What your current Podcast game?

Edit: Sorry for the typo in the thread title (What’s* your current Podcast game?)

I’m replaying Chrono Trigger on DS, but the story is engaging, and the music so blissful, that I always turn off what ever else I’m watching.

I was obsessed with both Pokémon Red and Silver when they released, but I dropped the series hard. I’m gonna give Pokemon X a shot and see if that fits the bill.

Anything with a grind is usually my go to podcast game, but honestly I'm having trouble finding something like that right now. But since Madden just came out on Origin Access, I'll probably roll with that for a while (probably until Borderlands 3 comes out).

I also usually boot up FFXIV once a year. So that will probably enter the rotation in a week or so since people are still talking about it.

None.

If a game isn’t enough to hold my attention without some other form of stimulus, I stop wasting my time with it.

I know I’m in the minority on this one, but if a game is a grind and the grind itself isn’t fun and/or engaging, I consider it poor as entertainment and I’ll find something more fun/productive/engaging to do.

ghost recon wildlands. sooooo much filler. its great.

@nutter: A game can be fun without a podcast or music but it can also be enhanced by it. For example I like fighting games but I dont perform very well under pressure so weirdly enough when I have a podcast going i'm more laid back and do better as a result. I also somtimes do this for tough bosses in souls style games and the like, the game is still intense and I still get a lot of satisfaction out of beating the bosses but i'm also not driven mad by it.

All that being said though at the moment i'm playing Monster Hunter World and i've pretty much got all the gear i'm willing to get prior to Iceborne. I'm just going after achievements and doing the festival stuff. It's very much just gaming comfort food at this point.

None. A podcast or a game should be good enough to hold my attention individually. If I'm listening to a podcast at the same time I'm playing, that's a pretty good sign either the podcast or the game isn't very good.

Euro Truck 2/American Truck Simulator usually.

I don't usually do this and I don't currently have one but whenever I have to grind in JRPGs and, I remember in some of the MGSV side missions, I felt it was ok. In general, I'm sort of against it. I honestly think things are more enjoyable when you focus on one thing or the other. We're too use to multitasking and/or overloading ourselves with info/entertainment.

Games like Torchlight, Diablo, Borderlands or Path of Exile are my go to when it comes to podcasts games.

@boozak: This is very much a to each their own sort of thing, no right or wrong answers.

I save podcasts for driving, washing dishes, mowing, painting, etc. I listen to music whenever possible. I tend not to do these things when I’m really focusing on something, though. Watching TV or a movie while surfing the web or listening to a podcast...it strikes me that neither must be very good if I’m only paying so much attention to them.

The furthest down the multi-tasking entertainment hole I’ve been is shit like custom soundtracks, which I really think is a different beast.

If folks want to listen to podcasts while watching TV and playing a game, that’s fine. I’m just not about to do it. My move would be to stop consuming all of it and find something else to do that’s more fulfilling.

Different strokes and all...

@therealturk: @liquiddragon: My peoples! I do wonder how much time we spend living life and enjoying ourselves vs. filling time. The latter is a horrifying concept to me...it feels like waiting to die.

As a kid, not being out with people felt like the worst thing in the world. I’d go crazy bored. As a parent now, I’m fine laying in the sun, but I won’t continue to absorb entertainment that’s not truly entertaining me. There’s so much good stuff out there, outdoors, nightlife, movies, music, whatever. Just kinda half-heartedly consuming stuff...I don’t get it. If it makes folks happy, cool. But I’d be bored to tears.

@omgfather: Honestly, a truck simulator sounds right for that sort of thing. You’d probably be listening to music or podcasts driving a truck anyhow.

None, I'd never do that.

I've gotten to the point where I have a hard time playing games without listening to podcasts or watching something on a 2nd screen. It's bad. I feel like I'm wasting my time if I'm not doing two things at once. Right now I'm mainly playing Mario Maker and MLB the Show. I attempted to try playing through Wolfenstein: Youngblood this way but I had to eventually give it up. I think Madden, Borderlands and Call of Duty will be my go to games for the back half of the year.

@nutter: Listening to a podcast or browsing the web on your phone while a movie or TV show is on is very different, since you're supposed to be watching those things (my friends do this all the damn time, I hold my tongue because I dont want to be that guy but come the fuck on) there are games on the other hand where sound isnt a very important aspect. (fighting games, racing games, sports games etc.) I dont think it's really a comparable thing but I do agree that theres no right way of enjoying something, only preferences.

