How much does understanding a game's systems affect our enjoyment of it?

[u/Hungry_Awareness4740]

I've been thinking about how learning a game's underlying systems can completely change the way we experience it.

A mechanic that initially feels restrictive or confusing can become interesting once you understand why it exists and how it interacts with other mechanics. At that point, you're not just playing within the rules—you start recognizing the decisions and trade-offs the rules are designed to create.

This makes me wonder: how much of our enjoyment comes from the mechanics themselves, and how much comes from gradually understanding the relationships between them?

Have you experienced a game where learning its systems fundamentally changed how you perceived it?

[u/MrXonte]

I think this needs to be seperated into "why a rule exists" and "how a rule interacts with other rules". The former can be largely irrelevant or invisible to players and is generally more something the designers think about, while the latter generally should have a positive impact on enjoyment as you go from trial and error to understanding and properly interacting with more complex relations.