Stuart:

I stand corrected. My little remark about the 10% of voice cards was tongue-in-cheek but even so, as you rightly point out, not valid. I think the 10% rule does apply (at least in part) to many games and perhaps to some plays and novels as well. But many activities, voice card reading among them, are more than just a game.

What is this quality that makes daydreams and afternoon hikes and voice cards more interesting than a game of solitaire? There are moments of surprise, yes, but no rising arc of tension, no winning or losing, no rules. There is no pre-determined "shape" to these "game-transcendent pleasures," but there is a kind of general structure which we might call a "journey." Each reverie or walk or voice card session has a beginning and an end and we emerge at a different place than we began. That is, we are transformed, if only subtly.

Why are voice cards more interesting than a game of solitaire?