First, you have to feel in control of your ship/car/man/whatever. So that when you get hit, you say “Oh, shit! I should have thrusted!” (Asteroids) instead of “Oh well, another ship gone. I wonder what hit me?” (Star Castle). Second, you should be able to control the form of your attacks — in short, have a strategy: Qix, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man. Counter-examples: Space Firebirds, Scramble, Sneakers. Third, there should be two goals; the primary goal (getting points) should not overlap 100% with the secondary goal (clearing screens). In Pac-Man, for example, you can go for the
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