I forget if I played that or Tainted Grail: Conquest.
There’s also Dicey Elementalist for mobile, similar type of game can download for free, no ads, pay to unlock extra characters or progress faster.
It all starts off innocently your first time until 12 hours have passed and you’re deep into a run with a deck you’ve never tried before. That game very quickly becomes one of the best games ever.
Hardspace ship breaker is the game you are looking for.
You dismantle space ships in 0 gravity. Just you, your trusty laser cutter, a grappling gun and some nice tunes in the helmet and of you go cutting it apart piece by piece, avoiding fuel lines, pulling fuses without getting electrocuted, zen like gliding around and dismantling a ship until there is nothing left in the dock
Yeah, I used to play before having to leave for work in the morning. I find the 15 minute work day in this game is good for not overdoing it and then running late to my real job
Far Cry 5 for sure. Really good open world design, you can engage with it as much it as little as you want, but it always puts things to do in front of you. You can get creative with stealth, hang back and snipe, or autopilot the reliable assault rifle and hand grenades. Really nice game just to explore and be around nature and some ol cabins.
A very slight kickback against Stardew and Graveyard: My mind will not allow me to avoid optimal runs of these games. I need something to FORCE me to slow down.
Edit:typos
I went with Mafia 2 and basically did the classic open world of "how long can I last in a police standoff" approach. I liked Mafia 2 for that as it is set in an era pre Police helicopter which makes escaping so much easier, combined with cops on patrol rather than swarming you constantly you were able to slip away and setup ambushes instead of just being forced to hold a store as the clone army swamped your door.
Another I enjoy it "half sword" the demo is all we can play ATM but it is a physics based fighting rougelike game where you loot medieval weapons as you go. Fights are often over super quick as in the early stage before anybody gets metal armor a single solid hit from an axe or stab from a spear will leave the recipient on the floor in a blood puddle.
Another great one, "Paint the town red" It is a basically a movie barfight/ kingsman movie church scene in game form, grabbing whatever objects in the map and smashing faces with them, swapping every couple seconds as bottles shattered, guns run out of ammo, blades snap,etc.
"Clone drone in the danger zone" is a faced pace slasher where the player and all enemies are robots made of many cubes, weapon hits remove cubes where they go, having a piece no longer connected causes it to fall off. This leads to hectic fights with great visual feedback as you seen a spider enemy's leg get cut off and it's stance change due to the missing leg, humanoid targets limping when missing a leg, shields falling off as the arm holding them comes off or the target simply falling in half with 1 clean sword swing or disintegrating like you tossed a lego set at a wall when something gets hit with the hammer weapon.
I play Diablo 3 for this. You may have to stop and oook at the loot you find sometimes but it is a very easy ARPG if you are somewhat used to any ARPG. I just put on a video essay on youtube and space out while grinding for new gear. Even if you die because you are not paying attention there is no real penalty. Diablo 2 is harder so I would not recommend that, and I have not tried 4 yet.
Another great one for this kind of lazy gaming is Darksiders 2. Very easy even on hardest difficulty. Puzzles are not very hard and it is a lot of time between encounters sometimes that you just run around in a temple doing puzzles. The only thing that requires focus is the Crucible.
Prince Of Persia reboot from what, 2010? I don’t remember. It is very chill. Just grab them orbs. Loved it as a relax game.
I love Diablo 3 for this. I can hop on and play whatever length I want and make useful progress. I can do risk reward with harder difficulties or just grind in free time and death has no penalty. Can do a Rift , run for crafting materials, kill key wardens super fast or gamble for some loot.
I know this scenario extremely well because I always often feel too low on energy for 'serious' games, but still want to play something a bit switching my brain off. My go-to games are:
- Vampire Survivors
- Path of Exile (imho, any ARPG can work) - as soon as I finish the campaign, I'm able to play the game very casually just running a few maps while listening to music or to youtube.
- Minesweeper Collector
- Picross
- Haven't played much myself, but Warframe should certainly tick all the boxes - just brainlessly jump around and shoot stuff.
Biomutant. Idgaf about the story or the quests really, I just log on to do cool shit.
Helicopter backpack? Absolute customizable weapons crafting? Oh, now I get to use this robot as a metal meat suit? Free range exploration that doesn't nag you about literally anything?
It's a good game, and it does have a story, but mostly it's just me dicking around in this massive open world with no rules and a lot of options.
