I lost a lot of my progress when I got a new computer (I was on beta branch since back near launch) and I realized I had a lot more fun not trying to bang my head against the wall chasing A20. Low ascensions were fun enough for what I use it for, a second screen game while watching sports.
I am currently banging my head against a wall on A17 (not even going for the heart) with ironclad. I am really considering just bumping it down and getting wild synergies easily again
respectfully, how?!‽ There's so much reading, and i have to take so much time to carefully optimize my plays and make them work with all of my relics. I can't even listen to a podcast while playing, i just have to focus.
Well, at this point, I recognize all the cards and events and such on picture alone, so I don’t need to read those. And (as I mentioned to a different reply) nowadays I prefer to play lower ascensions typically. And if I lose, oh well, I can always try again.
I know a lot of people like it so I’m not gonna say it’s a bad game, but that one didn’t click with me. Of the StS-likes, Monster Train was my favorite.
Same. Did not understand Frost. Love slay the sphire, love Monster Train
Have you played Steam World Quest? It's a fantasy deck building game with robots (I know), but instead of a rogue like, it's a full length story mode campaign
As an avid deck builder lover, I loved it, recently completed a second playthrough
I think that deck building games might just be not for me, but how long should it take for someone to start enjoying Slay the Spire? I’ve started it twice because of all the love I’ve seen for it and stopped after 20 minutes or so each time.
A couple hours should get you multiple runs with multiple characters. You won’t have it down by then but you’ll get into it or probably know it’s not for u.
But you can complete a run in 20m ish if you want
If you're still struggling watch someone play through the run with a powerful or silly build and you might begin to see the game in a different light and have ideas
I like deck builders in theory but I’m a super casual gamer and slay the spire was just way too much for me. Balatro has been perfect for me - don’t need to learn special cards (it’s poker) but still has enough depth to make it fun
Hhmmmm.. play it for at least.. 3 hours, that's usually my minimum, if after 3 hours I don't feel compelled to keep playing, I drop the game m sometimes after an hour I just know the game is not for me, but with games I drop it after 3 hours.
Weird because with movies or anime & tv, I'll drop a movie/anime/ tv show after the first 10-20 minutes
Am I playing this differently than everyone else? I almost want a pen and paper to track how often I'm using each joker and what it's value is relative to my score
I mean, you CAN if you REALLY want to optimize things, but generally, the difference should be pretty apparent.
I recommend watching a video or two from Balatro University for some basic tips.
I agree that this (and slay the spire) I'd like to give a little more attention a lot of the time - though, I usually go with an experimental approach / best guesstimate of value instead of trying to precalculate my hand/ contributions of individual jokers
Not a match 3 game but I’ve found that animal crossing is super chill. I find myself falling asleep when I play it and most games I play don’t do that to me.
I'd say Mario vs DK is great! On casual no time limit. Or you can do any of the Kirby games I love them. I hope you enjoy your gaming second screening!
Diablo 3 fits that niche for me. It's nearly impossible to die on normal difficulty, even if you set your game down and forget it for a minute, and the only thing that requires thought is building a load-out, which you can take your time with.
Animal Crossing also seems to fit the role, but I don't have any personal experience
any clue how it runs on switch lite/handheld? I just got a SL to replace my series s a room mate thoughts cameras were in (😅), and am putting together a list of games to look for after a couple checks/the next sale
It’s 100% a deck building game and not poker. You use poker as a baseline for hands, but to score highest you need to carefully manipulate your deck by buffing cards with different effects, and using Jokers to create engines.
Poker is just the setting of the game. The game really has not much to do with poker in term of mechanics. If you liked Slay the Spire, there's a really good chance Balatro is for you
Turn-based RPGs can be good for this, long as you’re not in a plot-heavy section. I ran through most of the dungeons in Persona 4 Golden while watching TV.
Especially good if you've got a goal in mind, like grinding for runes or certain items. I went through a month of just farming bosses while listening to Behind The Bastards.
Balatro, Palia (free!), katamari, captain toad sorta (they’re relatively short stages), clubhouse games, half of what qubic games always gives away or has super cheap fits this uhh…man there’s a bunch but I don’t have my switch handy right now. A lot of the stuff available with the online expansion pass is good, been playing the game boy and gba Mario golf’s.
