Candy
Special thanks to the United States Air Force Band for the public domain music.
Why this experience feels cheap and unsatisfying - and I’m assuming that for virtually all players it does - is fairly obvious. A player has no reason to feel like the victory from this game was rightfully “earned”.
The question to ponder: What is the minimum activity you that could have completed to feel sincerely deserving of this, or any, fanfare?
How is that minimum activity measured? By the time required to achieve it? Or maybe the number of retries before first success? For some players, the number of times that the player nearly lost along the final successful run would likely be a factor. The sheer perceived likelihood of winning versus losing is almost certainly important as well; likelihood of winning may even suffice as the sole concern for some players, if chance casino gambling is an indication.
Candy is still a game. It just has a very simple win condition. It even (technically/theoretically) “has” a lose condition. It’s just impossible to reach that lose condition through the final program as compiled.
Note that DotKnot also does not have a reachable lose condition. The DotKnot write-up specifically called attention to that aspect. And yet, figuring out how to finish it can still be satisfying.
One click, mere participation, is not enough to make a victory feel deserved. But what is? A coin flip? Finding the exit from a maze? Figuring out something new?