[hutzlibu]

"argue that you'll at the very least want to have a game loop (or engine loop), processing of player inputs, a renderer (even if it just renders 2D sprites), and probably audio output. That usually implies you have some sort of assets that have to be managed,"

Yeah, I agree those are the features I would expect from a common game engine. Maybe with some DB as well.

Otherwise yes, a game engine is just a special framework in my opinion. And you always have to choose the right tool for the job.

"you could also just hand your player a folder of text files that they have to navigate through in "choose your own adventure" style - and you have a "computer game" without even having a program at all. "

And I think someone here recently just published that, as a game to learn bash..