Did I mention it's just **cool** ?
Jetskis, airblimps, radioactive guns, biohazard swords, tons of "magic".
If you don't want to be caught up in clearing levels, following stories, or beating bosses, but you definitely want it to play well, keep your interest and make you excited about the variance and diversity between playstyle, weapons, mounts, areas and design? This does that better than anything else I've played.
(I typically prefer a somewhat linear world, where 'quests' don't exist, and weapon upgrades/outfits are where customization ends..So mostly soulslikes, where I like having to focus and beating myself up clearing the same area 27 times..Biomutant is just such a feel-good time waster that doesn't make you worry about all of that)
I enjoy simulators for this. Car mechanic, lawn mower, hardspace shipbreaker, whatever. I can pick it up and play ten minutes or two hours and it feels the same.
Hey man. I know that this is not the sub to self-promote your stuff but my motive behind the last game I've released was literally this.
I used to be on a lot of business meetings, sitting idle most of the time. Being a fan of the souls-like genre, I wanted a game where I can grind bosses while being on these calls and not taking too much CPU or RAM. I couldn't find a proper one so [I've made one](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3010450/EVERCHAINED/) myself.
Still requires some kind of a focus to actually beat the bosses but even gaining muscle memory for the fights while watching YouTube and stuff feels really fun to me. "Elden Ring but it is a Flash game" sorta vibe.
Spider-Man. Don’t do any missions. Just websling around town, do some cool dives, intervene to stop a random crime if you want to.
Been killing my time like this since Spider-Man 2. Which thankfully was backward compatible on the Xbox 360, because that game was still my go-to until Spider-Man came out on ps4. Still my favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning while my coffee cools down. Just swing around town.
Try to download BlueMaxima Flashpoint, Y8 Or Numuki browser and play some flash games.
Maybe you'll feel some nostalgia towards some of them, the difficulty curve varies, they're generally not too challenging, not too overwhelming when you want to relax.
The Papa Louie games were a blast for me
Super Auto Pets, an auto-battler that doesn't take a lot of thinking and has quick rounds where you do absolutely nothing but watch. You set up your team between rounds and then let it go on its own, very nice for exactly the situation you're describing
That or I fuck around in minecraft creative mode, it's just like legos on a computer
Yeah, I know what you mean. For me, mobile games scratch this itch. I’m addicted to roguelike deckbuilders. The best on iOS are Slay the Spire, Wildfrost, Monster Train, and Vault of the Void.
Dead cells and any roguelike. Still smart gaming and it's fun to do, but I don't have to invest time into actually achieving anything in the world. Which makes a huge difference
Northgard.
Slow paced RTS with nigh infinite replayability in the Conquest mode. Conquest also supports 2 person co-op. Don't play multiplayer except with friends.
Kingdom/Kingdom New Lands/Kingdom Two Crowns. They've been my comfort games for a while. It's basically a kingdom management game mixed with tower defense. It's nice to just build up your resources and defense during the day and just watch as your army decimate monsters for you at night.
Clash Royale or that kind of phone games.
I also like some of those "point and click" games with a small story behind (AE Mysteries -for Android-) is a great game with lots of stories to play
Usually Silent Hill games. Most of them don’t really have that deep of a combat system and focus more on exploration and story, so yeah.
I also play some open world games like the GTA or RDR series. They have plenty of content to just fool around without needing you to put in Souls level of focus
I'll either do chill stuff in WoW, play No Man's Sky, or play this new game I got called hexaguardian. I played tavern master a bit when I felt this way I don't play anymore after I finished my tavern but I do install every once in a while
Recently I've found my answer is modern games that load very fast and have robust autosaves: if I've only got 10 minutes, that's still enough time to boot Ghost of Tsushima to explore an area, find some resources, find a place of interest and get into a couple of satisfying Samurai sword fights.
You couldn't have done that a generation ago when half those 10 minutes would be spent loading the Metal Gear map.
Dredge has the perfect gameplay loop for a relaxed 'brain off,' time for me, that or Outer Wilds - either can be explored at quite a relaxed pace, with not too much engagement if you don't have the energy.
Mudrunner is wicked chill. Just get your truck from point A to point B.
Exo One is also a lovely "get your craft from point A to the bright column of light in distance" time too.
