This is because it's very easy to break down and formalise what makes a game addictive, but it's very difficult to do the same for fun. At Ghost we often find

This is because it's very easy to break down and formalise what makes a game addictive, but it's very difficult to do the same for fun. At Ghost we often find ourselves looking at a proposed or newly implemented feature and asking out loud "but, is it fun?". The answer can be very difficult to find, especially since many great features aren't fun until they've received that final layer of polish. And here's part of what Zelda does so well. You can see how a lot of the great things in Breath of the Wild would be great fun even in a simple prototype. On the flip side, this kind of exhilarating feeling of being able to do so many cool things only works because every single piece of the game is designed with this in mind and all the crazy interactions people come up with are actually supported. It only works so well because people aren't getting that familiar feeling of "oh. That didn't work." This must have been a massive task and I'm amazed they pulled it off!