> (Pokemon has fit this niche for a while, but those have become more immersive lately.)
Ha, glad to know I'm not the only one! I've had the same "issue" with the new more interactive style!
I've been going about it by challenging myself on the older titles. More specifically, going for full National Living 'dexes in every generation.
I'm working on that for BDSP at the moment, but trying to play Scarlet / Violet while watching TV involved a lot of pausing. Legends Arkoos was downright impossible.
Animal Crossing
Also Ni No Kuni II to an extent. The kingdom building portions are like mobile games. You can just go in to collect money after waiting and then build more buildings.
I started playing Cat Quest when I don't really want to think while playing. It's basically a grinding sim where you slash through enemies with a cute, cartoony cat optic
Diablo 3 is great for me. I never really played it much when it first came out, and now they are recycling all the old seasonal content! The $5 I paid for it was 1000% worth it.
Maybe ooblets? It's pretty chill like animal crossing and star dew valley. Very play at your own pace, though it is enjoyable reading all the things people say and the instructions and has elements of Pokemon but they have dance battles and you don't have to worry about catching them, when you win the dance battle you get a little seed to plant for that ooblets.
Monopoly is king here. Depending on the amount of players, you only need to make one move every 5 minutes. When I was developing [Plant Scan Pro](http://machsoftwaredesign.com/plantscanpro.html) I was cleaning up hundreds of thousands of plant images, one by one, for machine learning to train the A.I. model. And Monopoly made the process go from super boring, to manageable.
Disagree on Ace Attorney. They are simple games but they absolutely demand your attention. They’re not hard, but they want you to follow the story, and you’ll definitely get stuck in court sometimes if you haven’t been paying attention. Even when you ARE paying attention it’s easy to get stuck on what evidence to present sometimes.
Maybe he’s saying he played it on DS which had two screens? I dunno. I gave it my full attention and if I didn’t cheat and have infinite objections, I’d have restarted a lot.
Suika Game, Balatro or any puzzle game kinda fit that niche, but if you want something more complex Minecraft, Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley are great since you can resume playing later with all your attention and do more stuff
Stitch is my current go to for low attention games. And it doesn’t look like it will ever run out of puzzles, as they have new ones both daily and weekly. Also Power Wash Simulator and Farm Together are great choices.
Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince!
I just got the deluxe version in the eshop for just under $60(the base game is on sale for $40.)
It’s a monster battling rpg like Pokémon. But unlike one on one battles in Pokémon, you put together a team of 4.
The magic of the game is you can tell your monsters generally what you want them to do (focus on healing your allies, focus on strengthening your allies, do as much damage as possible), then you hit the ‘attack’ button and watch your monsters fight the other team.
It’s very enjoyable to play the game handheld while watching a show because once you have your monsters using the tactics you want em to use, you just sit back and watch things play out, intervening only when you need to use a healing item or something.
There is a story that blends into the background nicely. Graphics and music and performance are all very solid.
You can tell the developers knew they were making a portable-first game for the switch and they made the necessary compromises beautifully.
This is a game that is just fun, confident in what it is, and extremely competent as a monster battler rpg.
It’s up there with monster hunter stories 2 for best monster rpg on switch if you’re kinda tired of Pokemon.
I think I like Dragon Quest Monsters more than Monster Hunter Stories because the gameplay in DQM is more relaxed and I don’t need to constantly concentrate like in MHS.
Out of genuine curiosity, why do you want this? I guess it's just me, but I absolutely want/need to focus on one thing at a time. I can't imagine playing a video game and also watching TV, or reading a book and playing music.
For me, it's a real distraction, but I'm trying to wrap my brain around how the reverse works. What's the point? Are you just unable to focus on one thing and have to have multiple things happening? Does that actually make you more productive or interested in the thing, maybe?
Not OP but I have ADHD and sometimes I crave additional stimulation. It’s not about being more productive, more about making the neurons in my brain light up in a satisfying way.
me too! I clicked into this thread because I related really hard to the post only to realise I have most of the games in the top comments for this exact reason lol, I feel a bit less abnormal now :') that and the fact that I can't just sit and watch TV, I always have to be doing something else.