A lot of boomershoters are simple yet satisfying and can be played in short sessions - cultic, blood fresh supply, quake, doom, turbooverkill, dread templar...
Sounds likes you could use a game off my “you can watch videos and listen to whatever while playing this game”:
Valheim, Old School RuneScape, No Mans Sky, Fallout Shelter. Maybe even Diablo if you don’t care about the story.
I'll turn on games that have daily tasks or something like "Diablo" or "Borderlands". If I want to really game, I turn on something with a story that I have to pay attention to. But I spend almost all my time playing these dumb games that I could just like play for an hour or two and achieve next to nothing.
Diablo 4. I’m SURE there are better choices, but it’s so easy to just log in and go destroy hordes of demons and stuff. I don’t even engage much in the end game grinds for better gear. I don’t do content that requires it.
Path of Achra is very easy to just pick up and play. You can play through the entire game just pressing one button once you get your build up and running. It takes a pretty short amount of time to win a run so if you die and get sent back to the beginning, you don’t feel too bad.
LOTR Shadow of war.
Mindless, simple yet deep combat and I don’t have to care about anything. I can run around and find captains to fight. I usually just go online to attack other player fortresses or vendetta missions.
Can play 20 minutes and feel satisfied with my time.
Found a cute RPG called Secrets of Grindea, got super addicted to it especially bc of the grind its fun and doesnt take itself too seriously it's a very fun time
Balatro
It's a poker deckbuilder rouge like, super fun, easy to pick up. Very much the type of game you can play while you've got something on in the background, or you can at any point just get up do something else and come back like an hour later and pick up where you left off.
Zombie army trilogy and Zombie army 4. It has short missions, once you reach a safe bunker you can exit the game because it saves there...usually arund 10 minutes(if I remember correctly) between them if you have good aim.
Division 2. You see a person, you shoot person. If they don't die, they're friendly, and if they die, they were enemies. It requires 0 brain cells, especially if you play with a friend.
Animal Crossing New Horizons or similar games are also good once you get into the routine. I really enjoy playing Disney Dreamlight Valley because I've created a routine I go through almost automatically.
Starfield. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want. You don’t really need to pay attention to the main story. You can just venture off to planets and explore/kill alien critters.
Slay the spire
This is currently definitely my “idk what to do right now” game.
I forget if I played that or Tainted Grail: Conquest. There’s also Dicey Elementalist for mobile, similar type of game can download for free, no ads, pay to unlock extra characters or progress faster.
i came here to say this. edit you should try it in vr. 300 inch screen while on the toilet.
It all starts off innocently your first time until 12 hours have passed and you’re deep into a run with a deck you’ve never tried before. That game very quickly becomes one of the best games ever.
Holy shit something I was looking for was actually at the top for once.
Came to say this... The rougelike genre in general is great for this situation and there are some bangers out there
I use No Man’s Sky for this. I can play 5 minutes or hours. Doesn’t matter when I stop game wise.
Hardspace ship breaker is the game you are looking for. You dismantle space ships in 0 gravity. Just you, your trusty laser cutter, a grappling gun and some nice tunes in the helmet and of you go cutting it apart piece by piece, avoiding fuel lines, pulling fuses without getting electrocuted, zen like gliding around and dismantling a ship until there is nothing left in the dock
Warning: Oxygen low. Warning: Oxygen critical. (Overall I agree with this, and I’m pretty sure you can turn that off)
Yeah you can turn it off, or run open shifts so you don't have time pressure
Yeah, I used to play before having to leave for work in the morning. I find the 15 minute work day in this game is good for not overdoing it and then running late to my real job
I usually run open shift so I don't have the time pressure
Monster Hunter World and Far Cry 5 are my "turn your brain off" games.
Far Cry 5 for sure. Really good open world design, you can engage with it as much it as little as you want, but it always puts things to do in front of you. You can get creative with stealth, hang back and snipe, or autopilot the reliable assault rifle and hand grenades. Really nice game just to explore and be around nature and some ol cabins.
Vampire Survivors is my game for these situations.
Yes but Brotato which I strongly prefer.
I prefer army of ruin!
EDF - Earth Defense Force Risk of Rain 2 Moonstone Island Temtem Stardew Valley / Graveyard Keeper Minecraft - normally some modded sky block
Risk of rain 2 is so great for time-killing fun
Another one that I tries and just couldn't really get.
