A good book might hook someone into reading it all in a binge, but once it's done it's pretty much done.

A game on the other hand can create a sort of rewards treadmill where no one ever really 'finishes'. A book can't adjust rewards in real time to fuel addictive behavior.

Books don't really exploit gambling mechanics, which is what can drive some of the most pernicious addictions.

Yep, people sink literally thousands of hours in to a single game. Some popular games literally punish you for the time you spend not playing the game or give you daily rewards so that you log in frequently.

The op was specifically talking about minecraft - it has none of those dark patterns, it's just a good game.

It's literally virtual building blocks (+ hack and slash combat and crafting and exploration etc). Would you have the same level of derision for kids who sink thousands of hours into playing with lego? Kids have a lot of spare time to kill.

Finding diamonds in minecraft isn't gambling mechanics?

Dig down to just above bedrock, and dig a long, level, 2x1 strip. You'll find diamonds within a few minutes. Each block destroyed this way exposes three potential diamond blocks. Finding diamonds is far more of a knowledge problem than a gambling one. Inefficient mining can make an 8 minute hunt for a diamond vein take over an hour. Also diamonds are a pretty hardy good, once you have a sword, pick, and armor, there isn't a huge reason to seek more until you consume those goods.

I've certainly become "addicted" to good books in the same way I've been "addicted" to good video games - reading for 8hrs straight every day until I'm done and so on.

From the way some people talk about video games on here sometimes I assume they think the android/ios market is representative of all of gaming (even then there's plenty of good "buy once" mobile games without microtransactions, the discoverability on the stores is just godawful - presumably to steer people towards more profitable crap rather than what's actually good).

Genre literature, sure. But there's a whole world of books that's not genre. As engaging and profitable as possible is not a goal shared by all authors.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here. Non genre literature is not engaging or enjoyable? "Genre literature" is a stupid term too, it's a no true scotsman thing where anything not deemed "serious" enough gets dumped in that category.

I think you're reading into something that isn't there. Umbrella terms can be used without disdain. It wasn't a highbrow comment, and I'm not about to go into a discussion on the merits of genre vs. literary or even the use of the terms, but it's clear that Zapffe's On the Tragic does not target the mass market, while the latest Tom Clancy does. Both can be engaging, depending on the reader, but the latter was written to "be as engaging and profitable as possible," the former was not.