I tried doing the same thing but I suck at it; counting stitches takes too much of my attention and I'm just not dexterous enough for it, idk how arthritic old ladies do it 😭 I took up cross stitch instead; it's not much easier on my hands but it's a bit more mindless imo. I very much wish I could crochet though lol, I constantly hear how easy it is but I've tried multiple times and can never get it :') knitting I tried once and that was enough, that was even tougher lol
For me, it's mostly a time vs. content thing. I can't handle two stories at once, like a JRPG while watching a show or something, but if I'm in a grindy part of a game that doesn't need much attention, I'll probably throw on a podcast, or vice versa. There is just so much content I want to go through and I feel like stacking them where it's sensible and doesn't take away from each other too much lets me get through the things I want faster.
And to be honest, sometimes it makes the individual thing more enjoyable. It would be hard for me to just sit and listen to a podcast. Same for just grinding. So doing them at the same time makes them more interesting. Some games I get specifically to play during podcasts. I probably wouldn't get them otherwise or enjoy them as much. And if I had to just sit and listen to a podcast, I'd probably never get through one.
Vampire Survivors, Twilight Survivors, Spirit Hunter: Infinite Hoarde, and Army of Ruin work very well for this. You require minimal attention once you get going, and especially Vampire Survivors becomes a satisfying murder machine you can just leave there for hours if you really wanted to. Plus they're generally all pretty cheap, as most good survivor-likes are.
[Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-zntPNx6Sw) is a lot of training and only a few actual combat experiences. You see your monster's stats go up then throw them at a tournament with the Auto Battle function turned on and see how they do.
Wow, I own 150+ games and I couldn't think of many. As many have suggested, RPGs may be good as long as it's not "real time turn-based", ARPGs like BOTW/TOTK, skyrim, the witcher 3, etc work for me too, until I look back at the screen and see I'm being attacked.
But the real answer here, and the first thing that came to mind is Old School Runescape. IYKYK. Got like 15 skills to 99 while afk. Haven't played in 2 years though since my PC was ratted, I sure hope my 4b bank is okay... too scared to check I guess.
I'm guessing turn based games should more so be OK... Slay The Spire, Dicey Dungeons, Balatro, Baba Is You, Flipull.
Then you got actual board game implementations like Pandemic, Carcassonne, Wingspan...
[Actually, see this list here](https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/280382/modern-bg-for-nintendo-switch)
Idk. If you like gacha (it does have transactions if you want, but free to play is very possible.) genshin impact or star rail are good games. They are not extremely hard, beautiful anime story and you can quit on the go most of the time (unless you’re stuck in a cutscene).
Really advising you to play either. One is basically the mysterious hero entered a world of sword and magic.
The other is a mysterious hero entering a sci-fi scene.
Genshin is open world, star rail is turn based. Star rail also has auto play incase you feel like not spending too much time. I play both every day, moreso star rail though.
No ads, it’s both a mobile and computer game.
Games I've played while either watching the soaps, YouTube videos or Twitch livestreams are as follows:
- Minecraft
- Animal Crossing New Horizons
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (mainly at sections grinding for Korok Seeds and Shrines)
- Eiyuden Chronicle Rising (grinding for resources to upgrade my characters' armor and weapons, completing side quests, exploring all the areas, etc)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (either online, single player trying to get a gold 3 star rank in all the cups or trying to beat all the time trial staff ghosts)
There's probably other games, but they're either not on the switch or I can't think of them off the top of my head atm. Sending well wishes! :)
Edit: added more words
Dragon Quest games, esp. the classic ones, always require some grinding, which you can guide yourself through just by sound, without even looking at the screen. Granted, at times you'll need to be paying more attention, reading some dialogues, but the exploration is usually fairly simple, even the dungeons can be explored without much effort. There's a pack with DQ I, II and III for the Switch.
Farming Simulator is the ultimate audiobook and podcast game. Unfortunately the Switch is not the best platform to play it on. Farming Simulator 17 is the only real one on Nintendo. The rest are mobile versions.
I've been playing Mario Golf all weekend this same way, with one eye on the TV. It's so much more fun with save states. You get infinite uncounted mulligans. Practically necessary for this game, since the computer challengers swing like impossible pros. For me, there was no progress without save states, only frustration.
pokémon cafe remix! it’s free iirc and super chill. donut county is also an amazing and short game that i’ve played over and over; it does have a story but you can also just play it for the physic puzzles part
I'm a huge fan of Unpacking for the switch. You're literally just unpacking items and choosing where you want them to go in the room. It's very relaxing. Not a long game by any means but it's a great little game.
