Who is in control when we play a video game? Do you think it's you, the player? "I don't have to do anything I don't want", you say. "I can stand still forever. Of course I have control. Of course free will and agency are mine." A logical course of action.
But if you don't move, you don't get more video game. You're staring at a screen. It's all pixels for the game, it doesn't care if you play or not. It's not offended, it doesn't LOSE anything. But you lose time. You lose happiness.
You are rewarded for moving forward.
You, the player, are rewarded for playing the game, with new things to do, more to see, more to hear. You want more. You NEED more.
That's why you keep playing.
And do you really think that means you're in control? Desperately flicking joysticks, hoping to god that a game divvies out the kind of reward you want?
You're desperate for it. You want more.
MORE.
You want to be SUPER.
You want to be HOT.