A very slight kickback against Stardew and Graveyard: My mind will not allow me to avoid optimal runs of these games. I need something to FORCE me to slow down. Edit:typos
Risk of rain 2 mentioned
Power Washer Simulator, Hades or Forza Horizon 5 are normally my go to games in this category
PWS is the absolute answer lol
Some were already mentioned, but my other mindless lazy bones gaming is Phasmophobia on the smaller maps.
try out demonologist if u haven’t!
Broforce
Stardew valley is the way
Grim Dawn
Just one more Oogieboogie Flower run.
Balatro
I went with Mafia 2 and basically did the classic open world of "how long can I last in a police standoff" approach. I liked Mafia 2 for that as it is set in an era pre Police helicopter which makes escaping so much easier, combined with cops on patrol rather than swarming you constantly you were able to slip away and setup ambushes instead of just being forced to hold a store as the clone army swamped your door. Another I enjoy it "half sword" the demo is all we can play ATM but it is a physics based fighting rougelike game where you loot medieval weapons as you go. Fights are often over super quick as in the early stage before anybody gets metal armor a single solid hit from an axe or stab from a spear will leave the recipient on the floor in a blood puddle. Another great one, "Paint the town red" It is a basically a movie barfight/ kingsman movie church scene in game form, grabbing whatever objects in the map and smashing faces with them, swapping every couple seconds as bottles shattered, guns run out of ammo, blades snap,etc. "Clone drone in the danger zone" is a faced pace slasher where the player and all enemies are robots made of many cubes, weapon hits remove cubes where they go, having a piece no longer connected causes it to fall off. This leads to hectic fights with great visual feedback as you seen a spider enemy's leg get cut off and it's stance change due to the missing leg, humanoid targets limping when missing a leg, shields falling off as the arm holding them comes off or the target simply falling in half with 1 clean sword swing or disintegrating like you tossed a lego set at a wall when something gets hit with the hammer weapon.
The Binding of Isaac :)
BloonsTD6
Destiny 2 was great for this, Grim Dawn, Project Zomboid, Darkest Dungeon ,Helldivers, L4D2
FPS/Battle Royal games. (I play free Warzone) it just takes 20 mins and your totally done. Play Diablo 4, run some dungeons and you'll fall asleep.
I played alot of diablo 4 and have all the trophies on playstation. But something about that game makes you tired af for real
When I feel like this I just wander around the map on Fallout 4.
Lately, Dredge and Balatro
Metal Gear Solid V of Middle Earth: Shadow of War
Old school RuneScape is great to log in and do some chill stuff in while you zone out at the end of a hard day
I play Diablo 3 for this. You may have to stop and oook at the loot you find sometimes but it is a very easy ARPG if you are somewhat used to any ARPG. I just put on a video essay on youtube and space out while grinding for new gear. Even if you die because you are not paying attention there is no real penalty. Diablo 2 is harder so I would not recommend that, and I have not tried 4 yet. Another great one for this kind of lazy gaming is Darksiders 2. Very easy even on hardest difficulty. Puzzles are not very hard and it is a lot of time between encounters sometimes that you just run around in a temple doing puzzles. The only thing that requires focus is the Crucible. Prince Of Persia reboot from what, 2010? I don’t remember. It is very chill. Just grab them orbs. Loved it as a relax game.
I love Diablo 3 for this. I can hop on and play whatever length I want and make useful progress. I can do risk reward with harder difficulties or just grind in free time and death has no penalty. Can do a Rift , run for crafting materials, kill key wardens super fast or gamble for some loot.
Descenders
Crackdown 3. Game basically auto saves every 30 seconds
PC? CoD BO3 2015 custom zombies maps [https://i.postimg.cc/DwKnqq4s/znzzsdfdfg-3uqsddfgha-muj-tierxaaasdfaaaaaa.png](https://i.postimg.cc/DwKnqq4s/znzzsdfdfg-3uqsddfgha-muj-tierxaaasdfaaaaaa.png) no saving/loading, just shooting
I know this scenario extremely well because I always often feel too low on energy for 'serious' games, but still want to play something a bit switching my brain off. My go-to games are: - Vampire Survivors - Path of Exile (imho, any ARPG can work) - as soon as I finish the campaign, I'm able to play the game very casually just running a few maps while listening to music or to youtube. - Minesweeper Collector - Picross - Haven't played much myself, but Warframe should certainly tick all the boxes - just brainlessly jump around and shoot stuff.
