What makes a game enjoyable?

[Dunhill_BKK]

We spend quite a bit of time playing games, and I sometimes wonder why.

Pocus's recent poll has me going back to the question of what makes a good or enjoyable game. I'm addicted to purchasing games, and I'm curious about those certain elements of "good" games that make them "good/enjoyable".

Often games will look enjoyable to me, and yet I don't end up playing them very much. Some games are good for a while and somewhat addictive in nature and then I find myself annoyed at the fact that I'm playing the game for such long periods of time and I will delete it and not play it again. Other games are OK for a short period of time, but I always find myself going back to them after a relatively long breaks.

It is strange that I'll play single-player games at one level and think that this is enjoyable, but on the other hand not like spending gaming time without interactions with humans in a very direct sense, such as with first-person shooters, flight simulators and RPGs.

I often enjoy simple, "time-waster" games I find on the net just as much as a really complex strategy game.

I don't want to mention any games in particular, just focus on what makes a game good. I'm just curious to hear what others think.

Cheers,