What makes a game addictive?

I have an unfortunate habit of getting addicted to computer games - this is one reason why I don't play them as much as I used to, and why when I do now play games, I usually pick one with a definite ending so that there's a natural place to stop.

But occasionally I do slip into excess playing of Tet4, Freecell or Spider Solitaire. I think what makes these games particularly addictive is that restarting them is a move which seems to bring you closer to winning. In all these games, the state of the game starts out as quite simple and the moves are obvious, but as you play things get more complexified and constrained until either you lose or (if possible) winning becomes inevitable. Restarting decomplexifies so when you lose your brain (which is still thinking in terms of the game) naturally reaches for the "restart" key.

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