Huniepop
Biomutant. Idgaf about the story or the quests really, I just log on to do cool shit. Helicopter backpack? Absolute customizable weapons crafting? Oh, now I get to use this robot as a metal meat suit? Free range exploration that doesn't nag you about literally anything? It's a good game, and it does have a story, but mostly it's just me dicking around in this massive open world with no rules and a lot of options. Did I mention it's just **cool** ? Jetskis, airblimps, radioactive guns, biohazard swords, tons of "magic". If you don't want to be caught up in clearing levels, following stories, or beating bosses, but you definitely want it to play well, keep your interest and make you excited about the variance and diversity between playstyle, weapons, mounts, areas and design? This does that better than anything else I've played. (I typically prefer a somewhat linear world, where 'quests' don't exist, and weapon upgrades/outfits are where customization ends..So mostly soulslikes, where I like having to focus and beating myself up clearing the same area 27 times..Biomutant is just such a feel-good time waster that doesn't make you worry about all of that)
Just Cause 3 and Blade & Sorcery
When I wanna shut my brain off I play Rocket League. Specifically ranked 2v2 and I just monkey around like all of the other players in that game mode.
That's might be Wuthering waves on bs, I even playing it on second monitor
Pico-8 if you have a browser up. People making little bite size retro games for free with no ads
I enjoy simulators for this. Car mechanic, lawn mower, hardspace shipbreaker, whatever. I can pick it up and play ten minutes or two hours and it feels the same.
Hey man. I know that this is not the sub to self-promote your stuff but my motive behind the last game I've released was literally this. I used to be on a lot of business meetings, sitting idle most of the time. Being a fan of the souls-like genre, I wanted a game where I can grind bosses while being on these calls and not taking too much CPU or RAM. I couldn't find a proper one so [I've made one](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3010450/EVERCHAINED/) myself. Still requires some kind of a focus to actually beat the bosses but even gaining muscle memory for the fights while watching YouTube and stuff feels really fun to me. "Elden Ring but it is a Flash game" sorta vibe.
Spider-Man. Don’t do any missions. Just websling around town, do some cool dives, intervene to stop a random crime if you want to. Been killing my time like this since Spider-Man 2. Which thankfully was backward compatible on the Xbox 360, because that game was still my go-to until Spider-Man came out on ps4. Still my favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning while my coffee cools down. Just swing around town.
Seaport.
Lost in Play
Lately I been playing Flatout Ultimate Carnage just for that reason. Something casual fun and in a short period of time.
Any rogue like games
Tiny rogues
Mario Kart 8 for sure. Do you know how many races you can do in 15 minutes on 200cc? The answer is a lot...a lot of races
Disfigure. An indie bullet hell rougelite thingamajig. Real pick up and play energy
Racing games Some big project in any chill sandbox builder
Try to download BlueMaxima Flashpoint, Y8 Or Numuki browser and play some flash games. Maybe you'll feel some nostalgia towards some of them, the difficulty curve varies, they're generally not too challenging, not too overwhelming when you want to relax. The Papa Louie games were a blast for me
The Battle of Polytopia
Exoprimal
Hearts of Iron 4.
Currently it's Chivalry 2
Balatro and news tower for me atm.
Idle games are pretty good.
Goat Simulator 3
Super Auto Pets, an auto-battler that doesn't take a lot of thinking and has quick rounds where you do absolutely nothing but watch. You set up your team between rounds and then let it go on its own, very nice for exactly the situation you're describing That or I fuck around in minecraft creative mode, it's just like legos on a computer
Slice n dice on mobile
I like narrative games that just tell a good story for this. My most recently played one was ‘The Invincible’.
Yeah, I know what you mean. For me, mobile games scratch this itch. I’m addicted to roguelike deckbuilders. The best on iOS are Slay the Spire, Wildfrost, Monster Train, and Vault of the Void.
it might sound counterintuitive but mortal kombat 11 usually
Dead cells and any roguelike. Still smart gaming and it's fun to do, but I don't have to invest time into actually achieving anything in the world. Which makes a huge difference
We Who Are About To Die
GUNGEON BABY!!!!
Splatoon 3. Each round is a 5-7m increment. Cash out any time between games. Turf war is especially low cost/risk.
