I'm using farming simulator for this.

Terraria may be fun for you. It's actiony but very explore oriented and at your own pace.

Goat simulator is a blast.

A Short Hike has dialog and a shorter play time but you can just ignore that and soar around the island. It's got an isometric view with a pixel art style. I really enjoy it. I play it when I'm hung over.

Some of the paradox games maybe? I used to chill over Victoria II whilst doing things I really ought to have been giving my full attention.

Tetris effect, katamari damacy - these two are the epitome of replayability and pick up/put down mechanics IMNSHO

Cookie Clicker

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454400/Cookie_Clicker/

But then, to be a crazy person, you can learn some python and automate the clicking so you get more cookies

Diablo games are easy to play while listening/watching other things. Diablo 4 does have a story, but you don't need to watch it if you don't want to. And after it's beaten, the story will never bother you again. Diablo 2 Remaster is also great if you're feeling a bit more old school.

Eufloria is that game for me.

• Nobody mentioned Kerbal Space Program yet? While it's no longer indie, it was during most of the development. It's the space game. While it's not claiming to be a perfectly accurate simulation, it captures the essence of orbital mechanics pretty well. The xkcd comic about it is on point.
• Cultist Simulator. It is a card game that lives from the cards' flavour text. The core gameplay is simple, but the mood the game creates is extremely captivating. You only get served small bits of information at once, and you have to connet the dots yourself (or get spoilers online...). Also, it's not an easy game, and unless you are really lucky you will not succeed in your first few playthroughs.
• Unreal World. This is roguelike survival game set in a fantasy version of ancient Finland.

I really enjoy basebuilders for relaxing. It's often just the right mix between just enjoying watching how stuff works, or solving problems at my own pace (being able to slow down, speed up or pause whenever needed). If you're interested in this genre I can recommend Timberborn, Against the Storm, Factorio - ascending by complexity.

Planet Coaster has pretty casual, fun gameplay. Just building theme parks and some light crowd management. It is very good for playing while listening to other podcasts/audiobooks.

I just gave Cassette Beasts a shot and was instantly hooked. Fun PokeClone that is one of the best I've played and gets some stuff better than even Pokemon does. Also on gamepass if you've got that

You might like Super Auto Pets. Not my kind of game but it's casual and my friends loved it.

Mordhau is definitely one of few casual games medieval fighting game where you can mindlessly kill other players and laugh your ass off. But at the same time its the type of game you can get really good at too. So it has a very in depth combat experience

Vampire Survivors for sure!

Turmoil:

It's a 2d game where you drill for oil, then have some light logistics management to do to load it in to barrels on horse waggons and then sell it. It's a lot of fun.

Bloons TD 6. It puts out what you put into it. There’s definitely some skill required but you can largely avoid most of that stuff. Once you have a semi working strategy, you can kinda cruise into new levels for a while no problem. It’s my favorite game to playb while listening to stuff.

This is my exact genre of choice. I’m only gonna list the games I play, because I can’t name them all.

Just about any sandbox survival game will fit the bill:

• Minecraft (obvi, but needs another mention)
• Satisfactory
• Rust
• Valheim
• Raft (there’s some story to read if you want to actually complete the game)

Then you have the simulators:

• Dreamlight Valley (a lot of story in this one, but once you get past the dialogue and tutorials it’s basically fetch quests and farming)
• My Time at Portia (same with this)
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
• House Flipper
• The Sims
• TABS (honourable mention; whimsical battle sandbox with some customisability)

If you are into roguelikes noita is really easy to pickup and put down with tons of spells and modifiers and a huge map to explore.

Snow Runner! Very chill if you like driving and nice sceneries. But it becomes Dark Souls real quick.

If you're a fan of Stardew Valley and games like that, might I suggest Disney Dreamlight Valley? While there is a story (and there are extra character-specific quests you can do), you don't have to do them (or indeed anything). You're free to do what you like.

It's currently my go-to game when I want to play something but I'm just not sure what. Running around collecting materials to craft new items to decorate my Valley (or even just seeing what my residents are doing) brings me joy and whiles away the hours before I know what's happening!

Another suggestion would be Slime Rancher, which is another low stakes (potentially no stakes, you can turn off the one 'enemy' in the game that might disrupt your cosy experience - the Tarr slimes) game which has you running (and renovating) a slime ranch (funnily enough). The slimes are adorable, the music is very chill, and the world is so colourful I often enjoy just roaming around enjoying the scenery.

Satisfactory.

If you want to "beat" it, then it requires a bit of thinking and planning, but honestly it's such a fantastic go-at-your-own-pace kinda game. It's an open world factory building/sandbox building game. There are objectives and missions, but you have no time limit, and there is some freedom in choosing what you want to work on next.

It's also multiplayer, so you could invite a friend(s) to join and help you explore or find resources. I frequently will watch streams/youtube while playing.

What about tycoon games ? Old school ones are usually still very playable. Or for something more recent Planet Zoo can be as slow and peaceful as you like

You should try House Flipper

Racing games, once you are good at them, fit this bill. I can win online races while watching YouTube videos in Forza Horizon.

But I'd say Farming Simulator is my favorite game to play while listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos on the side. It's got enough going on to keep you engaged but you aren't doing any actions that are time critical or require deep focus.

Far Lone Sails

Celeste can be quite casual and also challenging at the same time.

You can die as many times and the game doesn't punish you, you can save at any point and come back exactly where you lef off later.