THE CURIOUSLY PLAYABLE UNIVERSE

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

A domain becomes playable when enough of its complexity can be compressed into a state where there is some reasonably stable repertoire of actions, interactions can be repeated, outcomes provide feedback about better and worse play, and the environment is stationary enough that lessons learned yesterday remain useful tomorrow. None of these conditions need to be perfect, as playability is a matter of degree. Far more of reality than we have previously expected can be turned into a game. Once something can be turned into a game, then it's possible to create a system that can beat it.