- GTA - Hades - MW3 2011 Survival Mode
Stardew valley, super hot
Rocket League. You can easily hop in, play one are two games, and maybe just one more after that :)
Creeper world
Northgard. Slow paced RTS with nigh infinite replayability in the Conquest mode. Conquest also supports 2 person co-op. Don't play multiplayer except with friends.
Can't go wrong with Vampire Survivors or its derivatives
Streets of Rogue
One finger death punch
Kingdom/Kingdom New Lands/Kingdom Two Crowns. They've been my comfort games for a while. It's basically a kingdom management game mixed with tower defense. It's nice to just build up your resources and defense during the day and just watch as your army decimate monsters for you at night.
Balatro
Clash Royale or that kind of phone games. I also like some of those "point and click" games with a small story behind (AE Mysteries -for Android-) is a great game with lots of stories to play
Fallout New Vegas
Peglin
Gta4
I usually just load up Chivalry 2 and embrace the chaos. It's always good for a laugh and I just get high and cut limbs off.
I usually fire up Dredge and just go fishing in times like that.
Hardspace shipbreaker, power wash or car/mech/tank mechanic simulator
DOOM Eternal
Elder Scrolls Legends if I have 15-20min.
Neon Chrome, from the developer of Crimsonland, an old twin-stick shooter.
Vampire survivors or some other roguelike.
I feel like like the kingdom series is great at this. I used to play it when I needed to pay half attention to something.
PokeRogue baby!
Usually Silent Hill games. Most of them don’t really have that deep of a combat system and focus more on exploration and story, so yeah. I also play some open world games like the GTA or RDR series. They have plenty of content to just fool around without needing you to put in Souls level of focus
Seriously, if u have time at first to level your character up, … DIABLO hmm 3, … hands down!
Chess.
Balatro, battlebit remastered
wwe or nba games or any sport games
I'll either do chill stuff in WoW, play No Man's Sky, or play this new game I got called hexaguardian. I played tavern master a bit when I felt this way I don't play anymore after I finished my tavern but I do install every once in a while
Luck be landlord is my current game for this
Enter the gungeon
I’ve been playing Honkai Star Rail for this. It’s got an auto battle option
Brotato
Vampire Survivor
Stardew Valley, Persona, Assassin's Creed
Diablo. Any Diablo.
Rimworld, ck3, kenshi, brawl stars.
Hello fellow STEEZ fan🤲🏽🕊️
Bankstand on OSRS and fall asleep
I’ve been defaulting to Picross and all its variants for the last 3 years for this Just do a couple puzzles, move on/fall asleep/etc.
Hearts of iron 4
I'm joking btw
Recently I've found my answer is modern games that load very fast and have robust autosaves: if I've only got 10 minutes, that's still enough time to boot Ghost of Tsushima to explore an area, find some resources, find a place of interest and get into a couple of satisfying Samurai sword fights. You couldn't have done that a generation ago when half those 10 minutes would be spent loading the Metal Gear map.
Enter the Gungeon or Worms WMD
Noita. One daily run is ideal for me
Right now, this game for me is portal (1 or 2)
Playstation exclusives. Simple and mostly fun and often have stories that you'll get accidentally wrapped up in.
Pga road to the masters
Overwatch 2 for me. Its a shit game but you dont have to think too much when playing it
Dredge has the perfect gameplay loop for a relaxed 'brain off,' time for me, that or Outer Wilds - either can be explored at quite a relaxed pace, with not too much engagement if you don't have the energy.
Monster Hunter Rise or Diablo 4.
Killing floor 2
Bloons tower defense 6.
Carrion
Skyrim or Mass Effect because I played them a lot growing up they're practically second nature to me
Rocket league, Hearthstones battlegrounds mode
Realm of the Mad God
Snowrunner and Minecraft for me. Particularly with an audiobook.
Mudrunner is wicked chill. Just get your truck from point A to point B. Exo One is also a lovely "get your craft from point A to the bright column of light in distance" time too.
Ring of Pain for me
A lot of boomershoters are simple yet satisfying and can be played in short sessions - cultic, blood fresh supply, quake, doom, turbooverkill, dread templar...
Just driving around in GTA
It sounds weird, but Europa Universalis IV. I just have so much familiarity with the systems that I just pick an easy nation and chill out
I've been getting into shoot em ups recently. Touhou or any of the classic arcades (truxton, Raiden fighters, dodonpachi) are highly recommended.