While I'm generally with people on that when I'm playing a game I'm concentrating on the game itself, there is a specific time I do engage in doing both. When I'm home and not out or at work and listening to a podcast I don't want to just sit there for 2 hours looking at a wall. but I also can't play anything seriously because I can't divide my attention between the two. I also don't like grinding because that seems like a waste of time. So instead of sitting there and doing nothing while a podcast plays thats is when I will put on a game and do some menial tasks in it. Like I would never do experience runs in Souls games because that is really boring, but when listening to the Bombcast that is the perfect moment to zone out and just kill some monsters over and over again.

Agreed.

I'm not going to throw shade on a genre other people enjoy, but there's an entire category of games I used pair with podcasts. I eventually got sick of the time wasting and both stopped playing those games and stopped listening to podcasts while playing games.

Right now? Lots of Mortal Kombat 11, with some Forza Horizon and Diablo 3 sprinkled in.

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The meta-conversation happening around the psychology of playing to a podcast/media on a second screen is really fascinating. It's worth unpacking.

For me, it's less about the video game and more about the secondary media--I have to be doing something while listening to the podcast or watching Youtube. I can't just sit idle. So podcasts usually provide the backdrop for my morning routines or my 30-minute drive to the office or, yes, to my decompression time in front of a console.

The upshot of all this is that I actually really appreciate when a game doesn't need me to be completely locked into a Skinner box.

Diablo 3 is genuinely one of my favorite video games for this exact reason. I can make the experience what I want. It can be min-max strategy or casual power fantasy. This modularity gives me a way to flitter in and out as I need or desire. This doesn't mean something as blunt as "This game doesn't hold my attention." In fact, it almost always means the opposite.

Again, I don't think this maps one-to-one onto every situation, but I think people choose to play games alongside podcasts or Netflix or Youtube as a result of the more passive audio/visual media, not because of some negligent act made toward the game or some inherent flaw in its design.

@dethfish: I'm the same, always have either a podcast/quick look going on with earbuds and a game I don't need to give too much thought to.

Go to games are Diablo 3, Path of Exile, Destiny 2, or Borderlands. Something low story but high loot and rpg mechanics.

Yeah, if I don't have a podcast to listen to when I'm on those long drives I will have the in-game radio on. Either way it's super relaxing.

A Pixel Story. A 2d indie platformer with a mechanic where you are able to leave your hat in a spot and then teleport to that hat. The story, graphics and music are all pretty uninspired but the hat mechanic is interesting enough to play through it. Some of the challenge rooms are a real bitch. I spent like 3 hours on one room.

Same. if a game isn't engaging enough to keep my attention, I play something else, or just stop playing to fully pay attention to a podcast or video or whatever instead.

Fire Pro, in fact I'm about to jump into it for a little edit making while listening to today's Bombcast in a bit. There's plenty of podcast games, as not every game's sound is necessary to the experience. If I don't have a podcast, I'll usually have Spotify going for titles that aren't story driven affairs.

@therealturk: That's kind of weird to me. It makes sense that games can hold your attention on their own, especially if they have good music, an involving story, etc. But personally, I have trouble listening to a podcast without something else happening. Maybe it's a personality flaw, but I find I can't just sit in an empty room listening to a podcast without something else to occupy the rest of my brain and body. Video games can definitely fit the bill. So does jogging, walking, driving, etc.

As for the gaming end of things... sure, some games have the production values to hold your attention. But smaller games, not as much. Are you really going to object that Hearts or Tetris should command my absolute undivided attention? I find that games with few words or story, not much puzzle solving, and lots of repetitive action, fit the bill pretty well. Here's my go-to list for podcast listening:

• Slay the Spire
• Tetris 99
• Smash
• Doom (original)
• Into the Breach
• Platformers (splatformers?) - Super Meat Boy, Tropical Freeze, Rayman Origins/Legends.

Right now it's Dragon Quest: Builders 2. Very relaxing game, especially now in the post-game where I just try to build my vision of the island and unlock the rest of the stuff along the way.

Always having to focus 100% on a game is not always appealing to me. There are certainly times, like more story-driven games or difficult games that require alot of attention, such as character action or fighting games. But at times I just wanna mellow out a bit. Consume a bit of news or personality from a podcast while playing something, and there are games that are perfect in combination of that.

