14 DAY TRIAL // One of the elements that reviewers tend to praise in videogames is replayability, the fact that a gamer can start over again and again and experience something new, never getting annoyed with the mechanics that the developers have created.
Call of Duty is not replayable in its single-player form (multiplayer is another discussion altogether), because there are no new events to discover and the mechanics cannot be changed in any significant way.
Skyrim is replayable, although the events of the story do not change, because there are many classes, character development options, and choices that can be changed to create an entire new world and outcome.
Football Manager 2014 is almost perfect when it comes to multiple playthroughs, because the game has a deep set of mechanics that interact in surprising ways and offer a huge number of teams to choose from.
This means that I can have a game where I play just half a season, achieve a personal goal, and then quit because the overall philosophy of Juventus does not really appeal to me and because the Italian championship feels devoid of emotion.
Or that I can slug it out through 10 seasons with Liverpool, changing almost all of the starting lineup and reaching the Champions League two times because I am fascinated with the dynamics of the Premier League and my rivalry with Mourinho, who is still leading Chelsea.
Football Manager 2014 delivers an incredible amount of freedom but also makes almost all potential results seem plausible, which creates an addiction that could be compared to that seen in people who are hooked up on soap operas.
Now the only other question I need to answer is: is it OK to enjoy something you love ad infinitum or is such love for a game a sign that I need to move on before becoming addicted?