I don’t need mind-killing puzzles. Something like that often feels way out of place in the game world. But there are ways to make the game, challenging without being tedious. Even if it is an action game, I could be facing an opponent that requires some significant strategic thinking to defeat. Perhaps this is part of the draw of multiplayer games. Outwitting a human is usually going to be more challenging than outwitting a programming routine.

Maybe that’s why I keep being drawn away from games and into poker.

But there’s something there with the far save points / button mashing ideas, right… too many people think “challenge” means stretching out the difficulty of something, rather than making one thing that is, in itself, difficult. You’re striving for mental difficulty over arduousness (is that a word?) - and while I’m sure there are lots of Old Man Gamers, I think puzzles that you would find challenging would stump the rest of us to the point of frustration. Maybe?

I also don’t have time to research new games, play demos, etc., so I need somebody to tell me which games fit these categories. Vince, you should start an Old Man Gamer recommended games list that I can go off of.