The two fumblecore games we recently played, QWOP and Queers in Love at the End of the World have been in mind, for different reasons.
With QWOP, a game that I haven't thought of since middle school, probably, the idea that I can possibly beat my previous record keeps me playing the game. It's stupid, and incredibly futile, but also very, very fun. I can't even imagine what I look like desperately mashing the q, w, o, and p keys in an effort to surpass my 3.4 meter record (I know, I know. I can do better). After inevitably crumpling to the ground, the game displays your time with the caption, "everyone is a winner," although it certainly doesn't feel like it.
If everyone is a winner, possibly because everyone is also a loser, why can't we be satisfied? I mean, I took a break from writing this just to play QWOP again, to increase my record (4.3 meters now, take that). Maybe it's because if I moved my fingers in the correct sequence once to reach that record, I MUST be able to do it again, right? Your failure is almost motivating, and being able to see that stumbling avatar take actual human steps is at least a little bit satisfying.
On the other hand, Queers in Love at the End of the World had almost the opposite effect on me. I did not want to play it again, at all. I eventually did, several times, but it made me sad. While in QWOP, the more you play, it's possible you might improve your button-mashing skills, Queers in Love at the End of the World was frustrating because no matter how quickly you select options in the 10 second time allotment, everything is "wiped away." There's not the same possibility for progression.
It is possible to reach a point where no more prompts appear, and maybe you can feel somewhat satisfied as you watch the few seconds you have left countdown before everything is once again wiped away, but I didn't feel that satisfaction in a way that made me want to play again. Instead, knowing the every time I play the outcome would be the same is probably why I didn't want to play again.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked the game, even though it kind of broke my heart a little bit. I just hated that sense of never having enough time. And maybe that's what made QWOP so easy to play over and over, because the time spent in the game is determined by your own skill rather than parameters outside of your control.