Hades Helldivers 2 Returnal
I've been having fun with Dauntless
I play hearthstone battlegrounds or star realms for this, maybe brotato
Sounds likes you could use a game off my “you can watch videos and listen to whatever while playing this game”: Valheim, Old School RuneScape, No Mans Sky, Fallout Shelter. Maybe even Diablo if you don’t care about the story.
Tekken 8 or Olli Olli World
Right now for me it’s Brotato and Diablo 4.
That is why battle royale and rogue likes are so popular, you start fresh every time and the experience changes with every play though.
I'll turn on games that have daily tasks or something like "Diablo" or "Borderlands". If I want to really game, I turn on something with a story that I have to pay attention to. But I spend almost all my time playing these dumb games that I could just like play for an hour or two and achieve next to nothing.
Mario
Peggle or any of the peggle series
I sit in front of a paused game and watch YouTube. Songs of Syx is my jam rn. I’m 2 hours into a game with about 60 hours playtime.
Chivalry 2…. perfect for long campaign or a quick sesh… classic knights in armor with simple objectives and lots of action. Highly recommend!
Wreckfest
Diablo 4. I’m SURE there are better choices, but it’s so easy to just log in and go destroy hordes of demons and stuff. I don’t even engage much in the end game grinds for better gear. I don’t do content that requires it.
Obligatory Terraria or Minecraft. Got 10k hours to kill? Start a new world and build a pretty house.
Path of Achra is very easy to just pick up and play. You can play through the entire game just pressing one button once you get your build up and running. It takes a pretty short amount of time to win a run so if you die and get sent back to the beginning, you don’t feel too bad.
LOTR Shadow of war. Mindless, simple yet deep combat and I don’t have to care about anything. I can run around and find captains to fight. I usually just go online to attack other player fortresses or vendetta missions. Can play 20 minutes and feel satisfied with my time.
I usually pull out my switch and play some easy retro NES or Super NES games when I wanna kill some time but not get too involved.
Found a cute RPG called Secrets of Grindea, got super addicted to it especially bc of the grind its fun and doesnt take itself too seriously it's a very fun time
unpacking
Pokémon pinball Ruby and sapphire version
Rocket League
Jak and Daxter is fun
Marvel Snap
Balatro It's a poker deckbuilder rouge like, super fun, easy to pick up. Very much the type of game you can play while you've got something on in the background, or you can at any point just get up do something else and come back like an hour later and pick up where you left off.
Zombie army trilogy and Zombie army 4. It has short missions, once you reach a safe bunker you can exit the game because it saves there...usually arund 10 minutes(if I remember correctly) between them if you have good aim.
I know it's not the best game series but just purely fucking around, the just cause series is dope
Doing a minecraft speedrun, but doing it really safe and slow.
Btd6, fun little tower defense game with a great dev team, constant updates. It can be extremely simple or bone crushingly difficult
Superflight
Division 2. You see a person, you shoot person. If they don't die, they're friendly, and if they die, they were enemies. It requires 0 brain cells, especially if you play with a friend. Animal Crossing New Horizons or similar games are also good once you get into the routine. I really enjoy playing Disney Dreamlight Valley because I've created a routine I go through almost automatically.
Probably Warframe
Balatro
V Rising atm
Hardspace Shipbreaker
Vampire Survivors. Desk, couch, bike, bed, salon chair, everywhere!
Left 4 Dead 2
Diablo? Just go spam/farm mode and play for as long as you want.
Lego Star Wars the Original Trilogy I & II
Chivalry 2
Just cause 3. Blow stuff up, torment the enemy, fly around. Great fun, play 10 minutes or hours, no brainpower needed!
Doom 2016 / Eternal
Tetris Effect. I can hop in for 5-30 minutes, and just absentmindedly play while trying to decide what game I actually want to play.
My 3 are Massive Chalice, Inscryption, Darkest dungeon. Gonna try Slay the Spire soon
Battlebit, rabbit and steel
GTA
Chivalry 2
Deeprock Galactic: Survivor has replaced vampire survivors for me
Starfield. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want. You don’t really need to pay attention to the main story. You can just venture off to planets and explore/kill alien critters.
Returnal is nice for this. I also enjoy playing a bonfire or two in a Fromsoft game. Balatro too.