LogFAQs > #925291670

There's an important distinction to be made here between having fun playing even if you don't win, and having fun playing with no desire or intention of winning. The former happens all the time. The entire Roguelik(t)e genre is based around the expectation that you will lose on most of your runs, but it's working to overcome that challenge that makes them fun.

The latter is less common. The only time you'll really see that is in a sandbox-ish game that has enough of a focus on aesthetics that wandering aimlessly is fun. Even playing a sandbox game normally involves setting short- and long-term goals, each of which becomes its own victory condition that the player is trying to achieve. That qualifies as the former. That's not to say the latter can't happen, but the majority of interactive entertainment is inherently goal-oriented, meaning players are almost always trying to win in some sense or another.
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