I think the key to longevity with these survival games is multiplayer. Being creative and spending time with friends adds a lot of motivation/meaning to an othe

I think the key to longevity with these survival games is multiplayer. Being creative and spending time with friends adds a lot of motivation/meaning to an otherwise stale resource grind. If you punch down 999 trees in a virtual forest and no one is there to see it, couldn't you have just edited the save? Personally, there are three core reasons that motivate me to play a game nowadays: - Competition / Socialization - Narrative - Novel mechanics/puzzles The latter two are also more meaningful if I can discuss them with my social circles. If you're working on a game concept, I think the most important question to answer is: "What is a player going to be able to take away from this experience?" Did a player get to experience a narrative through a new perspective? Maybe they optimized a system or developed a skill better than XX percentile of other players. At the end of the day games are made for people and it's hard to separate people from societies.