It is making inroads with people constantly because this is the endgame of engagement-based media: to feel tinkered with by the inhuman for 16 hours a day.

It's a sticky gaming memory for me because of the stark discrepancy between how fun it was to, through my own efforts, create a broken team, and how not fun it was to then instantly win every fight for the last 25 hours of game.

I've enjoyed greatly the games that have come since that manage to compress that experience down and cut off the boring part at the end. Roguelikes letting you enjoy a broken build for a little bit before the run ends and its time to start from scratch again, Limited modes in card games, etc

Ashes Cricket 2009

This is like Harry DuBois talking to his own inner monologue

Each cohort should get their own coloured and patterned border

Legend! I love these types of games