The top 13 games you don't know why you love

Whether it’s from a friend, parent, or well-meaning but obviously disinterested grandparent, we’ve all been asked some variation of the question: “What’s that you’re doing there?” Our first instinct is to continue our near-comatose screen gazing until the threat moves on, but every once in a while we’re forced to answer the dreaded follow-up question: “Why’s it fun?” That’s when the nightmare begins.

If you’re lucky, you’re playing a game like Portal or Super Mario Galaxy – both of which have been scientifically proven to be instantaneously fun for all people. No explanation required. But what happens when you’re rearranging furniture in Animal Crossing, or – worse yet -- doing anything in WarioWare? That’s when it hits you: You really have no idea why you enjoy this game so much. You’ve formed a parasitic bond with your game console over the past 80 hours, but your brain blue screens whenever you try to explain what makes the game so special.

But no more. Just break the glass surrounding this article, and you’ll find a fool-proof cheat sheet we’ve assembled in case of such emergencies.