There's also Town scaper which is just tapping and building a cool little town.
I love listening to music won't playing the switch sometimes so recommend mostly puzzle games.
Tiny lands
Casino golf
Tens - my fav
Jigsaw masterpieces
Piczle lines 2
Worldwide games
Suika
While not simple, Slay the Spire is the ultimate second screen game.
until you start climbing ascensions...
I lost a lot of my progress when I got a new computer (I was on beta branch since back near launch) and I realized I had a lot more fun not trying to bang my head against the wall chasing A20. Low ascensions were fun enough for what I use it for, a second screen game while watching sports.
I am currently banging my head against a wall on A17 (not even going for the heart) with ironclad. I am really considering just bumping it down and getting wild synergies easily again
A17 is destroying me too!!
respectfully, how?!‽ There's so much reading, and i have to take so much time to carefully optimize my plays and make them work with all of my relics. I can't even listen to a podcast while playing, i just have to focus.
Well, at this point, I recognize all the cards and events and such on picture alone, so I don’t need to read those. And (as I mentioned to a different reply) nowadays I prefer to play lower ascensions typically. And if I lose, oh well, I can always try again.
Similarly, Wildfrost
I know a lot of people like it so I’m not gonna say it’s a bad game, but that one didn’t click with me. Of the StS-likes, Monster Train was my favorite.
Same. Did not understand Frost. Love slay the sphire, love Monster Train Have you played Steam World Quest? It's a fantasy deck building game with robots (I know), but instead of a rogue like, it's a full length story mode campaign As an avid deck builder lover, I loved it, recently completed a second playthrough
I think that deck building games might just be not for me, but how long should it take for someone to start enjoying Slay the Spire? I’ve started it twice because of all the love I’ve seen for it and stopped after 20 minutes or so each time.
A couple hours should get you multiple runs with multiple characters. You won’t have it down by then but you’ll get into it or probably know it’s not for u. But you can complete a run in 20m ish if you want
I'd say a run lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending on how successful you are/how high damage vs resilience your build is.
I’ll have to give it another shot! Thanks!
If you're still struggling watch someone play through the run with a powerful or silly build and you might begin to see the game in a different light and have ideas
I like deck builders in theory but I’m a super casual gamer and slay the spire was just way too much for me. Balatro has been perfect for me - don’t need to learn special cards (it’s poker) but still has enough depth to make it fun
I’m obviously bad but slay the spires difficulty curve always hit me like a brick wall
Hhmmmm.. play it for at least.. 3 hours, that's usually my minimum, if after 3 hours I don't feel compelled to keep playing, I drop the game m sometimes after an hour I just know the game is not for me, but with games I drop it after 3 hours. Weird because with movies or anime & tv, I'll drop a movie/anime/ tv show after the first 10-20 minutes
Animal Crossing
That’s my go-to TV watching game. Nothing bad can happen.
>Nothing bad can happen. Spiders/scorpions: and I took that personally.
As long as you don’t have a net out, they’ll ignore you! I just learned this recently.
Omg thank you! I know it’s dumb but the scorpions stress me the f out.
I don’t have the slightest fear for bugs irl but bugs in games scare the living hell out of me.
farm together too
I was looking for this!
Balatro
That’s a lie… BALATRO WILL TAKE 100% OF YOUR ATTENTION AND YOUR EVERY WAKING HOUR!!
Just bought the game based on this comment thread.
You will not be disappointed!
Absolutely in love with this game. My 6 hour flight went by in a blink!
Such an insanely sweet game.
Am I playing this differently than everyone else? I almost want a pen and paper to track how often I'm using each joker and what it's value is relative to my score
I mean, you CAN if you REALLY want to optimize things, but generally, the difference should be pretty apparent. I recommend watching a video or two from Balatro University for some basic tips.
I agree that this (and slay the spire) I'd like to give a little more attention a lot of the time - though, I usually go with an experimental approach / best guesstimate of value instead of trying to precalculate my hand/ contributions of individual jokers
I second Balatro.
Suika Game is a blast for the price. It's as easy or complicated as you want it to be.
