[dgzl]

> The depth and complexity just isn't there

That's literally what the author is saying, in the very passage you quoted. The idea of a game isn't inherently complicated, and even simple games can be most entertaining. You sound like a connoisseur of the modern PC experience, but most people in this world are not and would still like to enjoy something that's delightfully thoughtful, intriguing, and simple enough to pick up for a short time, but not so addicting that you can't drop it immediately for a real world responsibility.

[WA]

> but most people in this world are not and would still like to enjoy something that's delightfully thoughtful, intriguing, and simple enough to pick up for a short time

Most gamers these days seem to be people who play on their smartphone. These games can be simple compared to AAA games, but they still need to be flashy and good-looking with an interesting game mechanic.

[coldtea]

>but they still need to be flashy and good-looking with an interesting game mechanic.

If they have great/addicting gameplay, they don't have to be flashy and good-looking.

[baud147258]

> If they have great/addicting gameplay, they don't have to be flashy and good-looking.

For that point, I think Tetris is a good example

[dgzl]

I used to be obsessed with a terminal-based Tetris game built with ncurses. It helped me get through college lectures better than any other game.