Best games to play while watching something

MGS V has come out and I've made it my mission to finish Metal Gear Scanlon to be on point with the story. I'm pretty far behind though, having just finished MGS 2.

I really like the series but I often feel like it's alternating between exciting and tedious. It's worth watching it for the exciting bits but I often feel like I could just run it in background while playing a not so attention demanding game.

I want you to give me that game.

I don't really want a match-based game like Hearthstone, or an endless game like Threes. Basically, I want a game that's not really attention demanding, something that you can play semi automatically and kinda shut off half of your brain, something light on dialogue and something I don't have to be focused on all the time.

Hopefully this can be useful to other people who also want something light to play while watching let's plays or whatever.

I like playing through Football Manager whilst watching Dota and csgo tourneys. Obviously you have to use your brain for a lot of the stuff, but there's also plenty of time where you can switch off and just watch whatever.

I watched a lot of the Persona 4 endurance run while playing Minecraft. Terraria is also great for this.

Diablo 3 is one of the finest doing something else games. Also so is Destiny........

world of warcraft, don't really have to pay attention unless your in a dungeon group.

Time Clickers.

Diablo 3 and pretty much anything like it so Marvel Heros/Titan Quest/Path of Exile/Torchlight 1 or 2 are the perfect games to play while watching a show or listening to a podcast because they can be played on autopilot. Similarly people have mentioned Terraria, Binding of Isaac, World of Warcraft, which are all equally as easily to autopilot through.

Also - Civ V, that newest Cities game and Plague Inc Evolved.

Minecraft, Terraria, Diablo type games, some roguelikes such as Spelunky and Binding of Isaac. I've played hundreds of hours in these games just listening to podcasts or let's plays.

Marvel Heroes (Please don't do the raids while watching things though.)

Quite a few characters have "Movement" powers, some of which deal damage as they go. I have been leveling Ghost Rider through his final prestige, the Cosmic. Cosmic takes something like 4x longer than a regular levelling process. I got through all the others in the time it took to get to Cosmic 40 (level cap is 60).

Point is, putting on Netflix, rolling a quest that is just "kill dudes", and binding Ghost Rider's hellbike to mouse2 and holding it for a few minutes at a time, moving my hand ocassionally has been pretty effective.

All the games. I have a problem, I can't play games without 'watching' something now and it's becoming a pain in the ass...

@alistercat: Let me tell you about this console called the Xbox One...

@alistercat: snapping is the worst. My primary monitor is a TV and I watch stuff on my second screen regardless of console/PC. I'm enabling myself. If snapping on Xbox was my only option I would have broken the habit.

Just Cause 2 will always be my answer to this question. It's mindless in the best possible way. I played 89 hours according to my Steam profile, and I can assure you at least 80 were spent while listening to the Bombcast. I actually was not having much fun playing the game "straight" but the moment I discovered that I could pay attention to something while completely blowing the living shit out of everything else on another screen... Holy crap.

That's the reason I'm so excited about Just Cause 3 to be honest.

A lot of MMO's if you're not doing group content. Loot pinata games like Diablo. You could check out Guild Wars 2 as well, it's free to play and if you avoid the personal story, is just about exploration and material gathering.

@alistercat: I know, it was a dumb joke.

If you want to try breaking the habit, try moving from visuals to audio first. Again, assuming it is something that bothers you.

Borderlands aside from the bosses. Destiny used to be my goto, but i'd be less inclined with the new story stuff in the update. So basically loot games.

You Must Build a Boat is my on-the-shitter/five-minutes-free-time, go-to game these days. It would probably also lend itself quite well to playing in bits between paying attention to something else.

Binding of Isaac or Rome II (modded of course).

I was really confused by "match-based game like Hearthstone" until I realized you meant "match" as in "playing a match against someone" instead of "a Block Matching game".

Diablo 3 for sure.

My go-to for that kind of stuff is probably World of Warcraft and loot games like Diablo and Torchlight. Also, JRPGs with lots of random encounters. I played a bunch of Persona 4 while watching Star Trek : Deep Space Nine.

Pretty much any turn-based strategy game, like Civ or XCOM. I've also spent many a hour playing Viva Piñata while watching GB videos on my iPad.

Turned based games are great for that. Simulators can be great too if you limit or avoid time compression.

Pretty much anything that's single player and doesn't have too dense of a story. I watch stuff on my second monitor while playing almost all non-story focused games.

Hearthstone!

Pretty much every game that I've played for hundreds of hours and know like the back of my hand like Fallout 3 and Skyrim. Or an MMO. I'm currently going through Game Grumps episodes while playing The Old Republic.

Cities skylines is my goto podcast/netflix game. It's pretty relaxing, and if you aren't playing a city you particularly care about, it doesn't take much attention.

Also I don't own destiny anymore but destiny is a pretty good mindless time waster.

I was thinking of this as soon as I clicked the topic! Great for lulls in whatever you're watching or adverts/commercials.

I use the NBA 2K series for this.

Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate and Mario Maker have become my absolute go to games this football season.

Binding of Isaac or Rouge Legacy.

I may be blind but has no one mentioned Dynasty Warriors. I have sunk over 500hrs(this year) in Dynasty warriors(specifically gundam 1/2/3/r) while listening to podcasts. Playing DW: Gundam Reborn now. Also fighting games.