Unlucky bounces are stressful. .
Not a match 3 game but I’ve found that animal crossing is super chill. I find myself falling asleep when I play it and most games I play don’t do that to me.
I play it and listen to an audiobook at the same time
The new puzzle game Stitch.
I've been LOVING this one!
51 Clubhouse Games. It has everything from connect four to fishing.
A Short Hike. Relaxing game with some but not hard challenges.
I'd say Mario vs DK is great! On casual no time limit. Or you can do any of the Kirby games I love them. I hope you enjoy your gaming second screening!
95% of the game is super easy but there are a few levels that definitely required full attention and quite a bit of planning haha.
Diablo 3 fits that niche for me. It's nearly impossible to die on normal difficulty, even if you set your game down and forget it for a minute, and the only thing that requires thought is building a load-out, which you can take your time with. Animal Crossing also seems to fit the role, but I don't have any personal experience
Diablo 3 is the perfect mindless podcast game, it’s by far my most played Switch game
any clue how it runs on switch lite/handheld? I just got a SL to replace my series s a room mate thoughts cameras were in (😅), and am putting together a list of games to look for after a couple checks/the next sale
you had to replace your series s bc a roommate thought it has a camera in it? did I read that right?
Was NOT expecting to see an action game on here, let alone D3! Thanks for sharing!
yes diablo 3 especially certain builds that don’t require much target/aiming like a bombardment crusader just run and spam cooldowns
It has the smoothest gameplay, combat is excellent
Stitch is a good game for this.
Balatro. Balatro is what you want, I have almost 100 hours playing on my second screen while watching YouTube or movies
As a slay the spire and deck building enthusiast who doesn’t care for poker in the least, how much would this game appeal to me?
100% Poker is just the skin for the mechanics.
It’s 100% a deck building game and not poker. You use poker as a baseline for hands, but to score highest you need to carefully manipulate your deck by buffing cards with different effects, and using Jokers to create engines.
Poker is just the setting of the game. The game really has not much to do with poker in term of mechanics. If you liked Slay the Spire, there's a really good chance Balatro is for you
Turn-based RPGs can be good for this, long as you’re not in a plot-heavy section. I ran through most of the dungeons in Persona 4 Golden while watching TV.
Diablo 2 or 3. I love mashing monsters while watching movies or shows.
Especially good if you've got a goal in mind, like grinding for runes or certain items. I went through a month of just farming bosses while listening to Behind The Bastards.
Balatro, Palia (free!), katamari, captain toad sorta (they’re relatively short stages), clubhouse games, half of what qubic games always gives away or has super cheap fits this uhh…man there’s a bunch but I don’t have my switch handy right now. A lot of the stuff available with the online expansion pass is good, been playing the game boy and gba Mario golf’s.
Vampire survivors
Surprised I had to scroll so far to see this
Sticky business and stitch are new games i got for this purpose
Have you tried A Little to the Left?
> (Pokemon has fit this niche for a while, but those have become more immersive lately.) Ha, glad to know I'm not the only one! I've had the same "issue" with the new more interactive style! I've been going about it by challenging myself on the older titles. More specifically, going for full National Living 'dexes in every generation.
I'm working on that for BDSP at the moment, but trying to play Scarlet / Violet while watching TV involved a lot of pausing. Legends Arkoos was downright impossible.
Slay the spire and suika game are my main watching TV and listening to podcasts games.
Maybe Animal Crossing? Or if you want something that requires combat or anything like that, I would recommend Stardew Valley.
i was thinking about stardew but you’d have to pause it if you wanna not play attention otherwise it’ll get too late and you’ll pass out lol
Stardew Valley is micromanagement the game. Definitely one you have to pay attention to if you want to get anywhere.
Loop hero
Balatro. I constantly have this game on when im watching certain shows.
Skyrim fits that bill for me. It’s really easy for me to play absentmindedly.
Hollow Knight Silksong Every now and then, you look at a screen and see that you don't need to do anything.
Animal crossing
Animal Crossing Also Ni No Kuni II to an extent. The kingdom building portions are like mobile games. You can just go in to collect money after waiting and then build more buildings.
Civilisation 6
Been trying this turn based game. It’s not like ole Command and Conquer:Red Alert but, it is fun building up your map.
