There's a concept here to refine... I've thought about something that's perhaps related.
One problem with a lot of modern (online/shared) games is the sense of missing out when you're not playing, or the sense of competition which demands focused attention. Both of those tend to upset life balance.
I have pondered influence based games, somewhat like turn-based, where you aren't able to micromanage play but instead strategize and occasionally provide instructions or goals. Then the game does the playing, and you can observe if you wish. But importantly, for lengthy periods you cannot make changes or influences; so frequent observation wouldn't be rewarding or useful, and you could feel content to go away for a day or two. Then when you return, there's a bit of excitement to discover how things turned out and to plan what goals to modify or add.
I have been pondering the same concept for years. The problem seems to be: A) Making AI that is able to plan for goals set by players and achieve them is not just "not mainstream", its actually unique when its used. Even the algorithms like GOAP (Goal Oriented Action Planning) is very limited (eg cant really chain goals, one goal at a time,...), and while better algorithms have been proposed (UDGOAP - Utility Driven GOAP), they havent been implemented in any game yet. B) This type of game is not proven, so noone is gonna invest big bucks. And implementing completely new and untested mechanics and core loops will likely burn more cash as you iterate for usable outcome.
One problem with a lot of modern (online/shared) games is the sense of missing out when you're not playing, or the sense of competition which demands focused attention. Both of those tend to upset life balance.
I have pondered influence based games, somewhat like turn-based, where you aren't able to micromanage play but instead strategize and occasionally provide instructions or goals. Then the game does the playing, and you can observe if you wish. But importantly, for lengthy periods you cannot make changes or influences; so frequent observation wouldn't be rewarding or useful, and you could feel content to go away for a day or two. Then when you return, there's a bit of excitement to discover how things turned out and to plan what goals to modify or add.