@Gnomeshatecheese @Piss_Ant I think a lot of people leave the game running in the background because once you get used to running your colony, it ends up becoming routine. My laptop is brand new but on the cheap end and the game runs very well and I play it sped up constantly, have made lots of buildings, etc. It's properly optimized and well made from my user experience, and unlike most unity games, it doesn't crash and burn the moment you alt+tab.
The game will pause on major threats (like raids) by default but you can change that too.