Haha what? Do you believe that it's somehow been proven that "people" think about good modern games in some specific way? Based on a comment from one person?
I find it interesting how you take your experience and generalize it by saying "you" instead of "I". This is how I read your post:
> I don't know but to me this all sounds like the antithesis of what makes programming fun. I don't have productivity goals for hobby coding where I'd have to make the most of your half an hour -- that sounds too much like paid work to be fun. If I have a half an hour, I tinker for a half an hour and enjoy it. Then I continue when I have another half an hour again. (Or push into night because I can't make myself stop.)
Reading it like this makes it obvious to me that what you find fun is not necessarily what other people find fun. Which shouldn't come as a surprise. Describing your experience and preferences as something more is where the water starts getting muddy.
What if you can function socially, at work, can mostly take care of yourself and generally look the part, but on the inside you are a miserable husk of a person exhausted from the neverending struggle to appear functional and normal?
Is that person just having fun on speed in your view?
Does this apply to immigrants?