It's fascinating, I play video games with my wife. She's never been a "solo gamer" but a "social gamer" - watched and played with her big brother when growing up, then guitar hero and such, some arcade games. We finished firewatch, tale of two sons, neir automata, machinarium/botanicula/samorost, days of tentacle, overcooked,it takes 2, the recent Stray, etc etc together.
But she straight up does not UNDERSTAND a game like Sim city, or rim world. Why would anybody "play" that, is her perspective. It doesn't have a sufficiently, singularly clear narrative, flow, goal, beginning and an end. We talked about such games a few times and I have not really succeeded in moving the needle - not in her being interested in such games, but even remotely comprehending their existence or allure.
I guess it was my wife's friends that felt minecraft really needed an ending :-)
When I took a course in game design years ago I recall a lecture that distinguished between "toys" and "games". A game has an objective whereas a toy does not.
Now, you can start with a toy (like The Sims or a regulation basketball or a pencil, paper, and dice) and create a game around it by applying rules, goals, and objectives. They may be defined by others or you may be creating the game in your own mind -- either way the toy is a piece of equipment used to play the game, it is not in and of itself a game.
Your wife may not enjoy electronic toys like Sim City or Rim World, but perhaps you could pique her interest by working together to come up with games that the two of you could play using those toys?
She's got a point: the game provides no clear purpose. Instead, you bring the purpose, and the game gives you a way to achieve it.
We engage in many other "pointless" pursuits: beauty, love, culture, civilization, and indeed, life itself. Everyone "plays" for a different reason, and that makes us human.
But she straight up does not UNDERSTAND a game like Sim city, or rim world. Why would anybody "play" that, is her perspective. It doesn't have a sufficiently, singularly clear narrative, flow, goal, beginning and an end. We talked about such games a few times and I have not really succeeded in moving the needle - not in her being interested in such games, but even remotely comprehending their existence or allure.
I guess it was my wife's friends that felt minecraft really needed an ending :-)