Utility of Playing Games for Fun Introduction.

Hedonism
noun
the pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence.
The ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of
desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.

"How is gaming no different from hedonism?" a special forces operator asked me. And I told him about The Sims and its time management lesson- how in The Sims, time, the game's non-cheat code-based resource, presents a utilitarian calculus from which our sims and we gods achieve things.

Lots of simoleans. Lots of commodities. Lots of friends. Death by furniture fires. Or, if game time is 'misused,' you have sims whose average happiness remain low for (in the first game) ever, with those few points of rapture in their lives being a horror show in juxtaposition with whatever else in their virtual lives you see.

The Sims is both a satire and a proponent for our lives, I told him; therefore, computer games are fun and can be didactic art at the same time!

But his question still pokes me because I know why he asked it: Most computer games, as of now, teach us nothing particularly useful nor provide game spaces where we practice potentially useful skills, including most of the best games. Most of the best games instead maximize fun.

So here's the question he should have asked:

"How is playing games that only maximize fun not a waste of time?"

I believe the best way to answer this question is to analyze fun and
time management.