This is a little off the point, but thinking about games I find that the “8 kinds of fun” is a really useful lens, especially for deciding whether someone else

This is a little off the point, but thinking about games I find that the “8 kinds of fun” is a really useful lens, especially for deciding whether someone else might like a particular game. Definitely more so than the spectrum of good/mediocre/bad that reviews generally sort games into. The idea is that broadly there are eight basic ways that people get enjoyment out of games: challenge, narrative, sensation, fantasy, discovery, fellowship, expression, and submission. They’re basically self-explanatory except the last, which is “turn your brain off and unwind” games candy crush or a slot machine. Everyone has preferences in these categories to different degrees, and they go a long way to predicting what we’ll enjoy. Into challenge and discovery? You’ve probably already beaten dark souls. Expression and discovery, and can do without narrative? Minecraft. If I was running a game review site, I’d break games down by which categories they hit, and how well. And for my fellow (former) EVE Online players, this explains why different portions of the player base find each other totally incomprehensible.