Tidiness
Thinking about digital games as leisure, it occurs to me that the essence of a great number of games is a very unleisurely pursuit indeed, namely: tidying up.
The blue circles need to be put together. You must put them together.
The yellow cubes go next to the green ones. All falling blocks will overflow unless stacked neatly. Place the red things near the red things to remove the red things. Have you emptied the triang? Is the pentoid aligned?
Think of the number of 'place & vanish' (Bejewelled, Tetris et al) games there are - and now consider (with horror) the precious years they've stolen from us.
Real, actual tidying would be more fulfilling, and might make things a bit... tidier. But no, we're busy. No tea until we've tidied up the abstract mess in our imaginary room, the one that can never be completely and finally tidy.
And still the little grey shapes fall...
