If the game allows it, Players will form strategies. These strategies should not require excessive calculation to understand or evaluate.

The best way to prevent detailed calculations is to hide some information from the players. It’s important that players understand what can happen. However, if all information is available to the players, then optimization is inevitable.

Evolution has trained our brains for speculation, not optimization. We are good at making decisions with incomplete information, and we enjoy being proven right (and the wise among us also enjoy being proven wrong).

For a better example, consider a bet and a math problem. We can gather information to make a smart bet. Winning is exhilarating, and losing is bad luck. We can also do mental work to solve a math problem. If we get it right, we followed the predefined steps and executed properly. If we get it wrong, it’s only because we made a mistake.

In a speculation game, the player owns victory. In an optimization game, the player owns defeat. This is fine if you’re making a game that is intended to train a skill, like math or combat tactics. If you’re making a recreational game, you probably want to avoid it.