Sorry. I missed some punctuation and appear to have misled you.

I do agree with you however. My response was a bit knee jerk, on reflection. Understanding games is not the same as blindly playing them.

I have always enjoyed simulation games and my comment refers to them specifically, but on reflection I do feel that understanding the games, involves understanding their limitations.

There is no game that can simulate the infinite creativity within the universe. If it could, all would have already been revealed. And surely we'd all be emjoying the good life, right now.

But what is this "good life" that you want to live? Is it morally good? spiritually? financially? I'd say living the good life is being free to express yourself, creatively. Simulation games do not facilitate this, but you wouldn't know it unless you were creative enough to test it's limitations.

In conclusion, I would ask "Is it not necessary to be already living the good life, in order to understand games?