> "In a game, finding out how mechanics work and what you can do is exploration. Figuring out that you can combine a certain action with a certain object to get a new result is exciting and interesting."

Absolutely. I'd say Miyamoto was a master of this, rewarding players for playful exploration. One example of this is in Super Mario Bros, where you can break through to the top of the screen to where the score is. Not only did Miyamoto give the player the option to do so, as the player runs along at the top of the screen they may wonder how they're going to get down, but instead of punishing the earlier creativity you get rewarded again with warp pipes.