Slay the Spire

Turn based RPGs. I played through Persona 3, 4, and 5 on an elliptical machine in the past few months, and am now on Metaphor Refantazio. Atlus games seem perfect for this, heh. Not your pre-2005 style, but there's plenty of old RPGs out there.

I also played through most of the Yakuzas on the elliptical too, although on easy difficulty since they didn't become turn based until very recently.

Chess.

it had a lot of backtracking which was annoying

…but very immersive on the treadmill, no? LOL

…I‘ll show myself out

Death Stranding 1 & 2. I mean they are walking simulators anyway. I’m not dissing the game at all. Probably have 500 hours plus in both of them combined.

Sounds like the Fire Emblem games would be perfect for this!

Another vote for turn based RPGs, but that also includes ones like Pokémon.

Thank you all for your suggestions :>

Resident Evil on a treadmill isn’t strenuous?! Mad lad territory.

I love a simple but satisfying puzzle game like Peggle, Nubbys Number Factory, Hexic, Lumines etc

Turn-based RPGs generally move at the speed you do, so they aren't intense in a way you'd have to worry about, and there are a LOT of them. Many Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, etc. games.

What I call 'procedural' games would also work, things where it's less about pushing yourself to have perfect reaction times or compute complex values in your head, and more about just walking through the process in search of the Zen of flow state. Lots of simulator games fit in the category: train station renovator sim, house flipper sim, power wash sim, rover mechanic sim, mech mechanic sim, etc. Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a favorite in this category. There are also games like 'Papers, Please', 'Contraband Police,' etc. where you run down a checklist and try to spot anomalies.

Life games serve as well. They usually don't have a hard limit on how you play through them so you can play as you like and progress in whatever way. Stardew Valley, Staxel, the My Time At ... series, Farming Sim, etc. all lean toward just being pleasant rather than an intense challenge.

No Man Sky. Pretty relaxing, not really needs super concentration.

Into the Breach, turn-based and would probably look great on a CRT

I have played a few hundred hours of XCOM 2 on my treadmill. But I'll play anything turn based that I can use a controller with. Steam controller takes care of the ones that need a mouse.

Oh, Need for Speed! I still break out the originals like NFS III Hot Pursuit when I want to focus on a podcast or an audio book, but don't want my mind to wonder. Letting my visual and motor cortex enter a flow state while doing timed laps pacifies my ADHD, keeping me on track to complete any audible reading, pun intended. It also helps having all the maps memorized from nostalgia.

Emulating the PS1 and PS2 titles is an option, but there are modern patches of the PC ports that improve the ergonomics of running them on current operating systems, including Wine and Proton:

• Need For Speed III Modern Patch v1.6.1 [2016/10/28] (HD + Widescreen + Portable)
  • https://veg.by/en/projects/nfs3/

Another racing series with a similar flow vibe could be the Track Mania titles. Forza Horizon is a little flashy, but if you create a waypoint race route and then avoid the finish line, you can then free roam without traffic making for a relaxing and scenic diving game. The Hot Wheels DLC for Forza Horizon is also rather zen once you get a grasp for the different gravity and motion model dynamics.

• Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels on Steam
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/1613280/Forza_Horizon_5_Hot_Wheels/

Additional notable zen like titles, with less arcade driving:

• Absolute Drift
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/320140/Absolute_Drift/
• over the hill (unreleased)
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/2929250/over_the_hill/?curator_clanid=33179407

Factorio, osrs, rimworld.

I tried playing games like Tony hawk pro skater or racing games, but every time I'd turn I'd lose my balance and almost fall off the treadmill. So anything i could play had to be slow placed or not have a 3d camera.

Balatro since it's not realtime

I would imagine any turn based game would work. I can't stop playing Slay the Spire but there's a bunch of options.

Hello good sir, How does one play Porsche unleashed on PC these days? Would you have any hints please?

Balatro.

I do something similar on an exercise bike most turn based games are fine ie balatro but I have also enjoyed more casual time based games like katamari damacy

Beat Sabre.

As alternative, maybe audiobooks? Or your local public radio station

Monster Rancher 2 There is also an enhanced version for the PC, you can find it on Steam.

Vandal Hearts

Diablo II

Vampire survivors!!

Slice & Dice, which is on Steam, Android, iOS, DRM-free PC download, and probably more.

Dome Keeper

Egoism 440 on DDR A :P

Maybe some classic JRPGs? You mention PS1, so I'd personally think of games like the FFs, Chrono Cross, Legend of Dragoon, Xenogears, Suikoden, Grandia, etc.

None require full attention, but are games I'd like to play if I had the time.

since people are talkinmg about balatro here, is it possible to buy it somewhere other than steam if i don't want to support the child gambling company?