Set a personal best high score in Robot Unicorn Attack

It's true that games provide an easy and clear sense of accomplishment, feedback, engagement, etc., than we often get from the messiness of real life. But (with due respect to Jane), the vast majority of accomplishments in games are illusory. You finish a level, beat a boss monster, complete a game -- yay! You get the quick emotional boost of having done something.  

But wait, what have you actually done? What do you have to show for it? What real accomplishment do you have? What real change have you affected? Despite Jane's rosy assessment, the actual answer (again, in the overwhelming majority of instances) is that you have absolutely nothing.

In this sense (and I say this as a long-time game developer) games are the new opiate of the masses. We're no longer content to live illusory lives through soap operas or "reality" shows, now we get that direct jolt to our brains when "accomplish" something in games.

Now it's true that there are or can be ancillary benefits to achievement in games -- there are indications that some people feel more confident after "winning" in a game for example, and others have built social or leadership skills through their time in multiplayer games. But these are tiny diamond chips in a sea of dross. Games are a fine amusement, a diversion -- but when they become our focus rather than a temporary diversion from what we focus on, then the illusion can take over.

In that case, not surprisingly, people find themselves in the situation you ask about: why do I feel for a moment like this is the best thing I've ever done (and often unspoken: and yet I realize in my heard that this is an illusion, ashes, worthless in the larger scheme of my life)?

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Here's a recommendation: watch this TED video of Martin Seligman on "authentic happiness" and positive psychology (http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_...). One of the key things he points out, taken from a lot of research, is that there are three primary sources of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning.  

Pleasure is what we get from sources like games, food, sex, etc. Very sensory, very quick -- and it's quickness is one of the reasons it's what we reach for when we're unhappy and we want to be happier right now. But it doesn't last, and we're left unsatisfied.

Engagement comes from doing something well -- exercising a skill or the like. Games can hit this one too. But, since the experience ends when the game ends, in the case of games (as opposed to honing a skill with some durable value in the real world) this feeling of well-being also evaporates when the game is done.

Finally, meaning is gained from doing something for someone else. Seligman describes an example where doing something for someone else leaves you feeling better about yourself and your life for a week afterward.

Engagement (with real, not illusory skill) and meaning are by far the largest contributors to feeling a sense of worth, fulfillment, and accomplishment in your life. When you have those then the sense of pleasure from immediate things (including games) is as he says, "the cherry on top" -- it adds a nice touch to the fulfilled life. But chasing after feeling good about your life through pleasure will never work.

So, to return your question, my guess is that you're feeling the pleasure of accomplishment, but not fulfillment. And if hitting a high score in Robot Unicorn Attack seems like the best thing you have ever done, I'd suggest as I did before that you are focusing on the wrong things and soon (if not already) will find that that sense of achievement from a game like this will quickly fade and leave you feeling worse than before.