I think you sum it up perfectly in your third paragraph. The emotional jerks we get in these examples are based on that false assumption that the market "reward

I think you sum it up perfectly in your third paragraph. The emotional jerks we get in these examples are based on that false assumption that the market "rewards" anything. The market just is, and it's a fickle beast as you eloquently describe. The difference between angry birds and crush the castle may very well be just the artistic assets, but those differences matter immensely to the market. And today's markets seem to reward a few projects much more heavily than others once they've reached a critical point.