From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!
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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.
Hades has been pretty fun
that has all kinds of engaging dialouge. The story and characters is a huge piece of the appeal.
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.
LOL, I just posted this like ten minutes ago!
I think all the games you mentioned require a lot more thought than I'm looking to give- I need to be able to follow a podcast while playing, and I'm in my 50s, my brain is not as agile as it used to be anymore. I also suck at physics puzzles and card games.
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.
I have a Steam collection just for that purpose, called "zone-out games":
Some advice I want to give is that "games that require a lot of skill" is only a temporary blocker. If you enjoy a hard game enough to play through it repeatedly, it can become a podcast game. Many people play Bloodborne or Binding of Isaac to audiobooks, and roguelikes are generally like this.
That in mind, I have a list of games that are valid podcast games but I haven't built enough familiarity with them yet:
Factorio is awesome. To make it even more chill - I turn off enemies and increase resources. Even without enemies that game gets so complex and involved. But still mindless.
I love ARPGs for this. Path of Exile and Last Epoch both have a highly repeatable endgame where you can just put on your media and blast maps/monoliths mindlessly for a few hours
vampire survivors
Also in the truck driving bucket - Snowrunner. The focus is on off road trucking, mud and snow physics, with a winch that you can use to unstick yourself.
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
Oh dear. I had a severe addiction to cookie clicker games for a while about five years ago. It was an extremely difficult habit to break!
You should try House Flipper
I have that one, mowing lawns is a blast!
I have put sooo much time into this game. And listened to a lot of podcasts doing it.
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.
Astroneer is pretty low stakes, I played it mostly while listening or watching other things
Warframe is good for this. Lots of ways to tune your level of engagement through build choices. Most content rarely requires your full attention and story is only progressed in specific story missions that you usually play only once.
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.
You might like Super Auto Pets. Not my kind of game but it's casual and my friends loved it.
Tetris effect, katamari damacy - these two are the epitome of replayability and pick up/put down mechanics IMNSHO
Snow Runner! Very chill if you like driving and nice sceneries. But it becomes Dark Souls real quick.
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.
I seem to have a vague memory of playing this or something very like it long ago. As it's F2P I'll give it a whirl, thanks!
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.
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
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.