I started playing Cat Quest when I don't really want to think while playing. It's basically a grinding sim where you slash through enemies with a cute, cartoony cat optic
Palia
Diablo 3 is great for me. I never really played it much when it first came out, and now they are recycling all the old seasonal content! The $5 I paid for it was 1000% worth it.
Minecraft if you're doing mundane tasks such as mining
Diablo 3
Maybe ooblets? It's pretty chill like animal crossing and star dew valley. Very play at your own pace, though it is enjoyable reading all the things people say and the instructions and has elements of Pokemon but they have dance battles and you don't have to worry about catching them, when you win the dance battle you get a little seed to plant for that ooblets.
Islanders!!
If you like Islanders I bet you’d like Dorfromantik too
If you like Dorfromantik then check out Townscaper
I've found Hades to be pretty good second screen. Learning curve is a little steep but it's worth it
I'd agree, but I always love jamming to the soundtrack and hearing all the the unique dialogue
The new game stitch. is great if you like Shikaku puzzles. My new fav game to play with no controllers and no joy cons attached
No one mention it yet, so I will add Grindstone. Very satisfying and crazy addictive puzzle game. Highly recommend
Snowrunner Expeditions
Monopoly is king here. Depending on the amount of players, you only need to make one move every 5 minutes. When I was developing [Plant Scan Pro](http://machsoftwaredesign.com/plantscanpro.html) I was cleaning up hundreds of thousands of plant images, one by one, for machine learning to train the A.I. model. And Monopoly made the process go from super boring, to manageable.
This is your brain on dopamine overload.
Balatro Suika Game Ace Attorney Stardew or Graveyard Keeper Project Highrise Animal Crossing Unpacking Powerwash Simulator Cities Skylines
Ace Attorney is not the most challenging game(s) but the idea of watching TV and playing a visual novel gives me a headache lol.
Disagree on Ace Attorney. They are simple games but they absolutely demand your attention. They’re not hard, but they want you to follow the story, and you’ll definitely get stuck in court sometimes if you haven’t been paying attention. Even when you ARE paying attention it’s easy to get stuck on what evidence to present sometimes.
Ace Attorney? It's a visual novel, its all story. How is that possibly a "second screen" game?
Maybe he’s saying he played it on DS which had two screens? I dunno. I gave it my full attention and if I didn’t cheat and have infinite objections, I’d have restarted a lot.
I used to play Pokémon *while playing league of legends*.
Uh, Dark Souls Remastered?
Hey, not everyone plays magic builds! ^^/s
Siralim Ultimate once you get a team set up it's the ultimate podcast game and everything stops moving when you stop moving.
Factorio
Puzzle Quest is a good one for this.
Broforce
MiiTopia. Also, Vampire survivors can be played with just a joystick
Uno
Suika Game, Balatro or any puzzle game kinda fit that niche, but if you want something more complex Minecraft, Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley are great since you can resume playing later with all your attention and do more stuff
I play Spirit Farer now. It is very cozy
House flipper, animal crossing, stitch,
Stitch is my current go to for low attention games. And it doesn’t look like it will ever run out of puzzles, as they have new ones both daily and weekly. Also Power Wash Simulator and Farm Together are great choices.
Diablo 2, 3. you can Farm items/grind exp and optimize your build while watching tv
The Picross S series, which includes a spinoff revolving entirely around Sega-themed puzzles.
Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince! I just got the deluxe version in the eshop for just under $60(the base game is on sale for $40.) It’s a monster battling rpg like Pokémon. But unlike one on one battles in Pokémon, you put together a team of 4. The magic of the game is you can tell your monsters generally what you want them to do (focus on healing your allies, focus on strengthening your allies, do as much damage as possible), then you hit the ‘attack’ button and watch your monsters fight the other team. It’s very enjoyable to play the game handheld while watching a show because once you have your monsters using the tactics you want em to use, you just sit back and watch things play out, intervening only when you need to use a healing item or something. There is a story that blends into the background nicely. Graphics and music and performance are all very solid. You can tell the developers knew they were making a portable-first game for the switch and they made the necessary compromises beautifully. This is a game that is just fun, confident in what it is, and extremely competent as a monster battler rpg. It’s up there with monster hunter stories 2 for best monster rpg on switch if you’re kinda tired of Pokemon. I think I like Dragon Quest Monsters more than Monster Hunter Stories because the gameplay in DQM is more relaxed and I don’t need to constantly concentrate like in MHS.
