

Best with: YouTube, streams, and conversational podcasts you can rewind.

Skip it if: Doing score math will pull you out of whatever you are listening to.

Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, and Android.

3. Dorfromantik

Dorfromantik gives you one hexagonal landscape tile at a time and asks where it should go. There is no clock in the standard mode. You can pause between every tile, watch a video, then come back and continue matching forests, villages, fields, and railways.

It is calmer than Balatro and asks for less reading, though chasing a high score still requires planning. Creative mode is the true low-attention option: build a pleasant little countryside and stop caring whether every edge is perfect. Quick mode is useful when you want something sized for one podcast episode.

Best with: Audiobooks, video essays, and anything that occasionally deserves both eyes.

Skip it if: Quiet tile placement is too gentle to keep your hands occupied.

Platforms: Windows PC and Nintendo Switch.

A village, railway, forest, and lake assembled from hexagonal tiles in Dorfromantik
Official Dorfromantik screenshot © Toukana Interactive

4. Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors cuts most combat down to movement. Your weapons fire automatically while you steer through crowds, collect gems, and choose an upgrade whenever you level up. That makes it excellent podcast material once you know the items and evolutions.

It is less safe for video than the three games above. Early minutes are easy to half-watch, but packed late-run screens still require navigation, and the upgrade menu will keep interrupting the video. Fortunately, a run can be paused whenever the second screen wins.

Best with: Podcasts, music, and YouTube you are mostly listening to.

Skip it if: Constant flashing effects or frequent upgrade choices make it harder to follow the other thing.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and Meta Quest.

5. Slay the Spire

Every fight in Slay the Spire is turn-based. Enemies announce what they intend to do, you play cards, and the game waits. Audio is optional, there are no reflex checks, and pausing is built into the basic rhythm rather than feeling like an interruption.

The tradeoff is mental attention. Building a good deck means reading cards, counting damage, and thinking a few turns ahead. Slay the Spire pairs beautifully with a loose podcast or a video you can glance between decisions; it is a poor match for an audiobook where missing one sentence matters. Familiarity helps enormously.

Best with: Casual podcasts, livestreams, or videos you can pause without annoyance.

Skip it if: You want your hands busy while your brain stays completely with the audio.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS, and Android.

6. Euro Truck Simulator 2

Once you know the controls, a long highway delivery creates exactly the kind of steady mechanical loop that suits a podcast. The route is visible on the GPS, the cabin needs little management, and there is plenty of road between the moments that demand a decision. Growing the company also gives all that driving a persistent goal.

This is the clearest podcast-only recommendation here. Do not watch YouTube while steering through live traffic; a virtual guardrail is still a guardrail. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is also PC-only for now. SCS Software is developing PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions, but it had not announced a release date as of August 20, 2026.

Best with: Long podcasts, audiobooks, and music.

Skip it if: You want frequent action—or need a console version today.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux. Console versions are in development.

7. Old School RuneScape

Old School RuneScape is really several different attention levels hiding inside one MMO. Fishing, woodcutting, cooking, and other familiar skilling loops can leave plenty of room for a podcast or second-screen video. Quests, bosses, dangerous areas, and anything involving valuable gear absolutely do not.

That makes it a strong long-term option if you like visible progress, but a weaker instant recommendation. There is a lot to learn, the interface shows its age on purpose, and the best low-attention activities usually come after some setup. The free portion gives you room to find out whether the rhythm works before paying for membership.

Best with: Long videos, podcast backlogs, and audiobooks during safe skilling.

Skip it if: You do not want an MMO grind or a game that asks you to learn its routines first.

Platforms: Desktop, iOS, and Android, with cross-platform progression.

8. Minecraft

Minecraft belongs here with a large asterisk: choose the right mode. Creative mode gives you unlimited resources, flight, and immortality, so you can build while a video runs without worrying about hunger or a creeper rearranging the wall behind you. Peaceful Survival also works well for routine mining, farming, and building once you are settled.

Normal cave exploration, combat, and Hardcore mode are different games for this purpose. They rely on environmental sound and punish distraction. Minecraft is a good background game because it lets you create low-pressure work for yourself, not because every part of it is low-attention.

Best with: Almost anything in Creative mode; podcasts during familiar Survival chores.

Skip it if: You need the game to supply goals instead of making your own.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and several other devices.

The quick rule before you press play

For YouTube, start with Balatro, Dorfromantik, or PowerWash Simulator because the game will wait when your eyes leave it. For podcasts and audiobooks, add Euro Truck Simulator 2, Vampire Survivors, and routine Old School RuneScape skilling to the list.

The wrong choice is usually a story-heavy game, a competitive match, or anything where sound warns you about danger. If you keep rewinding the podcast—or discover that your character died while you watched the video—you are trying to consume two foreground activities at once.

Still stuck? Tell the game recommender that you want something low-pressure with little dialogue, or put two finalists into the game randomizer and stop negotiating with yourself.

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