[apsdsm]

This is particularly true of, say, many mobile games. But conversely, if not hours of enjoyment, then by what metric do we gauge a good game? Perhaps there’s a line here between hours of enjoyment and hours of mindless engagement?

[pdpi]

Hours of enjoyment benefits certain types of games versus others.

Return of the Obra Dinn is a pretty short game, I put 13 hours into it by playing quite slowly (and there's a not inconsiderable amount of AFK time in there as well), I doubt I'll touch it again any time soon (because the structure gives it zero replayability value), and I would count it as one of the absolute best games I've ever played. Portal 1 is a 4 or 5 hour game and, again, one of the best ever.

On the other end of the spectrum, games like Minecraft, Oxygen Not Included or Factorio are enormous, all-absorbing time sinks that will consume your every waking hour for months or years on end if you let them.

How do I compare ONI and Obra Dinn and say that either is, in any objective sense, better than the other?

[chii]

May be the measure should be how harmful it is to continue?

For an MMO, you're engaged socially (presumably in a guild, rather than soloing). In a mobile grind game, you spend hours constantly checking on progress for that endorphine hit.

[rizzin]

Same as with any addictive thing, you can use and you can abuse. And the change isn't instant.

You can play MMO socially in a guild, or you can simply grind max levels / rare items endlessly.

You can play an IAP and ad-riddled mobile game to kill some time when waiting in queues, or you can have it become a part of your life checking the game everytime you have a minute of downtime.

And the transitions between those states happen impreceptibly, and there is no defined line beyond which you may consider the activity harmful.