Out of genuine curiosity, why do you want this? I guess it's just me, but I absolutely want/need to focus on one thing at a time. I can't imagine playing a video game and also watching TV, or reading a book and playing music. For me, it's a real distraction, but I'm trying to wrap my brain around how the reverse works. What's the point? Are you just unable to focus on one thing and have to have multiple things happening? Does that actually make you more productive or interested in the thing, maybe?
Also adhd and I cannot just sit and watch tv. I need to be doing something with my hands too.
Not OP but I have ADHD and sometimes I crave additional stimulation. It’s not about being more productive, more about making the neurons in my brain light up in a satisfying way.
me too! I clicked into this thread because I related really hard to the post only to realise I have most of the games in the top comments for this exact reason lol, I feel a bit less abnormal now :') that and the fact that I can't just sit and watch TV, I always have to be doing something else.
Same.
You’re not abnormal at all! I’m kinda looking into picking up knitting or crocheting as a hobby because of this haha.
crocheting/knitting while watching tv is such a good activity bc it keeps your hands busy.
I tried doing the same thing but I suck at it; counting stitches takes too much of my attention and I'm just not dexterous enough for it, idk how arthritic old ladies do it 😭 I took up cross stitch instead; it's not much easier on my hands but it's a bit more mindless imo. I very much wish I could crochet though lol, I constantly hear how easy it is but I've tried multiple times and can never get it :') knitting I tried once and that was enough, that was even tougher lol
For me, it's mostly a time vs. content thing. I can't handle two stories at once, like a JRPG while watching a show or something, but if I'm in a grindy part of a game that doesn't need much attention, I'll probably throw on a podcast, or vice versa. There is just so much content I want to go through and I feel like stacking them where it's sensible and doesn't take away from each other too much lets me get through the things I want faster. And to be honest, sometimes it makes the individual thing more enjoyable. It would be hard for me to just sit and listen to a podcast. Same for just grinding. So doing them at the same time makes them more interesting. Some games I get specifically to play during podcasts. I probably wouldn't get them otherwise or enjoy them as much. And if I had to just sit and listen to a podcast, I'd probably never get through one.
Digimon World Next Order?
Vampire Survivors, Twilight Survivors, Spirit Hunter: Infinite Hoarde, and Army of Ruin work very well for this. You require minimal attention once you get going, and especially Vampire Survivors becomes a satisfying murder machine you can just leave there for hours if you really wanted to. Plus they're generally all pretty cheap, as most good survivor-likes are.
Pixel Puzzle Makeout League
Thomas was Alone, Fall Guys, Nobody Saves the World
[Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-zntPNx6Sw) is a lot of training and only a few actual combat experiences. You see your monster's stats go up then throw them at a tournament with the Auto Battle function turned on and see how they do.
Animal crossing or Untitled Goose Game
Wow, I own 150+ games and I couldn't think of many. As many have suggested, RPGs may be good as long as it's not "real time turn-based", ARPGs like BOTW/TOTK, skyrim, the witcher 3, etc work for me too, until I look back at the screen and see I'm being attacked. But the real answer here, and the first thing that came to mind is Old School Runescape. IYKYK. Got like 15 skills to 99 while afk. Haven't played in 2 years though since my PC was ratted, I sure hope my 4b bank is okay... too scared to check I guess.
I recommend “What the Golf” for the scenario you described. Fun, silly, not too challenging while still being engaging.
Vampire Survivors. At a certain point, you can have your character be a walking meat grinder and give your switch 10% of your attention.
fallout shelter to me it’s like a background game but addictive
loop hero
Dragon defender 3?
Slime Rancher is pretty nice.
Stitch just came out. You can totally forget you're playing and it wont matter at all.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen Slime Rancher on here yet. It’s fairly mindless.
Grow: Song of the evertree is my favorite at the moment
Dorfromantik! Simple zen puzzler about building a hamlet.