I can't play the game while listening the podcast at the same time, for me you need to focus entirely on one thing

Fire Emblem. I came for the strategy more than the story, so I tend to leave a podcast rolling while I play through the absurd amount of stuff that game has to offer.

But here me out here. What if I'm in the middle of a 4X, where there is literally NO STORY, and I have reached the point where I can command the soldiers and civilian populations at my disposal with a few quick button clicks or shortcuts? That's still riveting to me, but I also feel like I have an opportunity to engage in another non-gaming hobby. Also, with a game like Stellaris or World of Warcraft, both games I have played for over 500 hours, I'd much rather listen to a podcast that the OST the seven hundredth time in a row.

I start with For Honor, it only takes 2-3 matches to achieve the daily orders but i usually play a few more than that and achieve another order or two, i recently dropped Cooking Simulator and Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 which i might go back to, but i moved on to My Time At Portia which is very good.

Lately it's been FFXIV for me.

@zombiepie: I’d say to do what you like. I’d stop playing if the act of playing alone was boring to me. If adding music or a podcast helps you, have at!

Counting how many times Abby says 'That's Interesting'

@wollywoo: I tried listening to podcasts while playing Into The Breach, but I find listening to the conversation too distracting from the strategy portion of it. Similarly, comparing cards and trying to formulate a deck or make decisions in Slay the Spire takes up too much brainpower to do both, as well. I can grind pure action with a podcast playing without issue, but as soon as there is strategy to consider, I need to divert all of my attention to the game.

Listening to the recent Beast and Bombcasts, I’m painting a picture of the “please mention the names of the games you’re talking about repeatedly” requests as multi-tasking the podcast.

I do it too, but it’s when I can listen, like when driving, on a flight or train, doing dishes, or low-skill yard work. I’m able to follow and enjoy the conversations while keeping busy.

@nutter: I generally agree that it it’s better to focus on one task, but I’ve always performed better in racing/sports games with music on. It puts me a state of zen, and relaxation.

I played all of the Witcher 3 with the OST turned because the music was grating on me, but I didn’t replace it with anything because I felt having anything else on would detract from the experience. Playing it with just the dialogue and SFX made for a blissful journey.

Last night, I was playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and the OST that I was previously enjoying was getting repetitive to the point of driving me up the wall, so I turned the music off and replaced it with something else, and left the dialogue and SFX on. It vastly improved the experience for me.

All of my time with Satisfactory was spent with my favorite Yo-Yo Ma records on, and that made it 10X more relaxing for me.

Forza Horizon 4 has a terrible soundtrack, so I listen to Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Electronic, Pop, and Podcasts.

Anything with an Online component will always get my full attention. I couldn’t imagine playing Overwatch, or Battlefield with something else on.

I straight up can’t watch a TV Show, or a Film with something else going on.

I’m a man of faith and spend a ton of time in silence, prayer, and meditation.

I’m actually incredibly sick, and can’t leave the house, so I get lonely, and the Duders help tremendously. I love having UPF on while I play a portable game and relax before bed. I don’t always care about what they’re playing, so I just tune out, and have them on like friends in the room. If I’m watching live, I hang out in chat and solely focus on the show.

Sorry if my thoughts are disorganized...

@bobobones: No, need to apologize, good read...except for the Witcher music part...that’s enough to get a man shot ‘round here... ;)

I do enjoy reading about everyone’s situations, and how our points of reference frame our perceptions differently.

Cool to hear about silence, prayer, and meditation. I was raised religious, but I’m mostly not practicing, traditionally. I do pray, and I’ve found balance in long walks with my dog, often at night, as well as a weird sort of peace while weightlifting alone in my basement. I’ve never approached meditation, but the idea certainly has its draws.

I totally get having friendly voices around. I’m married with kids and dogs, so I’m constantly hearing someone, stopping what I’m doing to help someone, etc. As a result, I enjoy silence when it happens.

Wow, lots of non-answers here. Love AC Odyssey, grinding out MK towers, or exploring bloodstained with some GB on in the background.

Octopath has been my goto game for mindless grinding away while plunking away at the numerous podcasts I have in my library. Love the music, but sometimes it gets too much when you’re standing in a battle for 20 minutes because some high level monster was in your encounter.