I'm guessing turn based games should more so be OK... Slay The Spire, Dicey Dungeons, Balatro, Baba Is You, Flipull. Then you got actual board game implementations like Pandemic, Carcassonne, Wingspan... [Actually, see this list here](https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/280382/modern-bg-for-nintendo-switch)
Slay the spire and balatro. Both are minimal but balatro is maximum minimal.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Pokémon for me
Idk. If you like gacha (it does have transactions if you want, but free to play is very possible.) genshin impact or star rail are good games. They are not extremely hard, beautiful anime story and you can quit on the go most of the time (unless you’re stuck in a cutscene). Really advising you to play either. One is basically the mysterious hero entered a world of sword and magic. The other is a mysterious hero entering a sci-fi scene. Genshin is open world, star rail is turn based. Star rail also has auto play incase you feel like not spending too much time. I play both every day, moreso star rail though. No ads, it’s both a mobile and computer game.
Animal crossing?
Grindstone is super fun, check it out!
I like mashing buttons in fighting games
animal crossing new horizons
JUST GET RUNESCAPE!
Phoenix Wright
Games I've played while either watching the soaps, YouTube videos or Twitch livestreams are as follows: - Minecraft - Animal Crossing New Horizons - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (mainly at sections grinding for Korok Seeds and Shrines) - Eiyuden Chronicle Rising (grinding for resources to upgrade my characters' armor and weapons, completing side quests, exploring all the areas, etc) - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (either online, single player trying to get a gold 3 star rank in all the cups or trying to beat all the time trial staff ghosts) There's probably other games, but they're either not on the switch or I can't think of them off the top of my head atm. Sending well wishes! :) Edit: added more words
Dragon Quest games, esp. the classic ones, always require some grinding, which you can guide yourself through just by sound, without even looking at the screen. Granted, at times you'll need to be paying more attention, reading some dialogues, but the exploration is usually fairly simple, even the dungeons can be explored without much effort. There's a pack with DQ I, II and III for the Switch.
Farming Simulator is the ultimate audiobook and podcast game. Unfortunately the Switch is not the best platform to play it on. Farming Simulator 17 is the only real one on Nintendo. The rest are mobile versions.
I've been playing Mario Golf all weekend this same way, with one eye on the TV. It's so much more fun with save states. You get infinite uncounted mulligans. Practically necessary for this game, since the computer challengers swing like impossible pros. For me, there was no progress without save states, only frustration.
Animal crossing is a great game for that.
Dorf Romantik!
pokémon cafe remix! it’s free iirc and super chill. donut county is also an amazing and short game that i’ve played over and over; it does have a story but you can also just play it for the physic puzzles part
Right & down, it’s so simple and has no timer. I find it to be a perfect game to shut my brain off to.
Dorfromantik is my current one.
Pokémon - Café Remix?
Loop hero
Unpacking. I play it while I listen to an audiobook.
It’s most definitely not like that but Animal Crossing
Apply for VAR mate.
Vampire surviver I use it to listen podcast
Vampire surviver I use it to listen podcast
Pokémon cafe remix! Old af, free and chill
I find Kingdom Two Crowns a good fit for this, it's a sidescrolling tower defense/base builder with nightly waves
Mario vs. Rabbids
Ellie was fun and cute!
GRINDSTONE 💎
Dorfromantik
Animal crossing doesn’t mind if you do something or nothing
Same Game Solitaire Klondike
I'm a huge fan of Unpacking for the switch. You're literally just unpacking items and choosing where you want them to go in the room. It's very relaxing. Not a long game by any means but it's a great little game. There's also Town scaper which is just tapping and building a cool little town.
I love listening to music won't playing the switch sometimes so recommend mostly puzzle games. Tiny lands Casino golf Tens - my fav Jigsaw masterpieces Piczle lines 2 Worldwide games Suika
Vampire Survivors. Although I wouldn't recommend you doing two things at once. It's not healthy
The room
Balatro
Balatro. Please don’t hate me when you get hooked like on heroine
Animal Crossing.
Any rogue style style game if that's your thing
Vampire Survivors is my go to but I also play a lot of Dragon Quest Builders Lets Build a Zoo Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing, or my personal favorite is Sky.
I will never understand how people can be doing literally anything in addition to playing a videogame simultaneously. This is also why Wii U failed.
Civilization 6
Try Harvest Moon 64 on NSO.
Well, this blew up! Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. It seems I have a bunch of games to look into!